It's striking that we held UNI scoreless at home for 7 minutes during the last 10 minutes of the game and lost. We were only able to get 7 points during that time period. One of the hallmarks of the 2018 squad was the ability to turn the opponent's offensive mistakes into points and go on punishing runs during crucial stretches of close games. This team clearly has the defensive wherewithal, but couldn't put it together offensively. Phyfe was huge for them. Krutwig missed a few more than he normally does down low and he made life hell for Kennedy and Williamson. There were just so many UNI turnovers we were unable to convert into points.

The free throw percentage is maddening. We are not a big team. Not being a higher percentage team from the free throw line compounds that issue.

Hats off to Lucas and Aher. Green looked miserable out there during regulation and had quite a few turnovers. I'm excited for the game in Gentile.

I'm not so disappointed. Taking UNI into overtime on their court is something I can live with, but that was a very winable game. With the exception of some late rotations onto their shooters in key moments I thought our defensive execution was flawless. Too many forced passes, forced shots, and missed opportunities on offense.

swella has triggered a UNI fan (“patnb”) to go on a rant on MVCFans.

Although on a serious note, the guy is only 8 posts in and has already gone on tirades against us, ISUb, & Murray St today and is rendering the board unreadable.

God help me, I'm defending swella over there.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

I'm registered at MVC FANS. Debating on whether to throw gasoline on the flames or listen to my better self and take the high road.

Suggestions?

Let the world burn...

I think we’ve all been around long enough to know the correct answer.

I was out of town this weekend so I had to DVR the game and just finished watching it. All I can say is that I’m surprised more people weren’t more encouraged about the game! I was thrilled with it! For the past 6 weeks we’ve heard how great UNI is and that they are the class of the MVC, at large bid talk, etc.

What I saw was a UNI team coming off of a loss, hungry for a win at home, who we completely stifled defensively. I would be more concerned if we played our best and lost but, even in a hostile environment, with some of our main guys having off-nights, we still took them wire-to-wire. If we are going to lose to them I would rather it be this game than at home or St. Louis. They didn’t outclass us and I think now, after seeing them head to head, I feel really good about our chances of winning the Valley, despite the loss.

I think the close loss is going to give our guys incentive to work harder now and we are going to make adjustments and go on a tear. This is NOT supposed to be our year - next year is.... and despite that, we are beating teams soundly we’re supposed to beat (5 solid wins and one close one with Valpo on the road), defending home court, and competing with top tier teams on the road. If we keep getting better - THIS is going to be our year. I’m very optimistic.

I was encouraged by this game as well. It was our biggest game of the year, which means that it was the biggest Division I game for about half of the team. Remember, our coaching staff has only been together for about 20 games. We were on the road. We were down by 11 in the second half in a packed arena against a team that needed the win and we methodically fought back. No panic by the coaches or the players. There were some shots we should have made, but our defense didn't suffer. No bad body language. I thought Krut and Williamson showed leadership. The players played as a team and knew their roles. I think this team looks better than last year's. We have a number of really good players and they are coming together. I wish we would have won, but I like this team.

Let's go Ramblers.

We played great defense in spite of not being able to play our typical defensive style. We weren’t really able to double the post as we usually do with Green, Berhow and Haldeman out there; meanwhile Krut was getting shadowed by the outside guard who could take swipes at the ball so he was working double duty. Lucas had maybe his best game of the year (his shooting wasn’t particularly impressive, but he was locked in); and honestly I was really impressed with Aher on Green. Needed a bit more bench production, Kennedy and Pipkins definitely seemed a bit sped up (Kennedy has been great at home, but outside Vandy hasn’t had a stellar road game yet).

Overall I’m happy though, the way this team has played the last month or so is way ahead of schedule in my book. And the adjustments they’ve made since the start of the season is so impressive.