Common sense says at Purdue and Michigan State are games where RU struggles to get to 65 points...can RU rebound and allow Haas to kill them...hear me out...
Purdue is special at home when they get Vince Edwards and Mathias moving and making 3's....if Doucoure Shaq and Sa foul out, fine....but Purdue is very similar to SetonHall...excellent in transition shooting 3s but better in half court offense...give up 2s and stay with the shooters.
Very tough assignment but my instincts tell me that the next 3 games are really spots that help the staff really find out about not talent, but execution....If Corey hits shots, RU is in this game throughout....but that can mask execution and the appearance of bouncing back.
I think the Minnesota game was one of the best games RU played but botched up a couple of possessions at the end of the 1st half....it's actually been the only alarming trend in the last 4-5 games...good halves ruined by turnovers, poor defense and disguising 18-19 minutes of sharp play.
The next step isn't wins and losses...it's winning situational basketball....there are a LOT of good programs that fail in crunch time because they have talent to mask this. Right now, the last minutes of each of the next 3 1st halves HAS to be coached tighter and avoid backbreaking 5-0 or 7-0 runs.
RU stays close....very close...