Crushing, self-inflicted, disaster.

[Autoengineer]

They were going to in bound it to Oso. What exactly is he going to do with it?

Hand it off to Greg.  That's why Greg was caught leaning so far forward.  I'm sure he was told to sprint past Oso, take the handoff and hit a 3 on the run.  Not sure why Greg thought he needed his toes right on the line tho.  That being said, in the replay I saw, i didn't think his toe touched over the line. 

[MU82]

Shaka, when asked about Kolek sitting:

"He was throwing the ball to the other team. And you go on the road, in a place like this, an environment like this, you have to have a look on your face of being a gladiator. I thought we had that at times today; at other times, we didn't."

Interesting that the "gladiator" remark came as a direct response to a question about Kolek.

Shaka post-game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eK4Ch2jj98

He also gave credit to Creighton for repeatedly pulling late-clock buckets out of their keisters, he gently criticized the refs, and he lamented the number of missed bunnies.

[fjm]

Fire WOJO!

Shaka would never allow this to happen right 5dollarbitcher?

But seriously good game. Shoulda won. Missed open shots that almost always go down. Bounce back time. Let's see how quickly we mature and bounce back cause otherwise 10seed incoming.

[bradforster]

Hopefully MU and Creighton finish fourth and fifth in conference play.  That would produce a quarterfinal match up between the two teams at MSG and maybe this time we can win the damn game!

[MU82]

A thoroughly well-earned loss. You can't win when your most experienced players, including arguably your two best, make the kind of mistakes ours did down the stretch.

Putting Kolek back in, ice cold, with a couple minutes left in a tight road game ... I don't know about that. As for sitting Kolek as long as Shaka did, yes, on the surface, it seems like it was a bit too much "punishment." But Kolek had played poorly, and the team was functioning well without him. Until we know a little more, I'm gonna give the benefit of the doubt on this one to the coach who is right there on the sideline and who has a sense of his player's mindset.

Elliott didn't play very well either, especially on offense, as he's been in a bit of a shooting slump. On his "Lazar Moment" play, most coaches I know tell their inbounder to stand a foot or so back from the line to prevent exactly what happened. I'd love to know why Greg was standing about a half-inch from the line in the first place. Terrible mistake by a 5th-year guy (one I like very much), and perhaps a coaching error too.

Morsell was a stud most of the game, though he was loose with the ball even before his final killer turnover.

[brewcity77]

While I would've liked Kolek in on the last play, I think Kalkbrenner is the reason he didn't really play in the second half. As I mentioned before the game, Creighton is a bad matchup because they are elite defending pick and roll. Tyler gets all his action off pick and roll, but Kalkbrenner kills him because he shuts down passing lanes with length and interior awareness and if Tyler drives to score, he gets smothered.

The biggest issue today is we probably locked ourselves into the 4/5 line in the BET and will see Creighton or UConn in the opener at MSG, which are our two worst matchups in the league.

Our best hope was wearing them down and it almost worked. We outscored them 20-10 from the 12-4 minute marks, but then turned it over twice and missed two no-footers while Creighton did just enough to escape. Probably needed some more press earlier.

[bradforster]

A thoroughly well-earned loss. You can't win when your most experienced players, including arguably your two best, make the kind of mistakes ours did down the stretch.

Putting Kolek back in, ice cold, with a couple minutes left in a tight road game ... I don't know about that. As for sitting Kolek as long as Shaka did, yes, on the surface, it seems like it was a bit too much "punishment." But Kolek had played poorly, and the team was functioning well without him. Until we know a little more, I'm gonna give the benefit of the doubt on this one to the coach who is right there on the sideline and who has a sense of his player's mindset.

Elliott didn't play very well either, especially on offense, as he's been in a bit of a shooting slump. On his "Lazar Moment" play, most coaches I know tell their inbounder to stand a foot or so back from the line to prevent exactly what happened. I'd love to know why Greg was standing about a half-inch from the line in the first place. Terrible mistake by a 5th-year guy (one I like very much), and perhaps a coaching error too.

Morsell was a stud most of the game, though he was loose with the ball even before his final killer turnover.

All good points.

[Viper]

Lot of silly hyperbole here.

Is Shaka an upgrade?  Hysterical.

silly? Maybe, I suppose. Maybe not. But, you really didn't offer anything. It's hysterical that yes, Shaka is an upgrade over Woj? Or, it's hysterical because of course Shaka is not an upgrade? Is the BE stronger this year than in years past, or weaker? Is Marquette's conf record to this point  impressive?...or not necessarily? I'm glad Woj is no longer coaching MU, but this season is trending more of the been there done that.

[Mu8891]

Terrible play by Elliot..,

HS kids know u stand a foot or more behind the line

WHY was he two inches from the line to begin with??  Either an idiotic play by a Sr or poor coaching

[bradforster]

Terrible play by Elliot..,

HS kids know u stand a foot or more behind the line

WHY was he two inches from the line to begin with??  Either an idiotic play by a Sr or poor coaching

It never should have gotten to that point.  The meltdown really started after the terrible MU possession with the five point lead.  They missed a prayer of a deep three and never scored a FG again until the garbage time shot from Jones with .6 left.  Unforced errors, missed layups, bad free throw shooting - this one really had all the ingredients of a complete giveaway.

[panda]

silly? Maybe, I suppose. Maybe not. But, you really didn't offer anything. It's hysterical that yes, Shaka is an upgrade over Woj? Or, it's hysterical because of course Shaka is not an upgrade? Is the BE stronger this year than in years past, or weaker? Is Marquette's conf record to this point  impressive?...or not necessarily? I'm glad Woj is no longer coaching MU, but this season is trending more of the been there done that.

When I start to see significant team dissension and pathetic blow out losses, I'll start to compare this to a Wojo collapse.

Losing to good teams on the road is frustrating but not cause for panic.

[GoldenEagles03]

When I start to see significant team dissension and pathetic blow out losses, I'll start to compare this to a Wojo collapse.

Losing to good teams on the road is frustrating but not cause for panic.

Marquette is playing as a 230ish ranked defense over the past 4 games against teams that aren't that good offensively.

It's no mystery why every team seems to have their best offensive game of the season when they play Marquette.

The trajectory is what's concerning.  No reason to compare anything to Wojo. This is a new mess to sort through.

2 of the next 3 are at home so if they lose 1 or 2 of them and miss the tournament there is no one to blame but themselves.

Wojo teams never had accountability.  Accountability needs to be had starting right now or the same things are going to happen.

Hopefully this team finds it again because I think they have the makeup to do damage, but they just are not always together.

[bradforster]

Meanwhile, Providence remained composed while completing a 19 point comeback without its most clutch performer - Durham.  Good teams find a way to win.  Jay Wright and company do it year after year.  I hope one day our program will demonstrate that type of poise and timely play making on a consistent basis.  We're simply not there yet.

[Newsdreams]

Terrible play by Elliot..,

HS kids know u stand a foot or more behind the line

WHY was he two inches from the line to begin with??  Either an idiotic play by a Sr or poor coaching

He always leans way forward. I always think he is about to step over the line.

[connie]

The title says it all.   

[panda]

Marquette is playing as a 230ish ranked defense over the past 4 games against teams that aren't that good offensively.

It's no mystery why every team seems to have their best offensive game of the season when they play Marquette.

The trajectory is what's concerning.  No reason to compare anything to Wojo. This is a new mess to sort through.

2 of the next 3 are at home so if they lose 1 or 2 of them and miss the tournament there is no one to blame but themselves.

Wojo teams never had accountability.  Accountability needs to be had starting right now or the same things are going to happen.

Hopefully this team finds it again because I think they have the makeup to do damage, but they just are not always together.

And despite all of that, we were in the game all four losses (on the road) against three top half conference teams and Butler who is playing much better ball.

Todays loss was wildly frustrating but not a sign of a larger sense of concern.

[Herman Cain]

We played on the road , in an arena packed with 18,192 people against a decent team . We lost by one point.

I am confident MU will get back on a winning streak to end the season .

[cheebs09]

Meanwhile, Providence remained composed while completing a 19 point comeback without its most clutch performer - Durham.  Good teams find a way to win.  Jay Wright and company do it year after year.  I hope one day our program will demonstrate that type of poise and timely play making on a consistent basis.  We're simply not there yet.

It's Shaka's first year with a team that has 10 new players. I think we all expected an up and down season. People are just upset we are in a down part. The ups have also been higher than most expected.

There's growing pains, but I still feel this team is progressing.

[Newsdreams]

We played on the road , in an arena packed with 18,192 people against a decent team . We lost by one point.

I am confident MU will get back on a winning streak to end the season .

We lost by one point a game we gave away again. Giving Morsell PG duties at both ends of half was a mistake. Same result both times.

[MU82]

While I would've liked Kolek in on the last play, I think Kalkbrenner is the reason he didn't really play in the second half. As I mentioned before the game, Creighton is a bad matchup because they are elite defending pick and roll. Tyler gets all his action off pick and roll, but Kalkbrenner kills him because he shuts down passing lanes with length and interior awareness and if Tyler drives to score, he gets smothered.

The biggest issue today is we probably locked ourselves into the 4/5 line in the BET and will see Creighton or UConn in the opener at MSG, which are our two worst matchups in the league.

Our best hope was wearing them down and it almost worked. We outscored them 20-10 from the 12-4 minute marks, but then turned it over twice and missed two no-footers while Creighton did just enough to escape. Probably needed some more press earlier.

Agree with all this, except I'm not the least bit afraid of Creighton in the BET.

We've played them twice and gave away both games. We didn't win, and there's no banner for almost beating Creighton, but they are not in the same class as UConn when it comes to a team I don't want to play.

I kind of like the idea of Creighton on Thursday, Providence on Friday and Nova on Saturday.

[mileskishnish72]

8 assists is a testimony to how bad our ball movement was (and Kolek's absence).

19-8 on PF's was a factor also.

[Viper]

Agree with all this, except I'm not the least bit afraid of Creighton in the BET.

We've played them twice and gave away both games. We didn't win, and there's no banner for almost beating Creighton, but they are not in the same class as UConn when it comes to a team I don't want to play.

I kind of like the idea of Creighton on Thursday, Providence on Friday and Nova on Saturday.

I'll take that stretch too

[GoldenEagles03]

I'll take that stretch too

More concerned with beating Butler, DePaul, and St. John's first.

Butler just had a 23 point lead on us and followed that up by losing to St. John's by almost 40.

We may have built a safety net on the resume, but we aren't playing any better than those 3 right now.

I'll worry about the BET if we can make it there in good shape.

[ATWizJr]

We are trending down and have lost our momentum. Does not bode well.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Marquette is playing as a 230ish ranked defense over the past 4 games against teams that aren't that good offensively.

It's no mystery why every team seems to have their best offensive game of the season when they play Marquette.

The trajectory is what's concerning.  No reason to compare anything to Wojo. This is a new mess to sort through.

2 of the next 3 are at home so if they lose 1 or 2 of them and miss the tournament there is no one to blame but themselves.

Wojo teams never had accountability.  Accountability needs to be had starting right now or the same things are going to happen.

Hopefully this team finds it again because I think they have the makeup to do damage, but they just are not always together.

Win 1/3 games and they're making the tournament. Concerning trend lately but missing the tournament isn't really a realistic concern at this point. Lose to a butler next weekend and the concern can become a little more legit. Done plenty of damage to our seeding in Feb tho.