Oops

[tower912]

Cinci made huge adjustments and came out with fire in their bellies.   MU didn't match the opponents' intensity,  for the first time since the Vandy game.  Everything that could have gone wrong did.   Cinci remembered their success having their guards and wings attack the basket.   They challenged DJO and Jae and dared other to beat them.   They attacked the press and held onto the ball.   Kudos to them.    MU never got untracked.   Only about the 4th or 5th time in Buzz's 4 years that he didn't have an adjustment to get MU back into the game.     Ah, well, let's hope MU brings the same level of energy on our senior night that Cinci brought on theirs. 

[lab_warrior]

Cinci made huge adjustments and came out with fire in their bellies.   MU didn't match the opponents' intensity,  for the first time since the Vandy game.  Everything that could have gone wrong did.   Cinci remembered their success having their guards and wings attack the basket.   They challenged DJO and Jae and dared other to beat them.   They attacked the press and held onto the ball.   Kudos to them.    MU never got untracked.   Only about the 4th or 5th time in Buzz's 4 years that he didn't have an adjustment to get MU back into the game.     Ah, well, let's hope MU brings the same level of energy on our senior night that Cinci brought on theirs. 

+1

Agree with every letter of this... just bolded everything that I felt was particularly glaring.  Just need to regroup, refocus, have a couple practices before this weekend, and play better.

[MUMac]

Early in the 2nd half, I thought MU had a chance.  Defense played well and Cincy started to miss.  Unfortunately, MU's offense never got on track.  Missed some opportunities.  Cincy then answered.

MU really was as poor with the ball as I have seen.  

All in all, a bad game.  Beat Georgetown on Saturday and most will forget.

[CTWarrior]

The only thing that really is worrisome for the balance of the season is that the bench has slowly, steadily become helpless.  Mayo did a few nice things, including moving 23 feet away from the basket for the 23 foot 3 pointer he's been shooting from 21 feet lately.  Other than that, Anderson, Jones and D Wilson did nothing positive.  

[nyg]

Good post.  But don't forget the bench issues.  Mayo hit a meaningless three and ended up with six points, but D. Wilson, J. Jones and Anderson did nothing and looked lost.  With Otule and Gardner out, it is imperative that they step it up and help out on Saturday for the seniors.

[79Warrior]

Good post.  But don't forget the bench issues.  Mayo hit a meaningless three and ended up with six points, but D. Wilson, J. Jones and Anderson did nothing and looked lost.  With Otule and Gardner out, it is imperative that they step it up and help out on Saturday for the seniors.

Yep.

[chapman]

Well, we get the mulligan for finishing alone in second with the 2 seed.  Now guaranteed that we would play Louisville with a win and the seeding holding in the BET as they're now locked into the 7 spot.  If we lose on Saturday we'd likely be the 4 seed and project to play 5 seed USF.  A USF win at home over WVU and a win Saturday gives the Bulls a double bye...crazy.

[Norm]

Um, Jones only played 4 minutes and Anderson only played 3 minutes. D Wilson played 5. Mayo played 23 minutes. Not sure you can blame lack of bench play on guys that barely played tonight.

[MUMac]

When they were in, during the 1st half, Juan played really poorly.  On both ends of the court.  Jamail struggled a bit with the d and rebounding - but who didn't?

[dwaderoy2004]

Surr you can. In limited minuted they looked terrible.  Prolly why they played limited minutes.

[bilsu]

The game got out of hand when Wilson got two fouls and Anderson came in for him. However, even before that our passing was terrible.

[nyg]

Um, Jones only played 4 minutes and Anderson only played 3 minutes. D Wilson played 5. Mayo played 23 minutes. Not sure you can blame lack of bench play on guys that barely played tonight.

Ummm, Anderson was put in for J. Wilson who had picked up the two fouls.  He was so brutal in a two minute stretch that he put in Jones.  Then Jones was just as bad and Buzz put Wilson back in with the two fouls.  Wilson then couldn't play defense with the two fouls and Cincy kept driving the lanes and scoring.  Just not their best night.  

[CTWarrior]

Um, Jones only played 4 minutes and Anderson only played 3 minutes. D Wilson played 5. Mayo played 23 minutes. Not sure you can blame lack of bench play on guys that barely played tonight.

There's a reason they play so few minutes.  With Wilson and Crowder having 2 fouls each relatively early in the first half Buzz really wanted to give Anderson and Jones minutes.  But while they were in the game it was a layup drill for Cincinnati.  Anderson came in and his man blew by him for layups twice and got his shot blocked.  They were overwhelmed today.  Just one game, of course, but Buzz seems to have less and less confidence in the bench as the season progresses.

[MerrittsMustache]

There's a reason they play so few minutes.  With Wilson and Crowder having 2 fouls each relatively early in the first half Buzz really wanted to give Anderson and Jones minutes.  But while they were in the game it was a layup drill for Cincinnati.  Anderson came in and his man blew by him for layups twice and got his shot blocked.  They were overwhelmed today.  Just one game, of course, but Buzz seems to have less and less confidence in the bench as the season progresses.

It was also a lay-up line for a while with the starters in. Oddly enough, Knight commended MU on their helpside D early in the game and then it all but disappeared.

The decreased minutes off the bench are not a matter of Buzz having less confidence in those guys, it's a matter of the only healthy big man getting hurt. In the BE opener against Nova, Juan played 1 minutes, DWil 6 minutes and Jamail DNP. Gardner and Mayo each got 20+ minutes off the bench. Take away Gardner and there's no big body to sub in for those minutes so Wilson and Crowder play even more.

[Canadian Dimes]

Ummm, Anderson was put in for J. Wilson who had picked up the two fouls.  He was so brutal in a two minute stretch that he put in Jones.  Then Jones was just as bad and Buzz put Wilson back in with the two fouls.  Wilson then couldn't play defense with the two fouls and Cincy kept driving the lanes and scoring.  Just not their best night.  

This exactly this... Knight on a couple occasions stated that MU was playing the worst help defense he had seen them play.  Well he failed to mention or notice that jae n jwil were in serious foul trouble n could not really help.  And yes juan n jamail were atrocious.

[Canadian Dimes]

Need devante back for that 3rd interior player... Juan n jamail are wings in their defense

[CTWarrior]

This exactly this... Knight on a couple occasions stated that MU was playing the worst help defense he had seen them play.  Well he failed to mention or notice that jae n jwil were in serious foul trouble n could not really help.  And yes juan n jamail were atrocious.

Agreed.  It was 11-9 Marquette when J Wilson left and Cincy went on a 10-0 run right after that. 

[jtrash37]

Worst game I've seen Jamil Wilson play all season.  He had some REALLY poor passes (TOs) and looked a bit out of sorts on D throughout.  He also missed shots he normally makes, making his game seem all the more off.  I suspect a rebound for MU on Saturday, in spite of Georgetown playing well lately.

[Lennys Tap]

Without Gates in the game (missed almost the entire 1st half with 2 quick fouls) Cincinnati went with a smaller, quicker lineup. Time after time they beat us off the dribble for easy baskets. If they had shot just an average % from 3, we're down 25+ at half. I haven't seen us so consistently outquicked all year. I love this team, but its volatility is crazy high with wild swings the norm (usually within games). And the margin for error is small enough that the rare times we don't match or exceed our opponent's intensity (LSU, ND, Vandy and tonight) it can get ugly. Next up Georgetown - a win Saturday means at worst our 2nd best season in almost 2 decades. Go Warriors!

[Warriors10]

You'd figure by now in their playing careers that they'd know cross-court passes, especially in a zone, do not work, but if they didn't know that by now they'd get it after the first five or six times they did it and it didn't work...

[JTBMU7]

This kind of stuff happens in the last week of the regular season...
1) Road game/Senior night
2) Cincy needs the win (mu really didn't)
3) Cincy is a bad matchup w their height and rebounding(esp w no gardner)
4) Good wake up call for a team that was sort of over-achieving the past month

Re-focus, re-group, get hot heading into the tourney(s)...

[MU82]

Second-worst game of the season, behind only Vandy. We had other bad stretches in games, but this one stunk almost from beginning to end. We never got anything going offensively and they beat our defense at will for long stretches.

Cadougan was awful. Jamil had his worst game in a long time. Mayo is lost. Even DJO and Jae were out of sorts.

This was the first time since Gardner went out that both Jamil and Jae got too many early fouls, and that led to a layup line for Cinci.

Add all that to the fact that Cinci just wanted it more -- for good reason -- and was at home, and it was twice as ugly as the final score.

[mugrad2006]

The thing about the game tonight that just baffled me was the blocks.  We worked it deep into the zone, but then layups just got swatted.  I'm not sure why it happened tonight but other nights we've been able to make those shots without the blocks being a concern, but it just stood out to me.

[BCHoopster]

What was worse in that game was the bench, Juan came in and they drove him right to the hoop.  Not sure he is Big East material yet, he is freshman that I think is playing out of position so it is hard to say.  Then Jones came in and they drove in for another lay-up and Mayo has the same issue.  Cinci was one step quicker than MU tonight.  Secondly, if the secondary players do not hit a shot once in awhile MU is doomed.  Give Nick Cronin a floor dance as he really turned that team around in that zone, did not throw the ball around like they did in Mke and had his players drive to the hoop as much as they good.  Will need some O from the bench as well, not much going on there, that is why Gardner was a big help as he is averaging about 10 a game.  Makes for a fun game Saturday.

[Wade for President]

Second-worst game of the season, behind only Vandy. We had other bad stretches in games, but this one stunk almost from beginning to end. We never got anything going offensively and they beat our defense at will for long stretches.

Cadougan was awful. Jamil had his worst game in a long time. Mayo is lost. Even DJO and Jae were out of sorts.

This was the first time since Gardner went out that both Jamil and Jae got too many early fouls, and that led to a layup line for Cinci.

+1

The mindless turnovers were infuriating.  Jamil's lazy one handed pass that led to a turnover (and DJO foul).  Junior's patented jump-in-the-air-with-nowhere-to-pass-the-ball turnover.

Oh well...regroup and get ready for a dogfight on Saturday.