This was the UConn I was worried about 6 weeks ago

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

11.  We drove a sell out at the XL Center on a weeknight.

[tower912]

A deep dive was done and the biggest culprit last February and March was terrible transition defense.

Either Cracked Sidewalks or Anonymous Eagle.


Two of MU's 6 losses are to teams that were ranked #1 at some point.

[Uncle Rico]

I'm curious what they allowed per possession in February last year. The offense slowed but the defense absolutely cratered.

73 on 71
80 on 68
85 on 69
66 on 69
83 on 74
56 on 68
91 on 81
77 on 80

March Bonus:

73 on 70
95 on 75

6 of the final 10 games, teams had an effective fg% of 52% or higher.  4 games they won, it was 45% or lower.  It wasn't the offense last year, it was the defense

[mileskishnish72]

Ighadaro, OMax, and Kam went 19, 17, and 15 last month at Fiserv. 

Well, they were only 40 pts. off that tonight.

Could be just a stinker to a very good team. Could be for a second year Shaka got them to a peak too early. Let's let it play out. Losing to a team this talented (even the way we did) doesn't mean we can't continue this great season.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Marquette 18-1 in games decided by more than five points.

[Judge Smails]

MU had won 10 of the last 11 coming into this game dating back to Dec 27, with the only loss being a close road game against a good Xavier team. I'll give them a pass tonight given outstanding recent performances (yes, even an 8 point win against Butler counts). Every team lays an egg every once in a while, even good teams. We will bounce back. Way too early for calls of a Feb fade.

[StillWarriors]

An absolute piss poor effort on the boards.

No doubt. Can't overreact to this game, but I do hope it isn't the model going forward to not have any bruisers on the roster to withstand physical teams.

[Farley36]

No doubt. Can't overreact to this game, but I do hope it isn't the model going forward to not have any bruisers on the roster to withstand physical teams.

Yeah let's hope the team doesn't overreact either.  We wouldn't want them trying to make sure this doesn't happen again.

[connie]

Some days you're the statue.

[MuggsyB]

Well, they were only 40 pts. off that tonight.

Could be just a stinker to a very good team. Could be for a second year Shaka got them to a peak too early. Let's let it play out. Losing to a team this talented (even the way we did) doesn't mean we can't continue this great season.

I don't think we played an intelligent basketball game.  This goes beyond the obvious facts that UCONN destroyed us on the glass and shot the ball extremely well, especially from distance.  We sped up to a fault because we were pressing to get shots before their defense was set.

It's not just the lack of points from three of our best players, they made poor decisions in both the half court and open space.  Lots of ball-stopping, not moving the basketball with overdribbling, and not taking floaters and short range shots before Sanogo could challenge.  Very poor use of the shot fake as well, rushed and erratic shot attempts, and a number of charmin soft basketball plays.  Joplin had the same problems with these issues when he played today. MOVE THE FREAKING BASKETBALL.  TyKo cannot be our only shot creator.

What's the maxim?  Play with pace, don't hurry?  We were a click and a half too fast tonight.  Guys were out of control and lost in some odd and wayward place.  The Oso fast break lay-up brick was a microcosm of the entire game.  Stop, plant, dunk the goddamn basketball.  The hunger, focus, and tenacity was not where it needed to be tonight at all. 

All this said UCONN was really good .  Had we played well we probably still would have lost.  However, my disappointment is that we beat ourselves possession, after possession, after possession.  We panicked to tell you the truth and it's the first time that has happened all season.  We're a much better team than we saw tonight and I fully expect that this asssss-kicking will get our focus where it needs to be moving forward.

[Scoop Snoop]

I don't think we played an intelligent basketball game.  This goes beyond the obvious facts that UCONN destroyed us on the glass and shot the ball extremely well, especially from distance.  We sped up to a fault because we were pressing to get shots before their defense was set.

It's not just the lack of points from three of our best players, they made poor decisions in both the half court and open space.  Lots of ball-stopping, not moving the basketball with overdribbling, and not taking floaters and short range shots before Sanogo could challenge.  Very poor use of the shot fake as well, rushed and erratic shot attempts, and a number of charmin soft basketball plays.  Joplin had the same problems with these issues when he played today. MOVE THE FREAKING BASKETBALL.  TyKo cannot be our only shot creator.

What's the maxim?  Play with pace, don't hurry?  We were a click and a half too fast tonight.  Guys were out of control and lost in some odd and wayward place.  The Oso fast break lay-up brick was a microcosm of the entire game.  Stop, plant, dunk the goddamn basketball.  The hunger, focus, and tenacity was not where it needed to be tonight at all. 

All this said UCONN was really good tonight.  Had we played well we probably still would have lost.  However, my disappointment is that we beat ourselves possession, after possession, after possession.  We panicked to tell you the truth and it's the first time that has happened all season.  We're a much better team than we saw tonight and I fully expect that this asssss-kicking will get pur focus where it needs to be moving forward.

[MuggsyB]

We are flawed as are most teams.  The rebounding is obviously a massive issue. It's okay to be an effective team by playing as a team and understanding your strengths and roles. Today we were completely out of sorts Scoop Snoop.  Give UCONN credit but we lost our poise imo. 

[Lennys Tap]

UCONN is big, strong and athletic. When they shoot it like they did tonight they'll beat anyone. That said, our front court was awful, especially Oso. When they play that poorly every Big East team can (and likely would) beat us.

[MarquetteDano]

One guy that has annoyed me since I watched UConn play X is Newton.  And just as annoying tonight.

For a UConn player (who play typically tough) he gets the slightest contact and he acts like he has been shot by a high powered rifle.  The game versus Xavier was comical.  There is a great video of what they call "his greatest hits" of him just flailing all over the place.

[wisblue]

Wake up call. I'm confident they'll respond.

I don't buy the "they're tired" stuff. They should be no more tired than every other team in the conference.

My concern in this regard is that MU is significantly younger than some other teams that have several 23-24 year old players. Those older players have much more experience dealing with the grind of a 4-5 month major college season.  MU has very few players who have ever played as many minutes as they are being asked to cover this season.

It will be interesting to see how the team bounces back on Saturday.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I "knew" this game was going to go poorly halfway through the first possession. We got Sanogo to cough up the ball late in the shot clock. I saw it was heading towards Hawkins and thought "he's going to pick that up and then hit a last second three". Sure enough....A few minutes later he had 14 points.

I don't think we played as poorly as it appeared. UConn made some garbage shots. Allenye was 3 for his last 16 on the year and a sub 30% 3 point shooter on the season. He went 3/6 included a 1/3 court runner at the halftime buzzer. On the other end we got several open looks from 3 that didn't fall. We had three starters pick up two early fouls in the first half which threw us off.

Things I am concerned about, defensive rebounding and poor ball movement. After a few great rebounding games in a row (against not great rebounding teams), we had a dreadful performance on the glass. It wasn't even Clingan and Sanogo overpowering them for rebounds. You just have to accept those. There were multiple times when Newton or Jackson beat out three blue shirts for a board and most of them appeared to be lack of effort on our part.

The ball movement has gotten stagnant the last few games. Too much isolation and one on one. I don't think guys are stat hunting but coaches seem to be prepared for our attack. We need to hit our open threes to open up the driving lanes.

The most heartening thing about the game is that the team continued to fight even down 20+ with less than 5 minutes left. The most disheartening thing is that other than an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 17, we never mustered a run or counterpunch.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Looking at the box score, the difference in the game really was the three point line. We won the turnover battle by a lot. We were pretty much even in getting to the line. We outscored them inside the arc and shot a higher percentage inside the arc despite how badly they beat us on the offensive boards. The big difference is we had a crappy game shooting the three (5 for 21, 3 for 18 for all non-Kiwis) and UConn was on fire (12-23). That's not to dismiss this performance, that all can't be waved away as bad shooting game vs. hot shooting game, but it was certainly a factor.

[brewcity77]

UConn had insanely uncharacteristic shot making. Per Synergy, their expected points per shot was 0.95 and their actual was 1.19 which is UConn's biggest overperformance of the year. Marquette's expected was 0.94 and actual was 0.93, which is fine.

UConn couldn't miss early, got out to a 24-8 lead, and we played them even the rest of the way, but because we couldn't string enough stops to get it close to single digits, it was never close enough to feel at all comfortable. But seriously, some of the open looks we missed, some of the crazy, well-guarded prayers they made, sometimes it's just not your night.

This was first half Wisconsin with Hawkins playing the Chucky Hepburn role and no second half run to force overtime. It happens. On to Georgetown.

[Goose]

TAMU

The first possession set the tone for the game for me. They played good defense and almost forced a turnover prior to Hawkins hitting last second shot to beat the buzzer. He was off to the races and the rest is history.

[wisblue]

One thing I hate, and I knew would happen, is hearing the media, including local media, referring to UConn as "pulling off the upset".

In my book a 4 point favorite winning is not an upset. The game was upsetting, but not an upset.

[mugrad_89]

UConn had insanely uncharacteristic shot making. Per Synergy, their expected points per shot was 0.95 and their actual was 1.19 which is UConn's biggest overperformance of the year. Marquette's expected was 0.94 and actual was 0.93, which is fine.

UConn couldn't miss early, got out to a 24-8 lead, and we played them even the rest of the way, but because we couldn't string enough stops to get it close to single digits, it was never close enough to feel at all comfortable. But seriously, some of the open looks we missed, some of the crazy, well-guarded prayers they made, sometimes it's just not your night.

This was first half Wisconsin with Hawkins playing the Chucky Hepburn role and no second half run to force overtime. It happens. On to Georgetown.

The half court three at the buzzer pretty much summed up UConn's first half shooting.  If that didn't go down, I think we'd have made it a game in the second half.

[muwarrior69]

One thing I hate, and I knew would happen, is hearing the media, including local media, referring to UConn as "pulling off the upset".

In my book a 4 point favorite winning is not an upset. The game was upsetting, but not an upset.

I took that as a complement actually. When ever Marquette lost a game under Al in the 70s it was considered an upset. Nice to have a team that is doing so well that when they lose its an upset for a change.

[tower912]

TAMU

The first possession set the tone for the game for me. They played good defense and almost forced a turnover prior to Hawkins hitting last second shot to beat the buzzer. He was off to the races and the rest is history.

Yeah, that was kind of an 'Oh, crap.  It is going to be that kind of night' moment.

[Uncle Rico]

Yeah, that was kind of an 'Oh, crap.  It is going to be that kind of night' moment.

I knew it was over the moment the calendar turned to February.  Ever since Columbus sailed the ocean blue, jesuits have faded around lent

[The Sultan]

TAMU

The first possession set the tone for the game for me. They played good defense and almost forced a turnover prior to Hawkins hitting last second shot to beat the buzzer. He was off to the races and the rest is history.

We force a turnover there and we lose by 12 instead of 15.