We didn't look great at all tonight. An easy observation. After we pushed the lead to 22 or so early in the 1st half we went with some odd lineups and things got ugly. Some of that may have been guys not playing together and much of it was your D played with a lot more intensity.

I do think that our guys got complacent early and found it hard to kick back into gear. Again, much of that I believe also had to do with your D.

We too had guys missing shots that they should normally make. Especially in the 2nd half.

There's no doubt that Loyola is better than most MVC fans realize or are willing to admit. I think you'll make quicker strides than they believe as well. But don't be too quick to judge us based upon the game tonight. When we visit Chicago, I wouldn't expect the subs to get in quite so early because of what happened tonight.

But if you require a better performance since you seem so hesitant to accept that we have a very good program, I'm sure the guys will be willing to show you when we come to Chicago in a few weeks.

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The Roundhouse

I agree with rog gal that the Shocks didn't play their best. But I do think that we played very good defense. Ever since the Drake game I've seen a change in our effort and intensity on defense, led by Milt.

As for the rebounding, don't forget that we missed a lot of shots, giving WSU more chances for easy rebounds. I thought we really held our own. Osborne was especially aggressive on the offensive glass.

Maybe wufan and Sub have seen teams miss shots against WSU like we did tonight. I don't know. I know Indiana State looked awful against them. Haven't seen them many other home games. Wufan is probably right that their D causes some it. But... man. We are talking about some easy looks that didn't fall. If only two of our missed layups go in, it's an 8 point game (and 5 instead of nine in the closing minutes). Throw in a couple freebies and it's even closer.

I expect both teams to play better in the matchup at Gentile.

Our guys need to believe that they can win. If tonight a game had been played at one, maybe we do.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

But didn't your starters play most of the second half? I had to quit watching with about 8:00 left. The first half was a cakewalk for you. The second half is when the gap closed a bit.



I fully expect the Shox to play a better game in Chicago. As our Brot would say, they had tee many toonovers this night!

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MBB Scholarship Chart

They finished the 2nd half, but for a good 5 or 6 minutes we went with a less experienced line and that where things went south for us. At least to begin with. I think the lineup we had in when most of the run took play was Cotton at point, and then Wiggins, Coleby, Carter and Wessel. Green may have been in too for some of it. When that group started playing, I paid less attention to the game so I can't be 100% sure how things went but VanVleet, Early and Baker checked back in when it got down to around 10. They didn't kick it in gear though when they came back. At least not as Shocker fans would normally expect. And as I've said, I think some of that goes to them struggling to "get back into the flow" and much of it was the more intense D.

Your guys played D with much more intensity after that first media timeout of the 2nd. I don't think WSU was prepared for that as it seemed like they expected you to give in and roll over. I'll go back and watch the game again later this week, probably Friday, and I'll have a better idea of what happened in the 2nd half.

I'm not trying to take anything away from the Ramblers. There were even a couple of comments on our message board about how your team was playing with energy in the 1st half but failing to execute. We were impressed. But I will also say that this definitely wasn't one of our better games. I fear for Evansville on Saturday as 3G will have the guys extremely focused after this performance. They won't want a repeat. Another comment on our board also agreed with what I've felt for awhile, that you guys will be playing on Friday in the Lou and may get to skip having to play on Thursday.

With that said, I doubt the other Shocker board agrees as some of those blowhards are idiots.

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The Roundhouse

Five man lineups can make a huge difference.

But your starters played a lot of minutes:

Fred VV - 35
Early - 31
Cotton - 29
Baker - 26 and missed time with the injury

We had early foul trouble. Neither team shot well. Both played good defense. WSU was better on both counts. Especially in the first half when things almost got out of hand.

But don't make it sound like we played your B team.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Can someone explain why Cody Johnson starts but seemingly every game is immediately taken out and barely sees the floor again? He played all of 5 minutes tonight...only 4 more minutes than both King and Dokubo. Is there some clause in Porter Moser's contract that states he must start a center taller than 6'8 a certain number of games?

I think he wants to win the tip.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

So do a lot of drunk underclass girls at 1am, but both situations seem to be wanting a brief reward for not a lot of return after that.

Loyola has the second best defense in the league (66.6 ppg), immediately behind Wichita State (59.2 ppg) in overall points allowed, and the third best opposition's field goal percentage (.437). Indiana State's fourth lowest season points output in any game (65) was at Loyola. Evansville's third lowest points output (53) was against Loyola. Missouri State's third lowest point output of the season (57) was at Loyola. Illinois State's third lowest points output (59) was in Normal against Loyola. Drake's third lowest points output of the season (60) was at Loyola.

VanVleet's three points were a season low. He played more minutes in five games this year, but fewer in 13. Eight rebounds was a season high, but his three turnovers was a season high at home.

Baker had his third lowest scoring output on the year. Cotton held below average.

Lufile, Coleby, Wiggins, and Carter combined for only 15 points (they average 21.8) while making 7 turnovers in 63 court minutes. Only Cleanthony Early exceeded his average, and that was by six points in his sixth highest minute total on the year.

Yet the explanation for Wichita State's "bad performance" in their win on the Shocker board had nothing to do with Loyola. It was all because of Gregg Marshall playing the subs too long, and because of how that messed up their rhythm---- NOT because Loyola's play had any merit. Seems odd that every WSU player except Early just HAPPENED to have a well below average performance in more minutes than usual. Very odd.

Those minutes are pretty common except with 4 more for Baker and 4 less for FVV. What was different was the walk on freshman PG playing 2 minutes in the first half and our 10th man playing several minutes in both halfs. We generally play Baker, Cotton, and FVV 17 first half minutes and the first 12 minutes of the second half. The rotation brought in the bench much earlier tonight, and that was obviously not a successful move.