Augsburg 1/23/12

Two nights ago we took on the Auggies from Augsburg at Si Melby Hall on their campus. The rest of the league had a day off (we made a scheduling change) and a few coaches from St. Thomas, Bethel, and St. Olaf were there. There was also an appearance by former Augsburg great, Devean George. Going into the game, the Auggies were 8-2 in the conference and playing really well. They have two bigs that have given every team fits. On top of that, they have one of the streakiest scorers in the league in Tyler Schmidt, who might be the smallest (weight wise) double figure scorer in the country (I'm guessing).

The game started with a turnover by both teams and it was smooth sailing from there (just kidding). Both teams went back and forth, it was mostly our guards vs. their bigs. Grimm and Polta were grabbing offensive boards at a high rate. We were "boxing them out" but not getting them out of the paint. That's much better than we did at Gustavus. We really got into them pressure wise and forced a bunch of turnovers, getting our lead to as many as 13 in the first stanza. Augsburg battled back with some good guard play of their own led by Andy Seidlitz (10 points) as the halftime score read, 35-31 in favor of the Hammies.

We did a really good job defensively on a few of our assignments in the first half. Tyler Schmidt, their 2nd leading scorer, didn't take a shot in the first half. We were all over him. Which is exactly how we wanted it to be. The problem was Seidlitz had 10 and Grimm finished with 15 in the first. All on layups or free throws. 

We really got going in the second half. We increased our pressure and really got the game to our liking. The tempo was fast and they were wearing down. We got the lead to as many as 15 on a couple of occasions but the Auggies didn't go away. The last four minutes was interesting. We were all of sudden on our heals. They started to get a little momentum, as Schmidt started to get hot. They got it to within three a few times and then Dior slammed the door with an emphatic dunk in transition. We ended up winning 83-77.

We had four guys in double figures throughout the night. We had a pretty balanced effort on all ends. I thought for the first 36 minutes of the game, we had an intensity level that he haven't had all end. In those type of situations, I would love to see our guys step on their throats (I know, I know, violence isn't the answer. Not literally, but figuratively). Augsburg is a good team and didn't quit but we need to finish them (I was going to put in a Mortal Kombat "finish him" but, it's a little to violent for some of the readership) off.

Congrats to Andy Grzesiak-Grimm on his 1,000 career points. I honestly had no idea why they stopped the game but I found out afterward that he got his 1,000 point.

We have St. Thomas tonight at their castle over off Cleveland and Grand. I've never watched games from their webcast but I've had issues before with it (that's probably why) but I'll post those a little later.