GAME 18 Minnesota: Not being able to match your opponent

[bac2therac]

First I will start by saying that Minnesota deserved this win. Johnson did an excellent job getting his team to mentally prepare for this game and bring the confidence. He challenged multiple players to elevate their game. He asked 3 players to play the entire 40 minutes. The Gophers rode the wave of confidence play by play. Tip your cap to them. They outplayed Rutgers in every facet of the game given they were shorthanded. Had Rutgers won on a last shot, Minnesota still would have deserved it. I was actually a little worried when I found out that Minnesota had players out. I have seen this many times where a school has some players out and then surrounding guys simply step up. Remember RU doesnt prepare against a depleted team. They prepare against the Minnesota they see on tape.

Sure Rutgers could have won the game today if Geo's 3 went down or Ron drove to the hoop and hit a layup but losing does come down to those shots. The loss comes down to Rutgers collectively including the coaching staff not able to match the energy level and confidence that Minnesota players and coaching staff brought to the game. Minnesota elevated and competed at another level then their depleted roster would seem to indicate. To do the necessary to win, Rutgers would also need to be disciplined in the first half and shunt the idea that Minnesota could be comfortable in this game. That simply did not happen. Minnesota had some unconscious shooting true but our defense was not in disruption mode. Consider that RU had just 3 first half fouls vs a team you would want to pressure their ball handling. RU wasnt all that bad in half court forcing late prayers which credit to Minnestoa they hit but I just didnt feel they did enough that bothered Minny and made them scramble like they did vs Iowa and in the 2nd half of Maryland. This game was lost in the first minutes of the game...down 7-0 and 17-5 after about 6 and half minutes. I do not care who you are playing. You are going to have a difficult time winning if you spot yourself a hole like that while giving the other team confidence. To fact that RU made a huge run of 19-2 and was still down at halftime is incredibly telling. RU took a 5 point lead at 27-22 with 6 minutes left and then went into an absurd offensive funk. RU would make just one fg in the last 6 minutes, outscored 8-3 as Minny hit another late 3 to go into halftime feeling great about themselves at 31-30

Yeah everyone can say oh Minnesota will cool off, those are just lucky shots....lol. They shot almost 50% at half and finished 54%, that is not all luck. Willis (11-17/8-13 from 3, 32 pts) was in a zone, there is nothing you can do about that. Just like that guy from UMass was in a zone. Just like Harper was a in zone certain games..and let us note Baker almost matched Willis stat line. Geo was 9-17, 7-14 and 25 points. So now you just cannot say it was all Willis have a career night since Geo also put up huge numbers. The game did not come down to any particular shot or stop that was missed even as the end unfolded with RU having a chance to steal it. Much of the fate of this game was set much much earlier. In addition when RU did wrest the lead at 60-57, they went into a simply inexplicable and inexcusable funk on offense...6 minutes without a basket and Minny had a 64-60 lead. That makes 3 big time dryspells vs a team shooting 55%. RU wouldnt shoot all that percentage wise at 46% but the bottom line is they could not hit the shots in a stretch they needed to. Yes Paul and Geo got big shots late but that key stretch of 6 minutes without a fg put RU in a very difficult spot down the stretch. I thought that RU defense was actually pretty good in the last 6-7 minutes. The loss was baked in earlier further compounded that it didnt seem like RU was really going to make any adjustments to their gameplan defensively to try and shake things up.

I do not feel bad for Rutgers. RU did good enough to win.. Anyone saying that needs to look at these three scoring droughts....17 minutes combined where only 8 points were scored....thats too much to overcome on the road against a team playing with a chip on their shoulder. The loss is extremely costly for RU's NCAA chances not because there are not opportunities to overcome it but the margin of error is so small you want to gain bunches of win vs the weaker opponents. Rutgers is now 1-6 on the road and besides the 2nd half of Maryland has played poorly in all of them. They simply do not bring their A or even B game on these road trips. Its been a good stretch of ball overall for RU....6 wins in 8 games but now another road opportunity falls by the wayside making Nebby and Northwestern almost must wins at this point. RU has looked like a NCAA team most of this stretch. Today not so much.

Individually Geo was great and we should have actually road him more but went away from him for 4 straight possessions. Such a shame because it was one of his best offensive games of the season and he matched Willis shot for shot. Unfortunately Cliff was terrible, just when you thought all around he was becoming a force. It was one of his worst offensive games ever, no touch at all and defensively he was okay but Minny really wasnt even going inside. Harper was 5-11 and 12 points but he simply did not deliver in the stretch. Missed 3 wide open shots that ne simply needs to make. The foul at the end was a bad move by him but I think it was a bad call anyhow by Pike. Willis was making his shots whether Caleb played solid D or not. Paul was solid enough. Reiber biggest positive and showed the most balls today by anyhow especially with two huge plays late, a steal and then a held ball which gave RU 2 chances to win. Plus he had 6 points, if only others matched his level. Stat wise its not that RU played poorly. Its just they did not match their opponent's level today. Credit Minnesota, Rutgers got beat today. However they beat themselves by not understanding what it would take to win a game like this. That is disappointing because of the veterans on this team and that Pike is a good cerebral coach.


Lot of scattered thoughts today, its a disappointing loss and I am sure everyone involved regrets what happened today. If you compare the Iowa game to this one, everyone will understand. RU can bounce back from this, they almost always do at home. However it seems every time after a big road win, the performance on the road nosedives. Do not think your opponent is just going to lie down today and that you can turn it on at the right time and gut out a win.

 

[Scangg]

Willis Willis Willis

His 32 vs Geo's 25 isn't a wash though. It's a bigger gap than the score of the game

Hopefully we see this Geo much much more often the rest of the season. Once every 6 games isn't enough

 

[kcg88]

Worst 2 point shooting team in the conference. Been a problem all year. Guys forcing shots and ridiculous angles that have no chance. Guys missing easy layups. Brutal combination.

 

[bac2therac]

two players were white hot, this was more than just Willis, even taking him out, Minny was 15-31...thats awful

 

[kcg88]

Shades of the Big Ten tournament game against Nebraska when Johnny Trueblood lit us up. We've never been good enough to coast against anyone.

 

[bac2therac]

Worst 2 point shooting team in the conference. Been a problem all year. Guys forcing shots and ridiculous angles that have no chance. Guys missing easy layups. Brutal combination.

it seems in the first half we went to score points for degree of difficulty, whether its passes by Paul to the paint or the way they shoot layups, you wouldnt think a veteran team would put so much pressure on themselves

 

[biazza38]

Press them.
We did nothing to get them out of their comfort zone. That’s on Pike.
You can’t lose to Umass, PSU, DePaul, and a totally undermanned Minnesota team all on the road.
pathetic

 

[RW90]

Its maddening just how this team consistently sleep walks to start games on the road. It is an awful pattern the coaches need to break if we ever want to take it to the next level.

 

[winfield102]

5 TO's in the 1st 8 minutes. Just too sloppy and there seemed to be no interest in even having Ron touch the ball (like the PSU game).

We get great looks against a zone when PM is at the foul line. He is a stud from that spot. Our zone offense looks lost when he is off the floor.

 

[fluoxetine]

This is a much more balanced and less results-oriented take than what was in the game thread, imo.

I still have the same gripes I normally have, the most notable being that I think your estimation of the teams effort level (or confidence, or really any number of mental attributes) is basically 100% correlated with how well they or the opponent shoots.

I thought we played good defense for the most part, though it was a bit looser in the beginning of both halves IMO. But realistically I don't think you can blame bad defense for Willis going off on us; a basic fact of basketball at a high enough level is that the offensive player is almost always going to have a chance no matter how good the defense is. If a guy is going to make deep threes, contested threes, shots at the end of the shot clock with a hand in his face he just literally cannot be stopped.

The sad fact is that we are just not good enough on offense to keep up when a team goes off like that. I think what some people are missing when I say that we played "okay" is that that is relative to what this team is. I really don't think we are good enough that we can expect to just show up, on the road, and win against a team that is super hot even if that team is depleted by injuries.

The fact of the matter is that since the UMass loss, including this game, we have played like a tournament team. The reason this game is being viewed as some huge disaster is because we dug that stupid hole for ourselves in the beginning of the season.

 

[gregkoko]

Great post bac. Just couldn't get it done today. Tip the cap to Minnesota. Red hot from all over the court, hands in their face, clock expiring. Didn't matter

 

[bac2therac]

4Shades of the Big Ten tournament game against Nebraska when Johnny Trueblood lit us up. We've never been good enough to coast against anyone.

Rutgers starts on the road in league play

Illinois 23-9
Penn State 18-6
Maryland 13-4
Minnesota 17-5

simply unacceptable and makes winning on the road very difficult and we won only one of those

 

[bac2therac]

This is a much more balanced and less results-oriented take than what was in the game thread, imo.

I still have the same gripes I normally have, the most notable being that I think your estimation of the teams effort level (or confidence, or really any number of mental attributes) is basically 100% correlated with how well they or the opponent shoots.

I thought we played good defense for the most part, though it was a bit looser in the beginning of both halves IMO. But realistically I don't think you can blame bad defense for Willis going off on us; a basic fact of basketball at a high enough level is that the offensive player is almost always going to have a chance no matter how good the defense is. If a guy is going to make deep threes, contested threes, shots at the end of the shot clock with a hand in his face he just literally cannot be stopped.

The sad fact is that we are just not good enough on offense to keep up when a team goes off like that. I think what some people are missing when I say that we played "okay" is that that is relative to what this team is. I really don't think we are good enough that we can expect to just show up, on the road, and win against a team that is super hot even if that team is depleted by injuries.

The fact of the matter is that since the UMass loss, including this game, we have played like a tournament team. The reason this game is being viewed as some huge disaster is because we dug that stupid hole for ourselves in the beginning of the season.

Minnesota is not a good team with those 3 players out, we got beat by a really medicore team. Our approach this game was really not good

if you want to be considered a NCAA team, you do not go out and loss to a depleted Minnesota

 

[Scangg]

This is a much more balanced and less results-oriented take than what was in the game thread, imo.

I still have the same gripes I normally have, the most notable being that I think your estimation of the teams effort level (or confidence, or really any number of mental attributes) is basically 100% correlated with how well they or the opponent shoots.

I thought we played good defense for the most part, though it was a bit looser in the beginning of both halves IMO. But realistically I don't think you can blame bad defense for Willis going off on us; a basic fact of basketball at a high enough level is that the offensive player is almost always going to have a chance no matter how good the defense is. If a guy is going to make deep threes, contested threes, shots at the end of the shot clock with a hand in his face he just literally cannot be stopped.

The sad fact is that we are just not good enough on offense to keep up when a team goes off like that. I think what some people are missing when I say that we played "okay" is that that is relative to what this team is. I really don't think we are good enough that we can expect to just show up, on the road, and win against a team that is super hot even if that team is depleted by injuries.

The fact of the matter is that since the UMass loss, including this game, we have played like a tournament team. The reason this game is being viewed as some huge disaster is because we dug that stupid hole for ourselves in the beginning of the season.

Nailed it

 

[Scangg]

Rutgers starts on the road in league play

Illinois 23-9
Penn State 18-6
Maryland 13-4
Minnesota 17-5

simply unacceptable and makes winning on the road very difficult and we won only one of those

This is on Geo and Ron as senior leaders. They need to start strong and set the tone

 

[kcg88]

We're a perfectly fine, tournament-ish team except for two major problems: turnovers and 2P%. Way too many giveaways and too many dumb shots/missed bunnies.

 

[fluoxetine]

Minnesota is not a good team with those 3 players out, we got beat by a really medicore team. Our approach this game was really not good

if you want to be considered a NCAA team, you do not go out and loss to a depleted Minnesota

I would be willing to bet that Minnesota minus those three players but with Willis playing like that is at least as good as Minnesota is on a normal day with all their players.

I really think you have to give credit to Minnesota for playing really well today in a way that they wouldn't be able to repeat normally.

 

[RUsojo]

This is on Geo and Ron as senior leaders. They need to start strong and set the tone

I only saw the first 8 minutes today but I won’t put the start all on those two as Pike trotted out what I think was a never used or rarely used two lineup combinations that we don’t ever see and there is simply no need to do that 20 games into the year.

 

[fluoxetine]

We're a perfectly fine, tournament-ish team except for two major problems: turnovers and 2P%. Way too many giveaways and too many dumb shots/missed bunnies.

Making 3s at the same rate as 2s and yet 12th in 3pa/fga.

 

[bethlehemfan]

We got tentative toward the end there. One of those things that is hard to explain

 

[bac2therac]

Ron did not make a shot until 6:38 left in the first half, he only took one shot before that....simply unacceptable. Whose fault is that? Pike has to do a better job, it seems as if Pike wants to have others stepping in and taking shots. I realize Minny was keying on Harper but lmfao their defense wasnt that good at all.

the first few minutes

Cliff turnover...again
Willis basket
caleb horrible shot for 3 missed
Minny 2nd chance lead to Willis 3
Harper bad turnover
Minny dunk

7-0

2 minutes into game, Pike calling timeout and Minny on top of the world

 

[kcg88]

Making 3s at the same rate as 2s and yet 12th in 3pa/fga.

The biggest 2 point culprits have been:

Harper: 43% (he's been above 50% every other season)

Mulcahy: 38% (he's also been above 50% every other season)

Cliff: 48% (bad number for a big man, especially with how many dunks he has)

McConnell: 41% (but that's about his career mark)

One thing Geo Baker never gets credit for is cleaning up his nonsense in this category: 30% and 34% his first two years, then he's been 45%, 48%, and 57% this season.

 

[bac2therac]

We got tentative toward the end there. One of those things that is hard to explain

Imagine Minny going away from Willis if he is hot, we just chucked it around the perimeter after Cliff blew it again from inside, two Ron misses that just have to go down, no excuse, Caleb misses but Geo didnt get touches for about 4 minutes, have to ride him.

 

[bac2therac]

I would be willing to bet that Minnesota minus those three players but with Willis playing like that is at least as good as Minnesota is on a normal day with all their players.

I really think you have to give credit to Minnesota for playing really well today in a way that they wouldn't be able to repeat normally.

I would have rather play Minny at full strength, totally diferent mindset

 

[RUsojo]

I would have rather play Minny at full strength, totally diferent mindset

Terrible rationalization for what I’m about to say but it may help people’s anger level to just consider this game and Michigan a wash as it relates to catching a break getting teams short handed bc we probably wouldn’t have got that first W otherwise.

Hopefully they rebound and capitalize on the other weak opponents coming up

 

[bethlehemfan]

Imagine Minny going away from Willis if he is hot, we just chucked it around the perimeter after Cliff blew it again from inside, two Ron misses that just have to go down, no excuse, Caleb misses but Geo didnt get touches for about 4 minutes, have to ride him.

It was weird. Geo deferred on one of Ron’s missed 3’s. Geo def should have had the ball and could have but harp decided to take it his shoulders

 

[goru7]

First I will start by saying that Minnesota deserved this win. Johnson did an excellent job getting his team to mentally prepare for this game and bring the confidence. He challenged multiple players to elevate their game. He asked 3 players to play the entire 40 minutes. The Gophers rode the wave of confidence play by play. Tip your cap to them. They outplayed Rutgers in every facet of the game given they were shorthanded. Had Rutgers won on a last shot, Minnesota still would have deserved it. I was actually a little worried when I found out that Minnesota had players out. I have seen this many times where a school has some players out and then surrounding guys simply step up. Remember RU doesnt prepare against a depleted team. They prepare against the Minnesota they see on tape.

Sure Rutgers could have won the game today if Geo's 3 went down or Ron drove to the hoop and hit a layup but losing does come down to those shots. The loss comes down to Rutgers collectively including the coaching staff not able to match the energy level and confidence that Minnesota players and coaching staff brought to the game. Minnesota elevated and competed at another level then their depleted roster would seem to indicate. To do the necessary to win, Rutgers would also need to be disciplined in the first half and shunt the idea that Minnesota could be comfortable in this game. That simply did not happen. Minnesota had some unconscious shooting true but our defense was not in disruption mode. Consider that RU had just 3 first half fouls vs a team you would want to pressure their ball handling. RU wasnt all that bad in half court forcing late prayers which credit to Minnestoa they hit but I just didnt feel they did enough that bothered Minny and made them scramble like they did vs Iowa and in the 2nd half of Maryland. This game was lost in the first minutes of the game...down 7-0 and 17-5 after about 6 and half minutes. I do not care who you are playing. You are going to have a difficult time winning if you spot yourself a hole like that while giving the other team confidence. To fact that RU made a huge run of 19-2 and was still down at halftime is incredibly telling. RU took a 5 point lead at 27-22 with 6 minutes left and then went into an absurd offensive funk. RU would make just one fg in the last 6 minutes, outscored 8-3 as Minny hit another late 3 to go into halftime feeling great about themselves at 31-30

Yeah everyone can say oh Minnesota will cool off, those are just lucky shots....lol. They shot almost 50% at half and finished 54%, that is not all luck. Willis (11-17/8-13 from 3, 32 pts) was in a zone, there is nothing you can do about that. Just like that guy from UMass was in a zone. Just like Harper was a in zone certain games..and let us note Baker almost matched Willis stat line. Geo was 9-17, 7-14 and 25 points. So now you just cannot say it was all Willis have a career night since Geo also put up huge numbers. The game did not come down to any particular shot or stop that was missed even as the end unfolded with RU having a chance to steal it. Much of the fate of this game was set much much earlier. In addition when RU did wrest the lead at 60-57, they went into a simply inexplicable and inexcusable funk on offense...6 minutes without a basket and Minny had a 64-60 lead. That makes 3 big time dryspells vs a team shooting 55%. RU wouldnt shoot all that percentage wise at 46% but the bottom line is they could not hit the shots in a stretch they needed to. Yes Paul and Geo got big shots late but that key stretch of 6 minutes without a fg put RU in a very difficult spot down the stretch. I thought that RU defense was actually pretty good in the last 6-7 minutes. The loss was baked in earlier further compounded that it didnt seem like RU was really going to make any adjustments to their gameplan defensively to try and shake things up.

I do not feel bad for Rutgers. RU did good enough to win.. Anyone saying that needs to look at these three scoring droughts....17 minutes combined where only 8 points were scored....thats too much to overcome on the road against a team playing with a chip on their shoulder. The loss is extremely costly for RU's NCAA chances not because there are not opportunities to overcome it but the margin of error is so small you want to gain bunches of win vs the weaker opponents. Rutgers is now 1-6 on the road and besides the 2nd half of Maryland has played poorly in all of them. They simply do not bring their A or even B game on these road trips. Its been a good stretch of ball overall for RU....6 wins in 8 games but now another road opportunity falls by the wayside making Nebby and Northwestern almost must wins at this point. RU has looked like a NCAA team most of this stretch. Today not so much.

Individually Geo was great and we should have actually road him more but went away from him for 4 straight possessions. Such a shame because it was one of his best offensive games of the season and he matched Willis shot for shot. Unfortunately Cliff was terrible, just when you thought all around he was becoming a force. It was one of his worst offensive games ever, no touch at all and defensively he was okay but Minny really wasnt even going inside. Harper was 5-11 and 12 points but he simply did not deliver in the stretch. Missed 3 wide open shots that ne simply needs to make. The foul at the end was a bad move by him but I think it was a bad call anyhow by Pike. Willis was making his shots whether Caleb played solid D or not. Paul was solid enough. Reiber biggest positive and showed the most balls today by anyhow especially with two huge plays late, a steal and then a held ball which gave RU 2 chances to win. Plus he had 6 points, if only others matched his level. Stat wise its not that RU played poorly. Its just they did not match their opponent's level today. Credit Minnesota, Rutgers got beat today. However they beat themselves by not understanding what it would take to win a game like this. That is disappointing because of the veterans on this team and that Pike is a good cerebral coach.


Lot of scattered thoughts today, its a disappointing loss and I am sure everyone involved regrets what happened today. If you compare the Iowa game to this one, everyone will understand. RU can bounce back from this, they almost always do at home. However it seems every time after a big road win, the performance on the road nosedives. Do not think your opponent is just going to lie down today and that you can turn it on at the right time and gut out a win.

A lot of good points but for the life of me, I do not understand the terribly slow starts on the road. Spotting this team a 17-5 lead was such a gift to them. We did overcome and took the lead 21-20 but the level and intensity on defense was clearly not there.
Interesting debate whether we should have pressured them so Willis and Loewe who played 40 minutes and shot 11-17 and 8-14 , would have worn down. Maybe pressuring them bringing up the ball gets their legs tired and maybe some of their shots miss.
But I think Pike took a gamble that unfortunately did not work out. He thought his defense would show up and did not anticipate that Minnesota would execute a perfect game plan. It wasn’t just that Minnesota ‘s shots were going down, but they went down after holding the ball for most of the 30 second clock and they hit at least 6-8 of them with less than 5 seconds on the shot clock. Minnesota and specifically Willis and Loewe threaded the needle today and almost no other way Minnesota could have won. You do have to give Minnesota credit but you also think Pike , our players defense , or something different defensively might have changed the outcome.

The bigger issue that Geo obscured with his great game today was how we settled today. No attempt to drive to the basket or even try to get foul shots. Ron was content hanging out on the extreme perimeter and never being engaged except for one drive off the glass in the early second half. He did not appear to have any energy offensively , defensively or n the glass. It happens but you have other options and we did not even attempt them. Hyatt or Dean around the rim should have been used more , but as soon as Geo heated up , that was off the table. No back screens against the zone for Cliff dunks or Ron’s were even attempted.

Frustrating and we really had a chance with Illinois and Wisconsin losing last night to stay at the top 4 but this veteran bunch did not do enough to win and did not bring the focus , energy and effort to pull out a win. Missing those 6 straight 3 pointers without driving against the zone when we took the 60-57 lead was where we failed to seal this game away and it came back to bite us and allowed Minnesota to continue to execute their game plan and they did it to perfection. Tough loss.

 

[G- RUnit]

Rutgers starts on the road in league play

Illinois 23-9
Penn State 18-6
Maryland 13-4
Minnesota 17-5

simply unacceptable and makes winning on the road very difficult and we won only one of those

That’s the reason right there. Inexcusable. Pike’s got to make some coaching changes at end of season as assistants not motivating at all especially on the road.

 

[G- RUnit]

Imagine Minny going away from Willis if he is hot, we just chucked it around the perimeter after Cliff blew it again from inside, two Ron misses that just have to go down, no excuse, Caleb misses but Geo didnt get touches for about 4 minutes, have to ride him.

Well you expect an engaged Ron to make those.

 

[robjknight]

I only saw the first 8 minutes today but I won’t put the start all on those two as Pike trotted out what I think was a never used or rarely used two lineup combinations that we don’t ever see and there is simply no need to do that 20 games into the year.

You can’t have mag and Hyatt in the court at the same time. Cliff may become Dean’s backup. Reiber was a bright spot again. And with no foul trouble, there was a chance to play Dean and Cliff together instead of Hyatt and Mag.

 

[robjknight]

Well you expect an engaged Ron to make those.

Paul played fairly well, but as a team we didn’t drive to basket. I was expecting Cliff to have a monster game against depleted Minnesota team, but he was just the opposite. May be his poorest game

 

[bac2therac]

Terrible rationalization for what I’m about to say but it may help people’s anger level to just consider this game and Michigan a wash as it relates to catching a break getting teams short handed bc we probably wouldn’t have got that first W otherwise.

Hopefully they rebound and capitalize on the other weak opponents coming up

only Johns who plays alot was out...that was them at pretty good strength, no apologies for that win, imagine playing Michigan without Dickinson and the 2 guards..that would be the equivalent

 

[RUJMM78]

Minnesota is not a good team with those 3 players out, we got beat by a really medicore team. Our approach this game was really not good

if you want to be considered a NCAA team, you do not go out and loss to a depleted Minnesota

If you told a friend that Rutgers loss to Minnesota without three leading scorers ,the response would be a shake of the head and then utter laughter.

 

[fluoxetine]

If you told a friend that Rutgers loss to Minnesota without three leading scorers ,the response would be a shake of the head and then utter laughter.

Is the friend a college basketball fan? Otherwise I think the reaction would mostly be a blank stare or a "that sucks".

 

[goru7]

You can’t have mag and Hyatt in the court at the same time. Cliff may become Dean’s backup. Reiber was a bright spot again. And with no foul trouble, there was a chance to play Dean and Cliff together instead of Hyatt and Mag.

Not sure why you think that Mag and Hyatt could not play together. Mag was brought in for defense and put on Willis or Loewe to try and disrupt their hot shooting. Andre was in for Ron who was slow getting off the bus today and was trying to be aggressive and hit a 3 pointer right away. I have no problem playing them together and get use to it as it will be 2 starters next year playing together

 

[RU848789]

Nice summary. Can't even imagine the game thread (was out playing disc golf on a gorgeous winter afternoon so just finished watching the DVR), lol. Agree that we just didn't bring the energy or intensity from the past few games and Minny did - have to give them some credit for their energy and shotmaking. Bad loss - could've been 6-2 in the B1G and riding high. Sucks.

 

[Barnaby&Neill]

two players were white hot, this was more than just Willis, even taking him out, Minny was 15-31...thats awful

My real-time reaction was that they hit a lot of contested shots…many of them late in the shot clock. We left more shooters open during the Iowa game; these guys just happened to have a day.

 

[rubjk]

This is on Geo and Ron as senior leaders. They need to start strong and set the tone

I think their body language and pouting/frustration early in games is a big part of the problem if their first few shots don’t go in.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

We lost this game coming off of timeouts. We were clearly outcoached during just about every single one of them today. Especially the two late in the second half when we gave up leads both times if I recall correctly.

 

[RUsojo]

We talk a lot about Pike's coaching and rotations but just want to add context and say Pike the recruiter is much more to blame than Pike the gameday coach