Who actually thought MU was going to blow a 30 point lead?
Yes, they are a young team that hasn't been in that position this season. But the lead never dropped below 15. Were you actually worried at 15 with only a few minutes left?
At halftime, I felt we needed to get to 76 to feel confident of winning. When our offense dried up (0.579 ppp from the 15:40 mark until the 4:00 mark) as Creighton's threes started to fall, I did think there was a chance. This team has too adept at giving up leads for me to feel confident against an offense as explosive as Creighton's.
Scoring on three consecutive possessions after that clearly put it away, but yes, this team had me worried because they have shown themselves too good at being bad more consistently than they've shown the ability to win.
Not me, I went to bed after the first half. I hope you take that as a compliment.
My wife kept saying it and I pointed out math
With 7 minutes left: it's taken them 13 minutes to shave 10 points you really think they can shave 20 more points in 7 minutes?
Too big of a lead. And the team has shown enough improvement lately that I never worried for a second. Kept watching from the perspective of seeing how the young guys learned to handle the situation.
Quote from: muwarrior69 on January 28, 2026, 06:50:09 AMNot me, I went to bed after the first half. I hope you take that as a compliment.
Nigel channeling Artie Green...worth watching to the end! (post game interview with Katz, he seems like a really good guy too)
Creighton has scored 52 in a half twice this season, including in their most recent game against Xavier. After the U16, they went on a 7-0 run in about a minute, and later in the half went on a 9-1 run to cut the lead to 16 with about 5 minutes left.
I'm old enough to remember the collapse at the Yum! Center with Dwight Buycks, and old enough to remember Maryland's 17-3 run over a 3 minute span. That Louisville team was much better than we are, and Creighton's offense is much better than Maryland's.
78-60 was the first time I felt fully secure. That's also the point where the game went analytically final per Haslametrics.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1037928461857194046/1465920864217468938/20221126_223052.jpg?ex=697adcb1&is=69798b31&hm=820137dca509ee27db06112b6dff8ae9a1c6762301e7520f4ae527519e254930&)
Not worried but I didn't think it was an absolute lock for some of the reasons above.
And, as I mentioned elsewhere, I was disappointed they started settling for 3s in the 2nd half and went away from what was working so well.
I was definitely nervous, down to about five minutes. With this team, if there is a way to lose, they will discover it.
That said, one knew there would be a regression to the mean in the second half. They shot 67 percent in the first half. That's awfully tough to maintain through an entire game.
Glad they played well and hope they have this in them in the days ahead.
I was.
https://gomarquette.com/news/2011/1/15/Louisville_Rallies_For_71_70_Win_Over_Marquette
Quote from: Spaniel with a Short Tail on January 28, 2026, 08:07:44 AMI was.
https://gomarquette.com/news/2011/1/15/Louisville_Rallies_For_71_70_Win_Over_Marquette
With six minutes left, I told my wife we were going to defeat Louisville by the largest margin in Yum! Center history. Then that happened.
My buddy texted when they went up 70-46. CU immediately had a 5-0 run. I was convinced that was the start of the comeback.
Quote from: Vander Blue Man Group on January 28, 2026, 07:51:56 AMNot worried but I didn't think it was an absolute lock for some of the reasons above.
And, as I mentioned elsewhere, I was disappointed they started settling for 3s in the 2nd half and went away from what was working so well.
Agree. I expected a very different second half. A combination of Marquette having played at a furious pace and wearing themselves down plus McDermott ordering changes for his team at halftime was almost certainly going to result in a flipped script to a degree.
To answer Tower's question...no, but if the halftime lead had been 20 rather than 29? Yep.
When threes started dropping for them I admit to getting concerned after we had a few unsuccessful trips down the court. Our young guys handled it well and runs are expected
Quote from: brewcity77 on January 28, 2026, 08:33:35 AMWith six minutes left, I told my wife we were going to defeat Louisville by the largest margin in Yum! Center history. Then that happened.
Did Buycks like slip or something on a breakaway layup that likely would've put the game away?
I was out last night so wasn't following things, but I was at the famous 2005 NCAA where Illinois was down 15 with four minutes to go and went on to beat Arizona to make the Final Four( definitely in my top tier of games I have attended -I was rooting for Illinois so was happy that night). So I am always nervous no matter the lead, until we near the very end...
Quote from: Galway Eagle on January 28, 2026, 09:49:00 AMDid Buycks like slip or something on a breakaway layup that likely would've put the game away?
He slipped mentally. The most brain dead play I've ever seen in a basketball game. This includes the time when a kid on my grade school team shot at the wrong basket.
Quote from: CountryRoads on January 28, 2026, 10:18:09 AMHe slipped mentally. The most brain dead play I've ever seen in a basketball game. This includes the time when a kid on my grade school team shot at the wrong basket.
Everything about this post is pure gold.
No, it was done. 20 point lead at half is doable. We were up 31 with 19 minutes left. Game was over at halftime.
After the game I checked if the numbers aligned with my in game confidence, and our win probability never dropped below 99%. It was done.
Quote from: CountryRoads on January 28, 2026, 10:18:09 AMHe slipped mentally. The most brain dead play I've ever seen in a basketball game. This includes the time when a kid on my grade school team shot at the wrong basket.
A friend of mine coached a Middle School team. He noticed that one kid in particular never had his arms up and corrected him. I think it is a fair guess that this kid was not at the top of his class, because he then went onto the court and kept his arms up the entire time. ;D
Quote from: brewcity77 on January 28, 2026, 08:33:35 AMWith six minutes left, I told my wife we were going to defeat Louisville by the largest margin in Yum! Center history. Then that happened.
Dammit!
So you're the guy to blame.
Agree Win helped Us standings wise We are out of last place. Was not nervous about losing but Marquette is last in the conference in Overall Record and NET and Kenpom even after the big margin win. Preferred to get closer to our conference in NET and Kenpom and was nervous from that standpoint.
Quote from: muwarrior69 on January 28, 2026, 06:50:09 AMNot me, I went to bed after the first half. I hope you take that as a compliment.
This is extremely sad....
Quote from: dgies9156 on January 28, 2026, 07:52:54 AMI was definitely nervous, down to about five minutes. With this team, if there is a way to lose, they will discover it.
That said, one knew there would be a regression to the mean in the second half. They shot 67 percent in the first half. That's awfully tough to maintain through an entire game.
Glad they played well and hope they have this in them in the days ahead.
Now we only need you to open up your wallet and MU will get the portal prize.
In the game at Creighton, they had something like a 24-2 run, so I wasn't feeling bulletproof until we put the game away with about 4-5 minutes left.
But no, I never really thought there was a possibility that we'd lose at any point after halftime.
Most of the second half wasn't great but I was never worried.
Quote from: The Lens on January 28, 2026, 07:03:51 AMMy wife kept saying it and I pointed out math
With 7 minutes left: it's taken them 13 minutes to shave 10 points you really think they can shave 20 more points in 7 minutes?
Honestly, wilder things have happened.
Quote from: MuMark on January 28, 2026, 02:04:13 PMMost of the second half wasn't great but I was never worried.
They smartly left us wide open from 3 early in the shot clock, and we missed several attempts. It reminded me a little of our win over #1 Nova in 2017, when they helped us come back by taking a bunch of quick 3s.
But yesterday we finally started working the clock a bit and got back to taking it into the paint again. Also helped that we got a couple steals.