Driving rain turned the three hour drive from Bowling Green to Chattanooga into a four hour slog and a late arrival to the Utah Valley/Austin Peay game inside The McKenzie Arena.
Once inside, Austin Peay and Utah Valley were engaged in a full-fledged track meet, with both teams raining threes from all over the place and neither team able to break away from the other. But, while both teams were hot (UVU: 9-18 from 3, APSU: 12-25), Woverine point guard (and coach's son) Holton Hunsaker absolutely exploded in the second half. Hunsaker's barrage got UVU's nose in front and they were able to hang on for the 84-77 win. When the smoke cleared, the Woverines shot 61% for the game, 50% from three, and 90% from the line. That usually works out well. And, it's worth noting that APSU's Nick Thompson messed around and got a triple-double.
In game two, the points were much harder to come by. Apparently, the first game used up nearly all of the three-point quota allowed by McKenzie Arena. High Point and Chattanooga combined for 5-41 from Three after the 21-43 showing by UVA/APSU.
Still, High Point's freshman forward John Brown got it going in a serious way with nearly a point a minute for much of the first half. Two fouls sent him to the bench late in the half, but he had 13 at the break. However, the home-standing Mocs slashed it's way to a two-point lead behind a lot of drives by speedy guards Ronrico White and Gee McGhee. Chattanooga had a much better second half and finished off the Panthers by virtue of a +5 turnover margin and +8 free throws made.
Team Bracketboard is now holed up with family in Murfreesboro (home of MTSU who plays good hoops as well and faced FIU at 5pm today) and we will head to Murray State later today to catch the Racers against Valparaiso. We will close out this hoops extravaganza back at WKU tonight as the Tops face North Texas at 7pm CT.
