I was in middle school when Gary Trent was playing...but I don't think I'll ever forget today's game.  The rafters now seem complete with number 20 hanging.  As a fan, I really appreciate what he did for us...but also how much he appreciates us.  His appreciation was genuine when he spoke, and so was his call to "finish kicking Miami's ass."  I hope Gary makes it back to the Convo more often.

It was just great to see those nosebleed seats filled up with people for once.  The crowd's energy level wasn't anything special, much like any other Dads weekend game, until the last 5 minutes when it was awesome.  It sure is a catch 22, because I do love the aspect that I can roll up 5 minutes before tipoff and park and be in my seats in time, and never wait in line for a toilet or a soft pretzel.  But I'll gladly trade all that for crowds like today's.

As for the game, we should have killed Miami...But I think they played better than they are and made a lot of silly shots.  They did a pretty good job taking care of the ball, but our turnover forcing defense still got the best of them on a lot of possessions.  Mavunga never got it going, and think of the last 3 games in the Convo...Jacon McCrea, Justin Greene, Julian Mavunga...3 hypotehtical teammates of D.J.'s on the upcoming all MAC team...and all 3 of them really struggled against our defense.  I love our defense.

Walt kept it from getting completely out of hand in the 1st half, Reggie played like a beast in the paint in the 2nd half, and Ivo paced us the entire way.  The guards (Cooper, Kellogg, Taylor) struggled today and the bigs picked them up.  D.J. erased a nightmare first 35 minutes with 2 amazing shots and good FT shooting in the final 5.  One last mention to Ricardo - great energy and lots of positives not showing up on the stat sheet.

I think a lot of MAC teams would've coughed that one up to Miami, I really think they played well and caught some breaks but we refused to let those punks beat us. 

I can't blame the crowd for their energy, other than in the last 5 minutes our team wasn't helping to energize them by being behind the entire time.  And every time they made a run to start getting the crowd excited they would give it right back.

I'm glad I provided some entertainment when the game went through some "down" stretches. People behind me were grabbing my shirt trying to control me. Security kept an eye on me post game. !