Had my fill of Nova Wild Thoughts.

[CTWarrior]

A Philly Nova guy and son sat next to us-   
He said that he felt V played about their best first half of hoops of the season... but was concerned about the lack of PT for their bench going forward and how their top7 are showing signs of slowing down as a result. 
Then when the comeback began with our zone(s) he was was surprised that V continued to settle for long jumpers vs running their offense to drive then/or kick.  Gave props to Wojo for forcing that with the zone, as V is a good outside shooting team but only when they move the ball like they did on the perimeter early in the game. 

Denying that sort of activity seemed to frustrate V, resulting in a style of play late that they'd prefer not to settle for. 

Seemed to help fuel our offense, as they couldn't press after made baskets and KR able to see the floor with his height well late. 

Some nice adjustments by Wojo late, and an awesome response by the players to make those changes work.

Nova ran a lot of good offense, I thought, against the 1-3-1 and got a lot of open, in-rhythm 3s, but they just missed them.  Nice to see for a change, as it seems like down the stretch teams never miss against us. 

[mu03eng]

Imagine how much we would have won by if we made our free throws

Or the refs weren't borderline incompetent.

[mu03eng]

Hate to be a bit of a debbie downer, but I actually didn't like the 1-3-1. It worked in the sense that it forced Nova to shoot threes instead of driving. But it was giving them WIDE open threes all night. How we didn't get torched is beyond me. If nova had made 33% of their threes (6% below their season average) they would have won by double digits.

I'll take it as a sign that God was on our side last night. Take the win and run!

While they were open looks they weren't looks that Nova normally takes. Nova is a catch and shoot type of team, not a dribble and shoot team so some of those shots even though open were out of their normal rhythm. The corner 3s on the pass were going in (until our close outs got crisper there) as opposed to the dribble shots Hart, Bronson, and the DiVincenzo were taking at the top of the arc.

It was definitely a calculated risk, but when you're down 17 it's a risk worth taking. I will agree with you that the scheme wasn't totally working until Wojo decided to go small by pulling Luke(who played well FTs aside) and getting Duane in there which allowed Haanif to go to the wing, Katin to the baseline and Sam to occupy the middle. It put our best speed/length in the places where Nova was doing damage.

But at the end you're right to a point, if you want to beat a team with only one loss and the defending champs, ya gotta get some unanticipated breaks go your way.

[ecompt]

Or the refs weren't borderline incompetent.

Refs were OK except for them completely ignoring the stream of over-the-back fouls.

[4everwarriors]

This was another example, folks...

eFG% reigns supreme. Simple as that.

Free throw don't matta, hey?

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

While they were open looks they weren't looks that Nova normally takes. Nova is a catch and shoot type of team, not a dribble and shoot team so some of those shots even though open were out of their normal rhythm. The corner 3s on the pass were going in (until our close outs got crisper there) as opposed to the dribble shots Hart, Bronson, and the DiVincenzo were taking at the top of the arc.

I agree with this + we were already getting torched....so it disrupted the VU offense.

Divine intervention was strong last night....anyone else notice how many offensive rebounds that seemed to pass through/over the hands of VU rebounders

[mu03eng]

Divine intervention was strong last night....anyone else notice how many offensive rebounds that seemed to pass through/over the hands of VU rebounders

Tell that to the season ticket holder sitting right behind me who would screach "why can't they rebound!?!?!?" every time that MU struggled to get a defensive board when playing the 1-3-1.

[Loose Cannon]

This.  Under a minute, the clock is controlled entirely from the floor, not the table.  Refs wear a box that detects the sound of the whistle (which stops the clock) and starts when the ref pushes a button.  Not sure if the whole system was malfunctioning last night or the ref just fu@ked up with the button. But if you were in the BMO during warmups, you may have heard a ref's whistle blowing several times... they were testing/calibrating the system, which usually isn't done that close to game time.

Thanks for the Education

[dw3dw3dw3]

Anyone else notice the ref closest to the TV cameras called a foul after Sam's rebound with about 1.0 left but just got swallowed up in the excitement? I wonder what was going through his head? Probably just wanted to go home, clearing the court for 1 second would have taken at least 20 minutes. Sam most likely would have made both, but you never know. If the students don't rush, we are sweating through 2 free-throws and another potential nova chance to tie. Good job students.

[Benny B]

Anyone else notice the ref closest to the TV cameras called a foul after Sam's rebound with about 1.0 left but just got swallowed up in the excitement? I wonder what was going through his head? Probably just wanted to go home, clearing the court for 1 second would have taken at least 20 minutes. Sam most likely would have made both, but you never know. If the students don't rush, we are sweating through 2 free-throws and another potential nova chance to tie. Good job students.

Did not notice that, but probably the right decision regardless, and certainly not something I would argue as a coach of either team.  Having to clear the court, assess a technical, then award the free throws to Sam, etc. would have added another ten minutes to the game, not to mention, even in the statistically improbable event that Sam missed both (and Nova made theirs), having to go to a 5 minute overtime in January under those circumstances is not something any coach or official wants to be a part of.

[dw3dw3dw3]

Didn't think about the technical. That would have been an all-time debbie downer moment.

[tower912]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/villanova/20170125_No__1_Villanova_falls_at_Marquette.html

Philadelphia perspective. 

[muwarrior69]

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2017/01/24/mu-74-villanova-72-golden-eagles-stun-aps-no-1/96989750/

Wow! Five thousand dollar fine for storming the court. Can we set up a gofundme account?

[lohaus]

Wojo deserves credit where it is due.  He switched the zone up from having Rowsey as the bottom man closing out on the baseline.  When he was there I think they busted probably 2 or 3 3's in his face on his slow and low closeouts.  It was just that extra length that helped make those misses.

He also called a brilliant play to get Reinhardt the ball and force a switch with a slower big.  Draw a foul, make the free throws with your 92% shooter.

I loved that Wilson earned more time.  He was crucial in the comeback with his drives, shooting, defense, and his free throws.  Hopefully this increases his importance as the season progresses.

I think it was the aggressiveness in the paint, on the drives, and contesting for boards that slowly chipped away and created foul trouble for Nova.

[Benny B]

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2017/01/24/mu-74-villanova-72-golden-eagles-stun-aps-no-1/96989750/

Wow! Five thousand dollar fine for storming the court. Can we set up a gofundme account?

I'm surprised it's that low. 

Incidentally... the aftermath last night could have been a much bigger deal.  Some drunk fan (not a student) came running out of the tunnel opposite the students at "top-(drunk)-speed" towards the court after the game.  Just before he got to the back of the hoop, he stumbled, and ended up colliding with either Hart or Jenkins.  Whichever one it was just brushed it off and kept going towards the locker room, but the second I saw the impact I cringed because this guy had the momentum to do some serious damage to a player, let alone one of college's current stars.

Though I'm sure something like this happens every time a court is stormed.

[lohaus]

Luke, minus the missed free throws, played great.  Man, he finished that dunk like how he should have finished against Seton Hall.  Not clutch or pump because someone might came in to challenge.  He just dropped the Hammer down the lane!!

[MUDPT]

I'm surprised it's that low. 

Incidentally... the aftermath last night could have been a much bigger deal.  Some drunk fan (not a student) came running out of the tunnel opposite the students at "top-(drunk)-speed" towards the court after the game.  Just before he got to the back of the hoop, he stumbled, and ended up colliding with either Hart or Jenkins.  Whichever one it was just brushed it off and kept going towards the locker room, but the second I saw the impact I cringed because this guy had the momentum to do some serious damage to a player, let alone one of college's current stars.

Though I'm sure something like this happens every time a court is stormed.

Saw that and saw a student get in Paschal's face for some reason.  Paschal wanted to come back at him, but the security guard got in the way. That was the loudest I've heard it in their for awhile.  I always like the big weekday games for atmosphere, less families and more people that are into the game.  I went with two friends last night, but am taking the wife and kids on Saturday.

Refs were terrible for both sides.  The foul that Duane's 2 FTs came on, I never saw any contact.  Wright had to use his last timeout (after the Katin 3?), to get Hart back in the game.  He's probably in the game for defense if the has 3 fouls or less.

I was indifferent to the 1-3-1.  Lots of open looks and subsequent offensive rebounds.  As many have stated, if they make 2 or 3 more 3s we probably lose.  If anything, it slowed the game up. It tied the first Villanova game for 2nd least amount of possessions for our Big East games.  Villanova is really good and they beat most teams on their bad nights, so kudos to Wojo and the team for sticking in there and pulling it out. 

Can anyone imagine the pick and pop offense with Howard and Hauser in 3 years? 

[MUMountin]

Anyone else notice the ref closest to the TV cameras called a foul after Sam's rebound with about 1.0 left but just got swallowed up in the excitement? I wonder what was going through his head? Probably just wanted to go home, clearing the court for 1 second would have taken at least 20 minutes. Sam most likely would have made both, but you never know. If the students don't rush, we are sweating through 2 free-throws and another potential nova chance to tie. Good job students.

Did not notice that, but probably the right decision regardless, and certainly not something I would argue as a coach of either team.  Having to clear the court, assess a technical, then award the free throws to Sam, etc. would have added another ten minutes to the game, not to mention, even in the statistically improbable event that Sam missed both (and Nova made theirs), having to go to a 5 minute overtime in January under those circumstances is not something any coach or official wants to be a part of.

Glad someone else noticed this!  The ref on the opposite side of the court from the benches raised his arm with a little less than a second remaining and initially charges in and tries to clear everyone off.  The ref under the hoop also seemed to notice his call and started walking towards him.  Can't see where the third ref is in the shot, or what he did. 

I was really worried for about 10 seconds about whether they would try to clear the court and assess a technical on MU.  I think that was part of why Wojo reacted so quickly at the end--it looked initially like he was also trying to get everyone to clear off, but clearly to no avail. 

Thankfully, the refs got swallowed up (can't even really tell what happened to him in the mayhem), and must have quickly realized it would be futile to try and clear the court at that point.

On a side note--I know when I was a student, security used to bring out metal gates to (try to) prevent the students from storming the court, but clearly nothing was there last night.  Was this a change in protocol, or was the suddenness of the come-back such that they didn't even realize they needed to prepare for the eventuality?  My guess is the latter, which might make this one of the rare court-stormings (although I don't think anything would have held back the torrent last night).

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Honestly I think they realized that no barricade was stopping a court storming last night. Better to remove them than have someone get hurt jumping over or through them.

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

Refs were OK except for them completely ignoring the stream of over-the-back fouls.

The worst of when divincenzo flew in from the ft line and flopped on the back of the mu players late n they called a foul on MU

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

Glad someone else noticed this!  The ref on the opposite side of the court from the benches raised his arm with a little less than a second remaining and initially charges in and tries to clear everyone off.  The ref under the hoop also seemed to notice his call and started walking towards him.  Can't see where the third ref is in the shot, or what he did. 

I was really worried for about 10 seconds about whether they would try to clear the court and assess a technical on MU.  I think that was part of why Wojo reacted so quickly at the end--it looked initially like he was also trying to get everyone to clear off, but clearly to no avail. 

Thankfully, the refs got swallowed up (can't even really tell what happened to him in the mayhem), and must have quickly realized it would be futile to try and clear the court at that point.

On a side note--I know when I was a student, security used to bring out metal gates to (try to) prevent the students from storming the court, but clearly nothing was there last night.  Was this a change in protocol, or was the suddenness of the come-back such that they didn't even realize they needed to prepare for the eventuality?  My guess is the latter, which might make this one of the rare court-stormings (although I don't think anything would have held back the torrent last night).

I didnt notice the foul call but am glad to hear that he was calling it!!! It was a complete n total over the back n the ball almost went in.  I watched it a few times and remarked that it would of been a horrible way to lose, on a tip in at the hirm on an obvious foul.  Makes me feel better that the ref actually thought about calling one in our favor.

[mu03eng]

I didnt notice the foul call but am glad to hear that he was calling it!!! It was a complete n total over the back n the ball almost went in.  I watched it a few times and remarked that it would of been a horrible way to lose, on a tip in at the hirm on an obvious foul.  Makes me feel better that the ref actually thought about calling one in our favor.

Was calling an "intentional" foul after Sam collected the last rebound not on any foul with the follow up shot.

The foul call was a silly anticipation call when the Nova defender lightly grabbed Sam so it was a dumb call and that's why I think he didn't try to clear the court. I'd think those officials should have been feeling pretty sheepish, especially after that moronic clock management issue gifted Nova a TO.

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

Glad someone else noticed this!  The ref on the opposite side of the court from the benches raised his arm with a little less than a second remaining and initially charges in and tries to clear everyone off.  The ref under the hoop also seemed to notice his call and started walking towards him.  Can't see where the third ref is in the shot, or what he did. 

I was really worried for about 10 seconds about whether they would try to clear the court and assess a technical on MU.  I think that was part of why Wojo reacted so quickly at the end--it looked initially like he was also trying to get everyone to clear off, but clearly to no avail. 

Thankfully, the refs got swallowed up (can't even really tell what happened to him in the mayhem), and must have quickly realized it would be futile to try and clear the court at that point.

On a side note--I know when I was a student, security used to bring out metal gates to (try to) prevent the students from storming the court, but clearly nothing was there last night.  Was this a change in protocol, or was the suddenness of the come-back such that they didn't even realize they needed to prepare for the eventuality?  My guess is the latter, which might make this one of the rare court-stormings (although I don't think anything would have held back the torrent last night).

When ur pkaying #1 u leave tge gates in the tunnel

[MomofMUltiples]

Can anyone imagine the pick and pop offense with Howard and Hauser in 3 years?

Is that Sam or Joey you're talking about there?

[mu03eng]

Is that Sam or Joey you're talking about there?

Both