Bears end up beating DePaul last night for 3rd in the Las Vegas Invitational.
After playing down to our competition in the first two games (winning both but not looking very good) we looked much better in the last two.
In the semifinal we lost to a very good USC (#23) but kept it to single digits. We were pretty competitive with them despite not shooting well. In the last game we avenged an earlier loss to DePaul. I liked how we closed them out at the end. DePaul isn't that good but they do have some really good athletes.
Alize Johnson continues to churn out the double doubles despite a propensity to get into foul trouble that limits his PT. At one point DePaul was pressing us and Alize broke the press himself. Crazy to see a 6'9" guy break a press with his ball handling. Obi and Kreklow also played well the last few games.
To be honest I'm still not sure how we will do in the Valley? I believe with this group of players we should finish second and maybe even push the Shox a bit. But Lusk still seems to be struggling with player combinations, tempo, and defensive sets.
It really wouldn't surprise me if we finished as high as 2nd or if we are a play in team. I'm ready to see what we can do though.