When Tony Danridge takes the court, he's in his comfort zone.
Turn-around jumpers, fadeaways, breathtaking dunks - Danridge did it all against Southeast Missouri State as the Lobos coasted past the Redhawks 102-58.
But as soon as someone asks Danridge to gauge his performance, he prefers to take a seat on the bench, so to speak.
"I don't know about how I played and don't really care," he said. "But as a team, we played great, and that's what matters most to me."
In his triumphant regular-season home debut, the aerial ace put on an acrobatic show for fans at The Pit.
Danridge led all Lobos in scoring with 16 points and was 8-of-12 from the field. He also collected five rebounds.
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"I feel good," Danridge said. "It's great to be back playing with my teammates. I am loving it right now."
After breaking his leg last year, Danridge showed no lingering effects from the injury against SEMO.
During Friday's thrashing of the Redhawks, Danridge had four dunks.
While Danridge appears to be the Lobos' lightning show, he said he prefers to hear the thunder of the crowd when his teammates rattle the rim.
"It is always great to get a dunk because it energizes the crowd and gets The Pit to raise up and cheer," he said. "(But) it is actually better to hear the crowd when someone like A.J. (Hardeman) is getting four dunks in a game."
Danridge's first points came early in the game when he hit a quick jumper from the top of the key.
Later in the game, Danridge wowed the crowd, corralling an alley-oop from point guard Dairese Gary and rotating 180 degrees and laying it up.
The crowd went nuts when the replay was shown on the big screen.
However, as tricky as Danridge may seem on the court, he is just as enigmatic off the court.
Danridge usually avoids talking directly about himself. It's always about "we."
"As a team, we played good defense," Danridge said. "We need to focus on one game at a time and concentrate on being physical for 40 minutes at a time. The freshmen were incredible. A.J. and Phil (McDonald) played good - all the freshmen did. They all played like they're veterans, like they have a year of playing collegiate basketball under their belt."
And as long as his athleticism continues to paint pictures, who needs words?
But as flawless as Danridge's performance appeared to be on Friday, he said it's a work in progress.
"I have to improve on all aspects of my game," he said. "I just have to get better every day - work on the little details (and) the big details. It is just a matter of striving to get better in practice."
Men's basketball vs. Grambling State
Thursday, 7 p.m.
The Pit
