Ugly game. Think we had 7 TOs in the first 6 minutes (and 15 for the game) - terrible ball security/passing, but fortunately, SHU wasn't making that many shots, so we stayed within shouting distance, only down 33-27 at the half and then had a better 2nd half on both O and D, but still not great - and especially not great at the FT line. 13-28. WTF was that and Ace 1-8? He should be hitting 80%, but he wasn't alone on the misses.
But thankfully we went on a nice run from down 45-40 to up 51-47 and it felt like maybe we'd put it away, but we missed a bunch of shots and FTs and could never pull away and SHU even had a chance to win, only down 2 with the ball and eventually tied it up with 6 seconds left and we all know what happened then. Dyl-an Harp-er!!! What a clutch 3 to win from NBA range!
Other than the FTs, Ace had a great game with 21/7 (but 4 TOs) and Harper, who started slow, finished strong with 24/2/2, but also 4 TOs. Derkack played decently with 9/5, but the rest of the supporting cast struggled (didn't play nearly as well as they did against PSU), although JMike did come in and play some terrific defense and JWill also played some good D, as did Sommerville, but these guys only had a combined 5 points. Not much from Hayes (one trey), Acuff or Martini. Ogbole had 4/2 and I sometimes wonder why he doesn't get a few more minutes (only 10).
I'm sure some will whine about the refs, but I'll take 22-15 and 28-13 advantages in fouls/FTs every day of the week - thought we got a good whistle overall. So, we escaped with a win, which is the most important thing, but we're going to need to play better than that to win half or more of our B1G games.
Also, great fun having @AreYouNUTS and @Scangg right in front of us and I got to bring another great fan who used to post here, plus my wife and son, who had a blast at the game. Crowd was better than the team, IMO - got loud very often, despite the often lackluster play. Not Pike's best job getting a team ready, as SHU played with greater intensity much of the game, but he did get us through it with a W.
And last, but not least, I had to push aside a bunch of 9-year olds to catch another t-shirt; that's sarcasm - actually it whistled right past NUTS's ear and into my hands. I let him keep the t-shirt though.
But thankfully we went on a nice run from down 45-40 to up 51-47 and it felt like maybe we'd put it away, but we missed a bunch of shots and FTs and could never pull away and SHU even had a chance to win, only down 2 with the ball and eventually tied it up with 6 seconds left and we all know what happened then. Dyl-an Harp-er!!! What a clutch 3 to win from NBA range!
Other than the FTs, Ace had a great game with 21/7 (but 4 TOs) and Harper, who started slow, finished strong with 24/2/2, but also 4 TOs. Derkack played decently with 9/5, but the rest of the supporting cast struggled (didn't play nearly as well as they did against PSU), although JMike did come in and play some terrific defense and JWill also played some good D, as did Sommerville, but these guys only had a combined 5 points. Not much from Hayes (one trey), Acuff or Martini. Ogbole had 4/2 and I sometimes wonder why he doesn't get a few more minutes (only 10).
I'm sure some will whine about the refs, but I'll take 22-15 and 28-13 advantages in fouls/FTs every day of the week - thought we got a good whistle overall. So, we escaped with a win, which is the most important thing, but we're going to need to play better than that to win half or more of our B1G games.
Also, great fun having @AreYouNUTS and @Scangg right in front of us and I got to bring another great fan who used to post here, plus my wife and son, who had a blast at the game. Crowd was better than the team, IMO - got loud very often, despite the often lackluster play. Not Pike's best job getting a team ready, as SHU played with greater intensity much of the game, but he did get us through it with a W.
And last, but not least, I had to push aside a bunch of 9-year olds to catch another t-shirt; that's sarcasm - actually it whistled right past NUTS's ear and into my hands. I let him keep the t-shirt though.
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