If he was healthy and it was called evenly, Marquise could have gotten 15+ free throws himself lol.

Having him out there on Born would have been nice too. I liked in the first matchup when TY was brought in to handle Born

Please dont post any such analysis on the MVC board because the mouth breathers will lose their minds.

I worry about Bradley....As Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory said about Wil Weaton..."He tasks me....and I shall have him" pretty much describes where I stand on Bradley....THe Tournament game from a couple years ago when we lost 54-53? was an incredibly physical game, they pushed , shoved and banged us around...specifically Townes and Custer....I had a talk with some people in the know....they said that for the Tournament the Conference uses Big10 officials who are used to officiating more physical games in the B10 and pretty much officiate the same way they would in a B10 game at our Tournament....Not sure how that will work out this year....One of the reasons I think we have struggled a little bit on offense this year is that our centers are just not a effecient on screens and pick and rolls as Krut was. If they let Bradley shove and push their way through screens and pick and rolls I will not be happy. Hope we are ready to play physcial basketball on Friday.

JCT - I don't know how you rewatched the whole game. I just watched the first five minutes and had to turn it off. Travel on Knight, phantom foul on an AJ three, Lucas doesn't catch a pass and it goes out of bounds, we get it to 9-8 and Welch for some reason switches onto Born two straight possessions and Born scores five points. Timeout.

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Few just random thoughts:

1. We built a 9 point lead (69-60) in the 2nd half after getting some big 3's. I really thought that was the point where we'd pull away. But a couple missed layups on the next two possessions coupled with UNI's hot shooting erased that lead in a hurry. Need better killer instinct.

2. The last possession...not the shot we are looking for. As others have said, Lucas should have drove the ball there. Although, as we found out on a Lucas drive at the buzzer in an earlier game (Bradley pt. 1 maybe?), the refs swallow their whistles on buzzer beaters as much as they can to avoid the game being decided at the line. Still, would have liked to see something different there.

3. There were some questionable calls, no doubt. But that's part of the game. I don't think there's any grand conspiracy or anyone is out to get us. Inconsistent officiating has been an issue in every single conference this year (and the past few years). We've benefited this year from some questionable calls.

4. While it's certainly possible for this team to pull off three wins in three days in STL, I am not counting on it. It's almost an odd feeling...kind of accepting that we aren't going to win Arch Madness rather than EXPECTING to win it, which is what I've felt the past four times. The potential road of Bradley-->UNI-->Drake/MoSt is certainly daunting. I am of the mindset that the auto-bid is our only chance to dance this year. We just don't have enough signature wins...really only have one (USF). Maybe it comes down to us and USF for that last spot in the "First Four" and that victory gets us in over them, who knows.

THis switching up top is the same scheme that got us off to a bad start against Drake,,,it seems like an intentional part of the defensive plan.....but it is curious.....dont know if it is being done incorrectly or if teams with better ball handlers have figured it out ....but watching Knight and Welch trying to stop ball handlers far out on the court is ...well nerve wracking

Right... people are in love with "switching 1 thru 5" but when you end up with a big on a quick guard 1 on 1... it worked a couple times later when Knight trapped out of it.

Also, put me down in the "no conspiracy" camp.

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Not winning the MVC stinks but I prefer the second round Arch Madness matchup against UNI much more than Drake or MSU.

Having calmed down a lot since Saturday, I've concluded a rematch against UNI is not the scariest thing. They aren't very good defensively and proved what they need to do to beat us: (1) shoot a lot more free throws; (2) hit long-range threes because those are the least contested three-point shots they'll get against us; (3) get a big game from someone besides AJ Green, in this case, it was Born and Carter; and, (4) not get into foul trouble because their bench is not as deep as ours.


Are they capable of beating us again? Certainly. However, a lot more has to go right for them than for us. We took them to OT without Kennedy, almost no meaningful minutes from Schweiger in the 2nd half and he was good in the 1st half, Uguak in foul trouble, Knight fouling out, and Welch in foul trouble. We overcame a lot and still had two looks to win it in regulation. We've been inconsistent since early January and just have to hope we play three solid games in a row. If we can do that, then I'm feeling good about Arch Madness.

UNI is a good team. But I agree. I actually would rather face UNI than any of the other top half teams. And I think UNI would rather face a few other top half teams than us. Bradley has proven to be one of our worst matchups the last few years. I think they hate us more than any other team or fanbase. Going to be a war on Friday afternoon.