Thought it was an OK showing. Obviously a massive step-up in competition. Wisconsin will be right up there with Iowa/Illinois/MSU in the Big Ten and we hung tough with them for a good chunk of the game. Ultimately our scoring draughts sunk us (which included missed FTs and missed wide open 3 point attempts). Krut showed he can score against some of the top big men in the country. Lucas showed he is a leader and very well might be our #2 this year (think most of us thought that would be Hall...who has just been incredibly frustrating).

Build on it and get a quality win on Friday. Richmond is winnable and will look really good on our resume.

In my opinion we should NOT play a BIG whatever team again unless it is Purdue or Minny -- Refs ??? to recall my days growing up in Chgo--THE FIX WAS IN

WE did need the practice
Decent game by us

goramblers2011 makes a good point about the step up in competition. Wisconsin is one of the best defensive teams in the country. Looking for their weaknesses involved a lot of hopefulness in terms of execution. They have a great home court advantage (which obviously hasn't diminished because of Covid).

The players that needed to perform especially well in today's matchup, IMO, were Aher, Lucas, and Tate. They are the guys that usually make the difference in crunch games, but only Lucas came through.

As a result of the sub-par performance from the 6'4" to 6'7" starters, Norris had to take more threes than he should have (and from farther out), Kaifes didn't take enough (and not enough stepping into them or behind screens), and Kennedy didn't do much at all offensively (1 shot-- two points on free throws). We know Kaifes can shoot from further out, and we have enough activity on the perimeter to get him some set screens.

The Micah Potter threes from Wisconsin seem not to be really an offensive weapon, but a psychological one, meant to explode your brain at the thought of a 6'11" 45% shooter. Potter was 0-2 from inside the arc and 3-4 behind it. HE IS 6'10", 250..... can't think of anything more frustrating to a game plan than a 6'10" guy playing shooting guard.

I spent all last night up sitting with my sick cat. This morning I took her to the vet, and at 1 pm I watched her be put to sleep. Something about losing a pet during a pandemic takes a lot out of you emotionally, so I don't even really know what I'm typing right now. I can't believe how much I've cried over a stray cat I got from the rescue in Normal 12 years ago, who became the unifying emotional star of the household. I'm just missing my cat Dora.

I'm sorry about Dora, that is the worst.

Losing a pet is just the worst. Especially when you've been locked under the same roof for 9 months. My condolences. Dora waits for you near the Rainbow Bridge (https://mcphillipsanimalhospital.com/fi ... Bridge.jpg).

Sorry to hear that. Losing a pet feels like one of the worst experiences in life. I still miss the mutt I had as a kid.

The selection committee will not look at Loyola with favor for picking up a game on the road, on a weeknight, in the middle of Covid, against a top 20 team, on 48-hours’ notice. They’ll look at the score, “77-63.” That’s a shame.

I have mixed emotions about this game. On one hand, we played “decent.” Krutwig played amazing. Williamson played great. Everyone else struggle (except Welch), and we lost. If 3 out of our 5 starters play well instead of 2, we have a chance against one of the better teams in the country. This was NOT a Boise State game. In Boise, EVERYONE (and I mean everyone) gave up.

Good luck to Wisconsin. I’m not saying the officiating completely lost us the game, but when the game was competitive, there were way too many one-sided calls. The foul on Kennedy, in light of everything that wasn’t called, was indicative. If you want to call it tight / fine. But on one play Norris was intentionally pushed to the ground with NOTHING. Kennedy grazed a guy’s hair and it resulted in free throws. Good luck getting those calls against Iowa and Michigan state in conference play.

With that being said, we still made mistakes. I have some criticisms and comments.

HEBB - I get it. He’s the future... but you’ve got Clemons, Norris, Kaifes, Hall, Williamson, Kennedy and even Wojcik (who I don’t think looks any worse than Hebb, but with experience). If you want to develop Hebb, do it against Evansville, ISU, Valpo, etc. Hell, give Hebb 30 minutes against Indiana State. I know it was 3 minutes, but at that point in the game, you know he’s not ready to lead a comeback. Bad call.

Uguak - 20 minutes, 0 points, 0 steals, 1 assist. Meanwhile, Tom Welch - 7 minutes, 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 of 3 from the field (with a three), playing center against 2 monsters down low. Let’s face facts - Krutwig is going to have to play 30 minutes per game. Theres a hole at backup for center right now / understood. But once Frank is on the court, if Porter keeps Uguak out there and doesn’t give Welch 15-20 minutes per game in the 4-spot, Welch should transfer out. He deserves better.

Welch has proven he’s made substantial improvement since he first got here. He doesn’t look slow, he’s demonstrated the ability to hit the 3, he can rebound, and even against 6’11” CENTERS he can still play capable defense. Just look at the numbers - the four other starters on our roster can all score double figures in a spaced offense. The only one who can’t (and never will) is Uguak. Aher’s stellar defense does not compensate enough for the void he leaves on offense. Defense is no longer an excuse for NO offensive production. If the other 4 starters were as great on defense as Uguak, but had his same offensive production, we would lose every game 55-32.

You put Welch on UIC at power forward in the horizon and he would average 13 points a game, be conference player of the week multiple times, and get the opportunity to shine at his true position. I feel bad that we are asking him to play backup center now, and might have him end up splitting time backing up Krut with Frank, while Uguak goes out and shoots 12% from three averaging 4 points on the year. Combine that with the fact that you know Anderson is going to get preference at the 4-spot next year, and you really have to wonder if he would want to stick around.

The question is - which is more likely? Uguak stopping far more points from being scored in a game than his minimal offensive production, or Welch consistently hitting more threes and getting more offensive put-backs next to Krutwig. At this point, I like Plan B, based on what I’ve seen.

When Frank is back, start Krutwig, Welch, Williamson, Hall and Norris. Had we done that tonight, we would have had a halftime lead at Wisconsin (or against any other Valley Team).

Kennedy - he’s going to get back to form. Give him a couple weeks. I think the COVID break set him back, but he’ll rebound.

Hall - needs to beat up on some lesser teams and get his confidence back. He will be fine.

Clemons - he’s obviously fighting back from injury. I also think he’ll come back to form.

I still think this team has enough fire power to dominate the Valley. I just think Porter has a lot of tough decisions to make to turn this team into a contender. I, legit, think there’s enough talent to get to the Sweet 16 (or beyond).

I agree on a lot of the points previously made. I'd like to think that Porter knows something we don't, and he has solid logic behind the decision to keep Aher playing as many minutes as he does. I personally think the minutes should be more evenly split between him and Welch, given that one has a defensive advantage and the other has an offensive. I think Welch could easily play 20 minutes a game now subbing for both Aher and Cam.

Tate is a good player, but it is obvious the mental component of the game gets to him. And I don't think he has what it takes to push the team along offensively against tough teams. He only scores big against teams like ISU. He scored below his average in the Bradley and UNI games last year. I hope he can gain some positive consistency this year.

I was surprised Hebb played minutes this game. I didn't understand the rationale behind that. I hope Clemons doesn't have to deal with his injury all season. He is a talented player. I'm not sure who I'd want starting between him and Norris though. Norris has been impressive on defense so far. Kaifes has been underwhelming so far this year. I get that he may be a bit rusty from his year off, but I hope to see an upward trajectory from here.

The Aher topic has been beaten into the ground...but with the seeming emergence of Welch, I believe it becomes more relevant. If Welch can provide halfway competent defense (and I think he can), he has to get more minutes than Aher. Welch is a legit threat on offense and can score from all levels. Aher should be a defensive specialist on key possessions or when we need to give Lucas a rest and need a lockdown defender on the other team's best player.

In my opinion, Clemons is our best PG when healthy. But Norris is right there.

Hall needs to figure it out ASAP. He is a key piece of our offense.

Wish we had a few more 'tune-up' games to try to get Kennedy/Hall going and Kaifes/Clemons up to speed. Maybe we can jump on the Redbirds early in a few weeks.

JCT, sorry about the loss of your furry friend Dora.
I know how much the love of a pet means. It is one of life's injustices that our pets live too short, leave too soon, and are able to accompany us for only a part of our life's journey.