League Foes LA Tech, WKU Battle for Spot in NIT Final Four

Game times and networks are posted on the ESPN website for the NIT quarterfinals Thursday.

5:00 PM CT--Mississippi State vs Richmond, UNT Coliseum, ESPN2
6:00 PM CT--North Carolina State vs Colorado State, Comerica Center, ESPN
8:00 PM CT--Boise State vs Memphis, UNT Coliseum, ESPN
9:00 PM CT--Louisiana Tech vs Western Kentucky, Comerica Center, ESPN2

Semifinal games are at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM Saturday at the Comerica Center.

The championship is at 11:00 AM with the 3rd place game at 2:00 PM Sunday also at the Comerica Center.

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Originally Posted by FriscoDawg

Game times and networks are posted on the ESPN website for the NIT quarterfinals Thursday.

5:00 PM CT--Mississippi State vs Richmond, UNT Coliseum, ESPN2
6:00 PM CT--North Carolina State vs Colorado State, Comerica Center, ESPN
8:00 PM CT--Boise State vs Memphis, UNT Coliseum, ESPN
9:00 PM CT--Louisiana Tech vs Western Kentucky, Comerica Center, ESPN2

Semifinal games are at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM Saturday at the Comerica Center.

The championship is at 11:00 AM with the 3rd place game at 2:00 PM Sunday also at the Comerica Center.

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Pretty crappy of the NIT to have conference foes playing each other in the 2nd round.

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Originally Posted by glm47

Pretty crappy of the NIT to have conference foes playing each other in the 2nd round.

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Yep! so sad for WKU, otherwise they might have reached the final! :D

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Originally Posted by glm47

Pretty crappy of the NIT to have conference foes playing each other in the 2nd round.

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I've been looking forward to another meeting with WKU anyway. Of course, I thought it would happen in the CUSA Tournament Final. All year we've had to listen to CUSA fans talk about how good WKU is, even though I always thought they were over-rated.

LA Tech played WKU in two back-to-back road games in Bowling Green earlier this season. The good news is, we learned a lot.

- Tech lost the Friday game 64-66 in the last minute. WKU's star Forward Charles Bassey scored 24 pts and garnered 16 rebounds. He hit 9 of 10 free throws (90%). But, even worse, the game officials really cheated Tech. WKU shot 31 free throws, connecting on 24 (77.4%), to Tech's 16 free throws, sinking 9 (56.3%)). Talk about "home cooking", that's a huge difference in free throws. Also, Kenny Lofton Jr. was held scoreless, and had only 1 rebound. Can you say disappearing act?


- Tech won the Saturday game comfortably, 63-58. In this one, Tech played better defense, and Bassey only had 14 pts, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. But in this game, the game officials were much less of a difference maker. Tech shot 13 free throws (9/13, 69.2%), and WKU shot 13 (12/13, 92.3%). Lofton played better in this one, scoring 6 pts and 5 rebounds.


BLUEPRINT to beat WKU:

1) Slow down Charles Bassey. He's an NBA 1st round talent, so you're NOT going to stop him. But you can slow him down with good, agitating, defense. Tech held Bassey to only 14 pts and won the 2nd game by 5 pts. Also, UNT held Bassey to only 13 pts last Saturday night, and beat WKU in the CUSA Tournament Final. So strong defense --particularly on Bassey, is key.

2) Keep WKU off the foul line. WKU coach Rick Stansberry is a strong believer in driving hard to the basket and drawing fouls. He's not interested in beautiful, smooth, basketball. Stansberry's goal is to get physical down low, and shoot 25 or more free throws every night. His objective is to get 35% to 40% of his teams scoring from the free throw line. In his first game against Tech, his team got 36% of its total scoring from free throws. However, in game two against Tech --a WKU loss-- WKU only got 22% of its scoring at the line.

So, the choppier and nastier this game gets, the more Stansberry will love it. If his team can shoot 25 or more free throws, Stansberry knows he's likely to win. If not, he's likely to lose. WKU is an excellent free throw shooting team, so getting to the free throw line will be paramount to his chances of winning.

So you’re saying we need to Jack up a bunch of threes and make them at a high clip

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Originally Posted by glm47

Pretty crappy of the NIT to have conference foes playing each other in the 2nd round.

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They don't want conference teams against each other in the championship.

Memphis would have played SMU Thursday night if SMU had won, and Richmond would have played St. Louis if St. Louis had won. Colorado State and Boise State have to play in the semifinals if both win Thursday. And Tech took care of any possible Ole Miss-Mississippi State semifinal matchup.

The way to stop the free throw parade is to man up and take charges

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Originally Posted by skilldawg

The way to stop the free throw parade is to man up and take charges

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On paper, that's true. But that's easier said than done when the guy running over you is a 6'11, 245 lbs, all muscle, NBA 1st rounder. LOL!

I think we need to double team Massey every time we can.

I'm glad Carson Williams is taking a swing for the NFL. That guy is a bull!

Like I said, man up. I don’t care if they call a block. Make them pay legitimately and we will get our share of calls or make them think twice

Currently, ESPN's pregame "Matchup Predictor" gives LA Tech a 59% chance of beating WKU.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId=401311783

It is going to be another hard fought battle. We go through slumps in every game. We HAVE to be able to score with some consistency. Anyway, I think HogDawg did a good job of saying exactly what we need to do on defense. Just hope it is called fairly! Jr. has improved, so that should be a big help. He has to stay out of foul trouble, though. And, no matter what anyone thinks (broken finger or not), we have to have Williams on the floor.

A new article has been posted on www.latechsports.com:

https://latechsports.com/common/cont...NIT_BB_732.jpg

Louisiana Tech attempts to make its second trip ever to the NIT Final Four when they face WKU in the quarterfinals on Thursday night at 9 p.m. inside the Comerica Center.

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Discuss it here.

Vegas says this one is close. Louisiana Tech -1.

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Originally Posted by Bulldog Tom

Vegas says this one is close. Louisiana Tech -1.

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ESPN is now showing Western Kentucky -1. Toss up either way.

Good game so far. This won't be easy but it's doable.

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Originally Posted by Blue Dawg

Good game so far. This won't be easy but it's doable.

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WKU having a cold shooting night, except Rawls.

We're in a drought ourselves.

5 minutes since our last FG

Let’s go Dawgs!!

Wow! Back and forth

Some pretty big momentum swings several times.

Unbelievable shot from Williams

39-31 at halftime. Rawls is 4-7 57%. Rest of WKU team 8-27 29%. Easy Tech win if WKU doesn't start shooting better. Plus we are shooting the lights out of 3's.

Great finish to the 1st half

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Originally Posted by Bulldog Tom

39-31 at halftime. Rawls is 4-7 57%. Rest of WKU team 8-27 29%. Easy Tech win if WKU doesn't start shooting better. Plus we are shooting the lights out of 3's.

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We've built a good lead on hot 3 shooting but that can regress to the mean pretty fast. So we need to keep up the defense.

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Originally Posted by Blue Dawg

We've built a good lead on hot 3 shooting but that can regress to the mean pretty fast. So we need to keep up the defense.

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That is the key to victory. I doubt we keep this hot shooting hand all game.

Bassey gets a lot of calls.

Our drives to the hoop and working it inside to Lofton don’t seem to be paying off as well tonight.

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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin

Bassey gets a lot of calls.

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Yep.

The refs do love their Bassey.

Well, when Lofton is a SR draft prospect, maybe they'll get some stars in their eyes for us

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Originally Posted by Bulldog Tom

That is the key to victory. I doubt we keep this hot shooting hand all game.

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But maybe we will. :laugh:

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Originally Posted by Bulldog Tom

But maybe we will. :laugh:

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Hush! You'll jinx it

Kalob Ledoux is on fire tonight. Career high in points. 20 points, 6-7 from 3.

Offensive boards are the only thing keeping WKU close right now.

Just can't let the WKU free throw parade get too long.

Note to Ledoux: Keep shooting!

Bassey gets away with so much. And they flop and get the calls.

Our lead evaporating quickly.

Refs are taking this one from the Bulldogs. Horrible calls!

Need better shot selection from Williams. And we might want to guard Rawls a little.

Calls that haven't been wrong have been suspiciously late.

These calls are unreal.

Maybe Crawford is beginning a late-game takeover.

When the announcers are questioning calls, your know it’s bad.

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Originally Posted by Bulldog Tom

Need better shot selection from Williams. And we might want to guard Rawls a little.

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Rawls 6-11 54%. Rest of WKU team 14-47 29%.

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Originally Posted by Bulldog Tom

Rawls 6-11 54%. Rest of WKU team 14-47 29%.

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And Rawls has 7 assists.

Not sure I like where this is going

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Originally Posted by Blue Dawg

Not sure I like where this is going

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Looking better now.

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Originally Posted by FriscoDawg

Looking better now.

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Yes!

Crawford fighting through and then Jr's steal and slam is grit!

Need a few FTs now.

Rawls choked at crunch time.

Bring on the Mississippi State Bulldogs!

Aint over yet

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Originally Posted by Blue Dawg

Aint over yet

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Not by a long shot. Need 3-4 more points to be comfortable.

Very, very lucky there.

How Bout Them Dawgs!

FTs win championships

HBTD! Finish off the state of Mississippi!

Free throws were going in at the end, thank goodness.

Nice win in a scrappy game with a lot of calls that did not go our way.

Now there will be a Dogfight Saturday afternoon.

Great game. Wish we would have played like this against North Texas. Hopefully eveyone comes back next year. This team can break the streak next season.

Zebras kept WKU in it with plenty of lousy calls. At times we didn't help ourselves with some poor decisions and missed FTs....but! in the end, got it done.

Great job Dawgs!

It is a fun game to watch!
Announcers were all over our freshman star. They love him!

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Originally Posted by Dorm Fridge

Free throws were going in at the end, thank goodness.

Nice win in a scrappy game with a lot of calls that did not go our way.

Now there will be a Dogfight Saturday afternoon.

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Or Saturday morning. In the arena they are now showing Tech playing the first semifinal even though ESPN showed it the other way all night.

Now they have corrected it. Tech plays at 2:00 PM.

Props to Ledoux, had a huge night.

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Originally Posted by Bulldog Tom

WKU having a cold shooting night, except Rawls.

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Rawls was 7-12 58%. Rest of the team was 16-54 29%. We were out rebounded and we turned it over 4 more times than WKU. Free throws not a factor. WKU 10-13, us 9-13. Hard to win shooting 29%. Great defense tonight, got to think that played a part in WKU's shooting woes.

HBTD!!!!

Best part was watching Jr’s dad after that dunk.

Their star player, Bassey looked gassed in the end. We made him earn every basket!

Ledoux 20 points, 6-7 from 3, 6 rebounds, only 1 turnover. Awesome night for that young man.

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Originally Posted by latech

Their star player, Bassey looked gassed in the end. We made him earn every basket!

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Gordon played him really well...so did Lofton.

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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin

Gordon played him really well...so did Lofton.

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Having them both play him well and able to alternate them out was huge. He was looking gassed by the 10 minute mark in the second half.

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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin

Gordon played him really well...so did Lofton.

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Gordon also made a couple of easy baskets on the other end over Bassey - “Gordon made Bassey looked small” as the announcer said.

Having Gordon with WKU not having Carson Williams was a factor as I expected it would be.

I just don't see what everyone else seems to see in Bassey. He's good, yes, and he's tall...and you can't coach height. He has his moments. But, I have watched him play a bunch now...and I simply don't agree with the hype.

I'll take Junior over Bassey any day.

I also don't see what everyone seems to see in WKU. They are good, no question, but all year all I heard was ONLY WKU was worthy of an at-large bid, they are the best in CUSA, hands down, blah, blah, blah...when it mattered the most UNT and Tech dispatched WKU.

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Originally Posted by dawg80

I just don't see what everyone else seems to see in Bassey. He's good, yes, and he's tall...and you can't coach height. He has his moments. But, I have watched him play a bunch now...and I simply don't agree with the hype.

I'll take Junior over Bassey any day.

I also don't see what everyone seems to see in WKU. They are good, no question, but all year all I heard was ONLY WKU was worthy of an at-large bid, they are the best in CUSA, hands down, blah, blah, blah...when it mattered the most UNT and Tech dispatched WKU.

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Both announcers agreed with your assessment on Bassey. They said he is good player - will be NBA player but that is it.
When it came to Lofton Jr - you could hear the excitement from both announcers. That kid is special.

Was Junior's most entertaining play 1)Fast break dunk or 2) Running the length of the court behind the media table before going back onto the court? I liked both!!!!

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Originally Posted by Dawg Fan

Was Junior's most entertaining play 1)Fast break dunk or 2) Running the length of the court behind the media table before going back onto the court? I liked both!!!!

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Both!!!
“Life in the fast lane!”

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Originally Posted by dawg80

Zebras kept WKU in it with plenty of lousy calls. At times we didn't help ourselves with some poor decisions and missed FTs....but! in the end, got it done.

Great job Dawgs!

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That's exactly what I said we had to watch out for. If you notice, there were significantly more calls putting WKU on line a lot more in the 2nd half.

This was a great win for the Bulldogs. Does this make LA Tech the regular season conference champions? WKU won the east and Tech won the west.

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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin

Gordon played him really well...so did Lofton.

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You are correct. I was fortunate enough to be in attendance tonight. Both Gordon and Lofton played very good offense and defense against Massey. Frankly, I was surprised that Gorldon and Lofton went right at Massey the way they did., but it was the right thing to do. Lofton ended up with 11 points and Gordon with 4, for a combined 15 points. Massey scored 15. So it evened out. Up against a star player like Charles Massey, I'll take that performance every week.

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Originally Posted by dawg80

I just don't see what everyone else seems to see in Bassey. He's good, yes, and he's tall...and you can't coach height. He has his moments. But, I have watched him play a bunch now...and I simply don't agree with the hype.

I'll take Junior over Bassey any day.

I also don't see what everyone seems to see in WKU. They are good, no question, but all year all I heard was ONLY WKU was worthy of an at-large bid, they are the best in CUSA, hands down, blah, blah, blah...when it mattered the most UNT and Tech dispatched WKU.

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I agree with this. Good post. At best, WKU was the 3rd best team in CUSA this year.

This game, combined with UNT's win over WKU, should stop any talk about the Western CUSA not being the best this year. Western CUSA was clearly better than the east this year.

A new article has been posted on www.latechsports.com:

https://latechsports.com/common/cont...NIT_BB_284.jpg

"If I see that first one go down, I feel like it is going to be a long night for the other team."

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Discuss it here.

What a game! I hate that our 3 point shooting is streaky, because if we shoot like that for 2 more games, the NIT is completely ours. I don't think Mississippi State is as good as Ole' Miss, honestly. Anyway, when we are on, we are on. As for WKU, they are good - I won't say anything negative about them. As for as I am concerned, CUSA had 3 teams that needed to be in the NCAA this year. It is up to us to show that now. HOW BOUT DEM DAWGS!!!!!!!!

I had posted if Crawford gave us a double-double we would beat WKU for sure. Well, he came up short, had 9 points, but was only 2 of 5 from the FT line, and had just TWO rebounds. He also had 4 turnovers. Not his best game...

Going forward I think we need Crawford to step up if we are to win this thing. The teams left, Moo State, Memphis, Colorado State are basically the same type of teams. They are guard & "small" forward oriented. That is who Crawford is. Of course, winning the NIT does not all fall on his shoulders, but I think he is a key, a HUGE key, to our success. He sometimes looks like a deer in headlights out there. Relax IC, you are good and can get it done.

We also need Archibald to shine. Cobe's hand will not be healed by this weekend so we need our other guards to handle business. AA has too many turnovers, well, he had just 3 last night, but that is deceiving. He is not good in traffic, so he plays it safe, making the easy passes. That doesn't help create offense. And AA needs to step it up, Ledoux too, on defense. Opposing guards are having too easy a time setting up their offense.

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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin

Best part was watching Jr’s dad after that dunk.

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The announcers missed out on a pretty good story standing beside SR last night. That athletic looking fella celebrating with SR was none other than... Jamaal Charles, one of the best athletes in the history of Texas.

I know that is saying a lot, but, I am just saying. http://www.jamaalcharles25.com/the-story/

i know that is a long read, but it is worth it when you have time. Very inspiring, and a couple of people we are growing to love have a fairly significant role, which is why he was cheering on the DAWGS last night

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Originally Posted by dawg80

Props to Ledoux, had a huge night.

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Originally Posted by Bulldog Tom

Ledoux 20 points, 6-7 from 3, 6 rebounds, only 1 turnover. Awesome night for that young man.

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Fantastic game for him.

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Originally Posted by Blue Dawg

Yes!

Crawford fighting through and then Jr's steal and slam is grit!

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http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=31138035

Someone uploaded the entire game on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5L-S_YWJ4

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Originally Posted by Dawg Fan

Was Junior's most entertaining play 1)Fast break dunk or 2) Running the length of the court behind the media table before going back onto the court? I liked both!!!!

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YES

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Originally Posted by skilldawg

The announcers missed out on a pretty good story standing beside SR last night. That athletic looking fella celebrating with SR was none other than... Jamaal Charles, one of the best athletes in the history of Texas.

I know that is saying a lot, but, I am just saying. http://www.jamaalcharles25.com/the-story/

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That's a great story. JR obviously comes from good stock.

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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin

That's a great story. JR obviously comes from good stock.

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yeah, WOW

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Originally Posted by DocMarvin362

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=31138035

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He broke away like a gazelle. The biggest gazelle on the planet. It was like Charles Barkley reincarnated except Charles would have about ripped the rim off the backboard.

Crappy calls and offensive rebounds kept WKU in the game. Like others have said, I don’t understand the hype for Bassey. He is a good player, but he hardly looked like 1st round material to me. That game was one of the most entertaining games I’ve watched in some time.

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Originally Posted by qng001

Someone uploaded the entire game on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5L-S_YWJ4

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Go to the 1:06:25 and 1:08:25 marks to see the "Detour" play.

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Originally Posted by Dawg Fan

Go to the 1:06:25 and 1:08:25 marks to see the "Detour" play.

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Man, that smooth pass by Lofton to Pemberton @ the 1:06:15 mark was beautiful.