The season is not over. Breathe.

[TallTitan34]

And one the ball was out of his hands and the shot should've counted

Agreed. It was out before contact was made.

[Ellenson Guerrero]

They were charges and I am glad it occurred now instead of in an NCAA tournament game. Howard will adjust, so that should not be a problem in the future. I still remember Dean the Dream getting called for 3 offensive fouls in NCAA tournament. The only game in his career that he fouled out and it ended our undefeated season. Lesson learned now in the long run may be a positive thing for this team. Also, MU played well with Markus on the bench. They fell apart when he came back in.

Did you actually see Howard's fourth. Cremo's set; Howard jumps; Cremo shuffles three feet to his left; Howard called for the charge.

[CTWarrior]

Two of the three the defender slid in after Markus had left his feet.

That's what I thought, but it was so close they're going to call that a charge a lot.  In Milwaukee there's a good chance a couple those go our way instead.

[Lennys Tap]

We shot it well. They shot poorly. Game was ours for the taking, should have won it handily.  Couldn't keep them off of the offensive glass, 18 TOs to their 7. Curtains.

[IrwinFletcher]

Markus' third and fourth fouls were blocks as the defender slid in after he had left the ground. One shot went in. That's 5 points we didn't get not to mention Markus sitting out with under 10 minutes.

[geps]

Key turning point was when Howard came back, and offense no longer went through the Hausers.  In fact, the ball rarely left Howard's hands.  The team needs to continue to pass the ball at the end of the game, even when Howard is in the game. 

They'll be fine.

Agree we seemed to lose all offensive momentum and Howard's wrist was clearly altering his shot. He miss his last 4 and that FT?

[TFlegend]

I think what's so annoying about the loss tonight is this is the exact type of play that gets you bounced early in the tourney.  Dumb fouls, dumb turnovers.

[skianth16]

we need more hauser at end of games. howard is great but not the same guy in clutch situations. both st johns and tonight he was chucking at end of games. bad turnovers and poor shooting by him. would rather set something up for hauser. if we are going to chuck shots, I want to see sam doing that

I was saying the exact same thing tonight. Markus is special. He's a great talent, and we haven't had many player like him at MU, ever. But he's not himself at the end of games for some reason. He played a big role in keeping us in the game in the second half, but I'm always worried when he has the ball at the end of the game.

Sam, on the other hand, always keeps his composure no matter the situation. I would much rather see him getting the looks at the end of close games.

[nyg]

Just saw stat line and noticed Markus had 7 turnovers.  Didn't realize he had that many.

Booth goes 3 for 18, but 10 for 10 from line and scored like 7 of Nova's last two points. 

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Booth goes 3 for 18, but 10 for 10 from line and scored like 7 of Nova's last two points.

Impressive!

[Class71]

Rebounds were the difference. Outcome was what most expected. We battled. On to the next one

18 turnovers with 7 from Marcus. Think he needs some work on that before going pro. Ball handling and turnovers need greater attention. Shooting and effort are his strengths.

[IrwinFletcher]

I was saying the exact same thing tonight. Markus is special. He's a great talent, and we haven't had many player like him at MU, ever. But he's not himself at the end of games for some reason. He played a big role in keeping us in the game in the second half, but I'm always worried when he has the ball at the end of the game.

Sam, on the other hand, always keeps his composure no matter the situation. I would much rather see him getting the looks at the end of close games.

Sam had a wide open look at the end and missed it. Would have tied the game I believe.

[muhoops1]

It must be comforting coaching a game with the officials in your pocket.  The men in stripes did not want to ruin Senior Day. 

Markus crap the bed at the end, but allowing a defender to slide under you while in the air is a disadvantage.

[21rooster]

I think Wojo sat Howard way too long. He's a G. He can play with 4 just fine.

I think it was fine to sit him.  The defense was better, and the team held the lead.  The problem is that Howard wasn't looking for the open man when he came back in.  All of the good ball movement ended at that point. 

[TallTitan34]

I'd also like to borrow Fran McCaffrey for that travel call on Sacar!  Woof!

[nyg]

Impressive!

Very.  12

[goldeneagle91114]

I think what's so annoying about the loss tonight is this is the exact type of play that gets you bounced early in the tourney.  Dumb fouls, dumb turnovers.

Like I said, the mistakes we made tonight are the difference between a good team and a great team.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

18 turnovers with 7 from Marcus. Think he needs some work on that before going pro. Ball handling and turnovers need greater attention. Shooting and effort are his strengths.

To be fair, three of those were his charges, all three of which could have gone the other way.

[mu_hilltopper]

I think Wojo sat Howard way too long. He's a G. He can play with 4 just fine.

On the contrary.  With Howard out, MU outscored VU 7-4.   When Howard came back in with 3 minutes to go .. MU scores 1 more point.

I mean, not that I'd sit Markus but .. the outcome could have been different -- and certainly no worse than 1 point .. had Markus been done for the night.

[muhoops1]

To be fair, three of those were his charges, all three of which could have gone the other way.

Should have gone the other way

[skianth16]

They were charges and I am glad it occurred now instead of in an NCAA tournament game. Howard will adjust, so that should not be a problem in the future. I still remember Dean the Dream getting called for 3 offensive fouls in NCAA tournament. The only game in his career that he fouled out and it ended our undefeated season. Lesson learned now in the long run may be a positive thing for this team. Also, MU played well with Markus on the bench. They fell apart when he came back in.

This is the most frustrating part. Sam was a different player tonight when Markus sat. Sam was the leader on offense, taking shots, keeping the offense moving. But when Markus came back in, Sam went back to a secondary role, and we relied too much on Markus.

With Sam having a tough defensive assignment tonight, I understand why he may may have been less of a focus on offense. But when he's hitting open looks, we may want to tweak the gameplan. We're versatile enough on offense that we can rely on multiple guys to score points. The team needs to be confident in that and not default to letting Markus take every shot late in close games.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Weird statline. We killed them on eFG%, not even close. Turnovers, offensive boards, and a little home cooking by the refs let them overcome the big eFG% deficit. The fouls, eh it's going to happen. The offensive boards, I really think a lot of that was a product of Nova clanking so many threes off the front of the rim. The ball was flying off the rim right back to the offense. Only a few times where I felt like we were outworked for a rebound. The turnovers, that's what really killed us tonight. Some just brutal passes to nowhere.

I have faith that we will get that cleaned up. Thinking we win out the regular season and win the BE outright.

[IL Warrior]

We see this sloppy play way too much and are fortunate we are in a mountain west type of conference.  We have not played any of the elite teams in a long time this season. Its not the look of a team ready to make a run

Huh? You can't be serious.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Should have gone the other way

Personally, I thought the first one was an obvious block, the second was a charge, and the third was close but I thought it was block.

[nyg]

On the contrary.  With Howard out, MU outscored VU 7-4.   When Howard came back in with 3 minutes to go .. MU scores 1 more point.

I mean, not that I'd sit Markus but .. the outcome could have been different -- and certainly no worse than 1 point .. had Markus been done for the night.

When Markus returned, he lost that airball to the roof and then Gillespie knowing he had four fouls, just drove around him and scored an uncontested layup.  Markus wasn't within three feet of him.  That one hurt.