You couldn’t ask for more from Pat and his troops tonight.  Absolutely astounding effort, sustained for 40+5 minutes to earn a well-deserved upset of the 10th ranked team in the nation.  That’s a high quality win to have on your resume, and watching the game, I thought we were very close to matching UW in quickness and athleticism.  We beat them with discipline and determination.  It was inspiring.  Wow.

Mano y Mano – Two athletic squads matching up man-to-man all game and just grinding out.  Great basketball.  This game was physical, with quick hands swatting at the ball and quick players attacking any mistake.  We did a hell of a job with our transition defense, save for a short run at the end of regulation when we were gassed.  And once we got our half-court defense set, it was tough sled-pulling for the Huskies.  They have some great players like Pondexter who could still get their shot, but we consistently forced them to take tough, contested shots.  And then we rebounded, which might have been the most impressive result of the evening.  Yes, we out-rebounded them 42-37, Bitches.  Which was necessary because turnovers were even and shooting was pretty even as well.  The rebounding provided us five more shots from the field, and we shot better from the line.

That’s Why They Call It Motion – We did some really nice things on offense tonight, a lot better than what I’m seeing from UT right now, which looks like a bunch of uber recruits taking turns making their favorite school yard moves (And they’re still leading by 15!  Ugh.)  Singletary flashed open numerous times, though we only found him on a few.  Roberson made the pass of the night on a great cut from Okorie.  I screamed ‘No!’ when he let go, but then Okorie’s finish was beautiful.  I loved Singletary’s determination to get to the hoop, and though his shot wasn’t falling tonight, nearly all of them were good shots.

Party Crasher Reese – Brad gets the MVP by just a nudge over John Roberson.  He entered the game with a fearless confidence and provided a huge offensive spark as we built a 9pt half-time lead.  That was good stuff, but his most important contribution was absolutely shutting down Isaiah Thomas.  Reese was too quick and too long, and Thomas couldn’t drive, couldn’t get off his jumper, and got bailed out with some timely whistles when he was out of control in the lane.  Reese wasn’t so hot from the field in the second half, but guess who was guarding Thomas at the end of regulation?  That’s right.  And when Pondexter became the offensive focus, fouling out Roberts and Darko, guess who Pat chose to guard Pondexter? Uh huh.  Moving forward, being able to sick Reese on our opponent’s top scoring guard/forward will stop teams from making runs against us, and severely handicap their ability to attack us in those important late possessions.

Steady John R – John got abused early by the Huskie quickness, and Okorie had to bring the ball up the court for a while so Roberson could regroup.  I was pretty concerned at this point.  After he’d collected himself, Roberson decided run his team.  Only twice did I see him take ill-advised shots early in the shot clock, and as his numbers attest (7 assists, 4 turnovers, and super-money from the free-throw line down the stretch), he was the steadying force that allowed us to continue getting good looks during that exhausting test of will in the last eight minutes of regulation and OT.  That hustle steal in overtime had me jumping up and down.  What’s important here is that Roberson delivered this performance against All-PAC 10 guard Isaiah Thomas.  Nice.

Singletary = Toughness – 16 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, and only 2 turnovers.  I love getting him the ball with some leverage so he can make a one- or two-dribble move to the basket.  I love when he catches under the basket, knowing his strength will provide him a good look with a chance to shoot free throws.  And the defense is improving, too.  Keep it up young man.

Darko – Like Roberson, he was a little out-classed early, throwing passes to the scorer’s table and being hesitant with his shot.  But Pat sat him down for a while, and he came back with hustle.  The altercation early was kind of awkward and hinted at Euro-flop, but it did send the message that we weren’t going to back down from UW.  I worried that Darko had pissed off UW, but if they had planned on cranking up the intensity and putting us in our place, Brad Reese had other ideas.  Darko crashing the offensive boards was key down the stretch, even if we weren’t always rewarded (4 of his 5 rebounds were on the offensive end).  And that hook just keeps falling.  I’m stunned.

Tairu, Roberts, and Okorie – These guys just get it.  Great intensity, awareness, and hustle on defense, and all showing tremendous patience in our offense by working hard and being ready when the opportunity arises.  I’m going to have to watch the tape again because I don’t remember Okorie with five turnovers.  Roberts is proving me wrong.  This guy has become a huge asset to our team.  And Tairu is so steady.  Great pickup.

Theron Jenkins – As tonight’s foul-fest attests, we gotta have this guy.  And I’m damn glad to have him as an option instead of, say, Damir Suljagic.  But he’s got to quit hurting us on offense.  We can’t afford two traveling violations in the second half.  It just can’t happen.  As I have said previously, he needs to think, What would D’Walyn Roberts do?

Last Game Next Game – Ah, the old Bob Knight adage.  Okay, you knocked off the #10 team in the nation, fans rushed the court, and by the time you enter the arena in Ft. Worth next week, you’ll likely be ranked.  How will you respond?  Remember, I predicted 9-5 in non-conference, and now you’ve told me I was dead wrong.  You’ve played at a level that could get you to 12-2 in non-conference.  Is that for real?  Are you for real?  Prove it to me on the road versus TCU next Tuesday.  I loved your toughness, confidence, and effort tonight.  You made me proud to be a Red Raider.

One Last Note – Buzzer beaters are awesome, and at first I was really depressed that we had to play the overtime.  I thought emotionally we were at a real disadvantage.  But having played the overtime and finished strong, I’m glad that it happened.  I wouldn’t want folks to say, ‘Well, UW missed two free throws and then you hit a miracle shot.’  No, we played five minutes of overtime and won the frickin’ game.

Thoughts?