Happy Friday everyone, it's great to talk to you again.  It has been another awesome week for our program with home wins over Southern Illinois and Indiana State.  It was truly an honor to welcome back the 1964-65 NCAA Championship team on Saturday, I am hoping that my teammates and I are having the same type of celebration 50 years down the road.

Indiana State was a huge win for us.  We are both in the middle of a 3^rd-place battle in the Valley.   We definitely wanted that game.  They're a great program and it means a lot to beat good programs like that.  We have had a lot of tough battles against them ever since I have been here and we knew what that meant as far as conference seeding.
Later today, we are heading to Des Moines to take on Drake.  With our success on the road so far, it sets up really nice.  We understand where were at the in the conference and what we need to keep accomplishing.  Every time we go up there, they happen to play really well. They beat Indiana State a few weeks ago and shot lights out.  If we are locked in and prepared, we will change how things have gone in the past for us up there.

Next week, it is right back to the road as we head to Illinois State.  They are one of the top teams in the conference.  They have a lot of good players and I respect their coach a lot.  It is tough to win on the road, especially there where they have a good crowd; they almost beat UNI last weekend and it will be another tough one.

All season long, but especially with Mislav out, we have had a lot of guys step up.  I am proud of the way Taylor Stafford has been coming along.  He and I are really close and he is one of my best friends on the team.  He always says he wants to play more, but he understands that when his name is called, he has to come in and play.  Taylor has been lights out in practice and is one of the best shooters on the team.  If I pass it to him, I have faith in him that he will hit the shot.  He is a different type of guard than Boo or JB – he can stretch the defense and shoot from outside while Boo and JB are more of your typical point guards with their ball handling and ability to drive the ball to the basket.

Taylor has definitely earned the playing time, he has stayed patient and is getting the opportunity now.  He is here to score, he had 25 PPG in JUCO and he is adjusting to the new level.

It has also been great to see Adam Wing make his way back to the level he has reached.  When he was hurt, he pretty much lived in the training room.  He did everything he could to make it back as soon as possible.  He has been fantastic, screening, shooting and rebounding.  Adam is our vocal leader and his timing coming back has worked out
great with Mislav going out.  We hope to get Mislav back soon because we have not played with our full team in conference play so far.

Personally, I have been working to improve to where I was as a sophomore.  I have seen a lot of tape and have been attacking the rim a lot more this year than I did last year.  A lot of teams try to alter my shots and it is tough to finish.  I have turned back into more of a jump shooter to try and open the lane a lot more.  I try to get more transition three's and getting back to what has been successful in the past.

We are hoping to bring back a pair of victories this week and we'll see everyone at the Ford Center on February 7 when we take on Bradley!