There is no such thing as a moral victory, but the Jacks will leave their opening game against West Virginia with their heads held high. Led by the preseason summit league player of the year, Doug Wilson who had 17 points. Noah Friedel added 16 points and the Jacks showed they can play with the big boys. SDSU had two other players that ended in double figures in scoring with a very balanced offense. The biggest surprise came early in the night when the Jacks changed their starting lineup from last season. Baylor Scheierman got the start over David Wingett and scored 13 points on 3-5 shooting from behind the arch.
While at times struggling to rebound against WVU, the Jacks only lost the total rebound battle by 2. This is a great sign for the Jacks, who will be a smaller team at times featuring only one big on the court. A couple of players to keep your eye on will be Luke Appel and Tray Buchanan moving forward. Luke did not see a lot of time in his debut for the Jacks, which is surprising considering the size WVU brought to the matchup. While Tray did not get into the game tonight, it will be worth watching to see when he makes his return this season.
Offensively the Jacks shot 43% from the field and 36% from three while holding WVU to only 39% shooting and 25% from three. Both of those numbers are impressive considering WVU is ranked #15 in the country and historically a very strong defensive team. Turnovers were a major problem for the jacks, giving the ball over to WVU 14 times while only forcing three. Lowering turnovers will be big moving forward and will hopefully decrease in the coming games.
Looking ahead, the Jacks will face the loser of VCU and Utah State, Utah State is coached by former USD coach Craig Smith.