Watched the game on the wonderful BTN+ and I’ve got to tell you, I was less than impressed with how we played. Especially in the 2nd half. So to look up and see us up by as many as 29, I was almost impressed we did that. Someone previously mentioned in a thread that we’ve been getting up so big early that maybe we let off the gas or lose focus. Either way, here are some thoughts.
The Good:
- Did what we were supposed to in terms of MOV. As of this morning, we’re up to a 10 seed in T-Ranks projections with an expected record of 19-12 (10-10)
- Freethrows early allowed us to separate.
-The boards! 55-35 advantage to us along with 16 offensive boards. When’s the last time we’ve dominated the glass like this?
- Mast had himself quite a game and almost a 1st half double-double.
- Eli Rice had 16-6 and was pretty efficient in doing so. He’s only going to get better too. Thems tough numbers to put up as a freshman… even against lesser competition.
The Bad:
- Turnovers… woof. 18 total and it was by committee. Some were just downright ugly/dumb passes and plays.
- Missing bunnies has been an Achilles heel of ours many years in the past. It reared its ugly head again last night. I honestly think that we started chucking threes once we missed quite a few bunnies. It’s like they went hand in hand.
- at one point we were like 6-11 from three or right around there. I even posted that we might have a good shooting team this year in the game thread. Boy did we clank some in the 2nd half though.
- Diop came in and gave us 4 fouls in 5 minutes. If he wants to see some action, he can’t be at a Wilhelm crazy foul level.
- We could have won by 40+. That’s the reality and that’s the difference between a higher or lower NET. Blowouts count in MOV. As we saw late last year… winning close has no real effect. So while 27 was nice 40+ would have been better for us.
How does this team look with KT and JG back? Whose minutes drop off? Do we have the legs to play 3 next week?
It’s a big chance to get to 5-0 with a win over a P5 opponent.