Tremendous Win!!

[Mu8891]

UCLA is / will be a top 25 team for sure

[Mutaman]

Bona just picked up his 9th foul.

Not that many considering he's 40 years old.

[MuggsyB]

To win this game with Tyko being mediocre and Kam essentially sitting the last 8 mins is a huge positive imo.  We should be very loose and confident tomorrow.  Kansas will not be nearly that physical defensively. 

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Yup the only thing happier than all of us is our RPI.

RPI? RIP.

[El Guerrero 2]

Stevie will continue to start, as he should, and will get better. It'll all come down to minutes and lineups anyway.

I'm fine giving Stevie the honorary start, but Chase and Sean need to be playing the majority of second halves in close games. We can't afford to play 4 on 5 on offense and he's not big enough to earn his way on the defensive end.

[NCMUFan]

Stevie is a starter for a reason.
Don't think Shaka puts players on the floor to be honorary unless outcome of game is over and it is garbage time.

[avid1010]

More Sean and much, much, much less Mitchell. Brick Mitchell is to shooting what Walton is to announcing.

I feel for Stevie...you know he puts the work in...but it was shades of early last year when you could see he didn't want to find himself open from 3 or at the line.

Sean, Chase, and eventually Tre are going to be hard to pass on. 

That said, Stevie will have his match-ups/moments.

Great job by Shaka to sit Stevie and TKO at times tonight.

[Boone]

Of course Mitchell will continue to start but his shot is soooo bad....and has been his entire career

[Goose]

If MU wants to achieve the ultimate goal, Stevie Mitchell has to be a big part of it. He will have better days and I am not worried about it. That said, plenty of guys sitting on the bench that are ready to go.

[Lennys Tap]

I'm fine giving Stevie the honorary start, but Chase and Sean need to be playing the majority of second halves in close games. We can't afford to play 4 on 5 on offense and he's not big enough to earn his way on the defensive end.

The 17-0 run was poetry. The rest was a slog. But a great W. This old man needs to get some sleep!

[MuggsyB]

I don't think one can overstate the importance of that W.  To get a shot at Kansas and then Tenn or Purdue is fantastic.  Especially considering the alternative.  And yes, we can beat these teams.  We do have to step it up but are absolutely capable. 

[CountryRoads]

If MU wants to achieve the ultimate goal, Stevie Mitchell has to be a big part of it. He will have better days and I am not worried about it. That said, plenty of guys sitting on the bench that are ready to go.

Yeah, way too early to write him off. He'll be a big part in big wins this year. Maybe as soon as tomorrow.

[mugrad_89]

I wouldn't give up on Stevie.  From my observations he gains confidence when he gets a chippie or two during the course of the game.  There's no doubt he had a very rough night but I think he's more than capable of bouncing back.

He couldn't attack inside because of UCLA's size.  He'll continue to be a major contributor.

[PGsHeroes32]

Stevie still has a place. We won a lot of games last year with him as a starter.

I said in the game thread in the 2nd half that this was clearly just not a game where he had any benefit in crunch time though.

His asset is tough man D and against a big strong team like UCLA hes zero on offense is too much to overcome.

Sean and Chase are both much more disruptive defenders which is what you need against their big guys deflecting balls and causing strips and deflections.

[bilsu]

To win this game with Tyko being mediocre and Kam essentially sitting the last 8 mins is a huge positive imo.  We should be very loose and confident tomorrow.  Kansas will not be nearly that physical defensively.

Tyko was our leading rebounder. He also had 9 assists and 9 points. Game was not as bad as people (Walton)
are saying.

[MuggsyB]

Alright....time to move on.  What do we do with Dickinson?  Can we get under his skin?   I don't care for the guy. 

[Goose]

Lenny

17-0 reminded me of poetry from another era. I was just telling my sons this afternoon that Al's teams could look horrible for 30 minutes but two five minute spurts would be the difference in the game.

[MU82]

Never a doubt!

Took guts for Sean to take that shot, as his previous attempts didn't look great. But the kid had a heck of a game.

We played so well, operating inside out, to build a little lead. But then we got impatient and fired a bunch of unnecessary, early-clock 3s.

The officiating was brutal against us in the first half, but I thought it was OK in 2H. Also, it's hard to b!tch too much about the officiating when you miss a bazillion FTs.

We got much less than usual out of Kolek and Kam but still beat a team that's already good and will be real good by season's end.

Thank goodness Jop was on, because that made exactly one of our shooters we can say that about.

Stevie will still have some big moments for this team. Don't write him off too soon. We have great depth this season, though. So important.

Oso was enormous in the second half - right down to his great challenge of the tying shot attempt at the final horn.

Fun game, big win. Let's kick KU butt!

[MuggsyB]

Tyko was our leading rebounder. He also had 9 assists and 9 points. Game was not as bad as people (Walton)
are saying.

That's fair. 

[PointWarrior]

good problem to have but Sean & Chase clearly outplayed Stevie tonight...

[MarquetteFan94]

Stevie looks rushed and afraid when shooting, including his FT. Hopefully he shakes it off, after hearing all the work he put  in and "don't sag on Stevie," I was excited for some O from him.

[SoCalEagle]

4-0. That's all I care about right now.

[El Guerrero 2]

I live Stevie, but I honestly think he's too smart for his own good with that 4.0gpa. You can almost see him doing the math in his head while he's rising up to shoot. Here's to hoping he can relax and just play. We're fortunate though in being 10 or 11 deep.

[Mutaman]

I'm fine giving Stevie the honorary start, but Chase and Sean need to be playing the majority of second halves in close games. We can't afford to play 4 on 5 on offense and he's not big enough to earn his way on the defensive end.

Obviously you weren't watching last year.

[Heisenberg]

As I said vs Illinois:  Good Teams find ways to win.  Enormous triple from Jones the Younger and imo the P of the G.   Let's never forget to give diminutive players extra props!!!   

100%

This was like the Purdue game last year .... except they won it