M. Basketball. Bulldogs Drain 14 Three's in Opening Round Win versus UNCG

[TYLERTECHSAS]

UIC is historically a good team and program.

The Lady Techsters are historically a good team

UIC has been better then the Dawgs in recent history. They have been to the dance/NCAA tournament in 1998, 2002, and 2004, and appeared in the NIT in 2003.

[champion110]

UIC has been better then the Dawgs in recent history. They have been to the dance/NCAA tournament in 1998, 2002, and 2004, and appeared in the NIT in 2003.

They have done well. I don't know if I would say they have been "better", but they have had more success getting to the tournament in their conference. I think we would have definitely gone to the NCAA's last year, if we had been in their conference. They might help our rpi more than we think, though, as they form their rpi over the next month.

[HoDo-Tech70]

Game notes that don't show up on the boxscore:

• The weather outside the arena was a beautiful 80 degrees, but the temperature inside the arena was cold. I asked an arena official about it and he said they try to keep it at 60 degrees. It's an ice hockey arena with a rubber overlay and then the court was put down over that. The temperature has to be cool to eliminate moisture on the court.
• There were 7 of us there who attend games in Ruston and about 30 family members of the team. Several other fans were there who live in the area and had Tech or Louisiana ties. Total was less than 50 Tech fans.
• For the first few minutes of the game, the goals were in danger of tipping over if someone hung on the rim. They brought in two forklifts and the tines of the forklifts were lowered over the backs of the goal to keep them in place. They did cover the forklifts in black drapes to make them less visible.
• The videoboard was not as clear as ours and the sound was nowhere near as good as ours. Someone from Tech should have been there to see how NOT to operate a board and what NOT to show.
• The scoreboard showed the right score about half of the time. I wondered if the scoreboard operator had a sleep disorder or ADD because it took as much as 30 seconds to a minute for points to show up on the board and then the points might be given to the wrong team. Player stats on the board were not accurate.
• I may have been the only fan in the arena pulling for San Diego to win the second game of the afternoon. They are in the West Coast Conference with Gonzaga, St. Mary's, etc. and I was thinking that playing them and winning would help our RPI more than UIC. Unfortunately, San Diego couldn't make shots down the stretch and made some bonehead plays that sealed their narrow loss.
• Game time tomorrow is 6 p.m. ET so there will be plenty of time for sightseeing. We have a group headed to the Everglades for an airboat ride and possible boat ride, weather permitting. Rain is expected for most of Tuesday and all day Wednesday.

[Dwayne From Minden]

I thought you were in Nicaragua?

[rebelboi]

Game notes that don't show up on the boxscore:

• The weather outside the arena was a beautiful 80 degrees, but the temperature inside the arena was cold. I asked an arena official about it and he said they try to keep it at 60 degrees. It's an ice hockey arena with a rubber overlay and then the court was put down over that. The temperature has to be cool to eliminate moisture on the court.
• There were 7 of us there who attend games in Ruston and about 30 family members of the team. Several other fans were there who live in the area and had Tech or Louisiana ties. Total was less than 50 Tech fans.
• For the first few minutes of the game, the goals were in danger of tipping over if someone hung on the rim. They brought in two forklifts and the tines of the forklifts were lowered over the backs of the goal to keep them in place. They did cover the forklifts in black drapes to make them less visible.
• The videoboard was not as clear as ours and the sound was nowhere near as good as ours. Someone from Tech should have been there to see how NOT to operate a board and what NOT to show.
• The scoreboard showed the right score about half of the time. I wondered if the scoreboard operator had a sleep disorder or ADD because it took as much as 30 seconds to a minute for points to show up on the board and then the points might be given to the wrong team. Player stats on the board were not accurate.
• I may have been the only fan in the arena pulling for San Diego to win the second game of the afternoon. They are in the West Coast Conference with Gonzaga, St. Mary's, etc. and I was thinking that playing them and winning would help our RPI more than UIC. Unfortunately, San Diego couldn't make shots down the stretch and made some bonehead plays that sealed their narrow loss.
• Game time tomorrow is 6 p.m. ET so there will be plenty of time for sightseeing. We have a group headed to the Everglades for an airboat ride and possible boat ride, weather permitting. Rain is expected for most of Tuesday and all day Wednesday.

thanks for the notes

[rebelboi]

Wagner vs. St Bonaventure in the other semifinals

[HoDo-Tech70]

I thought you were in Nicaragua?

Next week - Monday through Saturday.

I'll miss the ULL game but should be back in time for the Southern game Saturday night. It will be one of very few misses of a ULL game in the last couple decades. Lafayette is one of my favorite road trips, although many times we've had disappointing results. I can't remember the last time I had to miss a home game with ULL, if I ever have.

[HoDo-Tech70]

thanks for the notes

You're welcome. It's definitely my pleasure to be able to follow our team.

One point of my post was to point out that the grass is not always greener on the other side. As most of you probably realize, I've been to a lot of venues to watch college basketball - even when Tech is not playing. Since I've been reading BB&B there have been a lot of complaints about our marketing, facilities, and game atmosphere in the TAC. Some of these complaints are justified, however, some are not. Honestly, we've got a nice facility for college basketball. There are some that are newer and nicer, but I could still find things to complain about them.

We definitely don't have all the problems of the Germain Arena. I suspect they don't have many basketball games there.
One issue I failed to mention was that only one concession stand was open, and it was on the opposite side of the arena from the majority of the fans. The bathrooms were clean and well stocked.

We now have a new team in place in athletic facility administration, marketing, and game promotion and I expect most of the legitimate concern will be resolved.