I got confused about the schedule and missed the first half. Kind of glad I did. My blood pressure would have been through the roof.
I started watching at the beginning of the 2nd half and it was some of the worst basketball I have seen. I told my wife I'd seen city league teams that were better. (This may actually have been true, some of those teams had former D1 players).
So for 25 minutes we were as bad as it gets. Then the next 20 minutes something happened.
Yes, Williams and Edwards put the team on their shoulders and carried them. But it was more than that. They played with an energy that was briefly there during our run against La Tech that was snuffed out by the technical. This energy hasn't been there for this extended a period since the first NMSU game.
They played as a team during this stretch, and they actually started believing in themselves.
Terry actually danced with the ones that brought him. They had the hot hands and the chemistry and he stayed with it.
For once I don't have too much to say about Vila. He actually played quite well with the exception of still being awful from 3. And it made a difference in the team performance. Ideally he doesn't take the last shot but I think it was a busted play and he figured this was the best shot anyone was going to get. I think he was probably right. Great board by Hawkins on that miss, and if he kicks it out to Edwards we probably win in regulation. I think he thought time was about to expire and was hoping to draw a foul. There too, can't really criticize.
Jackson for UTSA is everything anyone says about him. Wow. But Williams was even more unstoppable. We saw two amazing players each just dominating.