Holcomb records double-double in final game
WTAMU men’s basketball Coach Rick Cooper and his # 23 ranked Buffs made their return to the NCAA tournament on March 12 as they took on Fort Hays State in the quarterfinals of the South Central Regional tournament. The game was played at Hamilton Field House on the campus of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma.
WT struggled early against a tough Tiger squad and found themselves on the back foot due to a distinct size disadvantage. It was this combined with an early scoring barrage that doomed the Buffs to an early exit by the score of 75-49.
“We got off to a bad start and that just continued over the 40 minutes,” WT Coach Rick Cooper said. “They’re [Fort Hays] very good and they got the start that you dream of having as a coach. I’m disappointed that we’re not continuing to play but I don’t want a bad performance like this to cloud an otherwise outstanding year for this team.”
WT started out strong and held a 4-1 lead at the 18:36 mark of the first half. However that was about as good as it got for the maroon and white. The Buffs remained close at 7-6 with 16:13 left but that’s when the wheels started falling off for WT. FHSU proceeded to go on a 16-0 run and take a 23-6 lead with just over 13 minutes left in the half.
“I thought we played really well from the start on both ends of the floor,” FHSU Coach Mark Johnson said. “Offensively this was one of our best performances of the season.”
The Buffs couldn’t get any closer than 13 points throughout the rest of the half. FHSU took a 38-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
“I could see it was going south in a hurry,” Cooper said. “When we got the ball down there in a position to score then we couldn’t do it. We missed some early perimeter shots. When you’re struggling on one end then it’s hard to get going on the other end.”
Things didn’t get much better for the Buffs in the second half. Although, the good news was that they did start to find their offensive rhythm but it was just simply too much to overcome against FHSU. WT eventually bowed out of the NCAA tournament falling 75-49.
“I told the guys in the locker room that there is only one team at every level that finishes with a win,” Cooper said. “This was a disappointing performance tonight but Fort Hays was very good on the night. I’m very proud of the kids especially the seniors. We’ve had a great year and we’ll look back and say this was a very successful season.”
Senior Jacquiese Holocomb said he finished the season with no regrets.
“I’ve enjoyed this season and have no regrets,” WT senior Jacquiese Holcomb said. “I wish we would have won today but I’ve learned so much this season especially from Coach Cooper.”
Holcomb paced the WT offense with 16 points and 12 rebounds on the evening. Senior Joe Mincey scored 11 points on the evening with fellow senior LaDarius Hall chipping in 10 points.
Fort Hays was paced by seniors Corbin Kuntzsch and Dominique Jones with 17 and 15 points respectively.
WT finishes the season at 23-7. The 23 wins are the most for the Buffs since 2005-06. Coach Rick Cooper will lose five seniors to graduation as his squad looks for a return to the post-season in 2012.
