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Bummer
What a miserable, worthless pain in the butt. If this wasn't the most unsatisfactory loss in the last couple of seasons, it's exceeded only by the debacle in St. Louis.
Yes, this seems to happen every year: the Shocks lose one -- usually, although not necessarily always, on the road -- they shouldn't lose, to a team they ought to beat. So hopefully this is that game for this year. But still, what a costly game to blow. Now they're one game up on Creighton instead of three; two losses behind UNI instead of playing for a tie next week (talk about zero margin for error); and a useful (and probably overrated road win and resume enhancement), plus an RPI boost, was there for the taking and dropped.
And what a way to blow it, too. I didn't see past the first few minutes, because my wife and I had to go out (stupid 4 o'clock start time). So if WSU got homered -- and it's obvious from the box and play-by play summary that they were severely affected by fouls -- I missed it. But even if they did, 11-18 from the line for one of the nation's better foul shooting teams, including 5-12 from everyone but Hannah, isn't winning basketball. And a total of seven points (and seven shots) from Ellis, Blair, and Stutz in 58 combined minutes -- plus no free throws even attempted by those three or Durley -- has to make you wonder. Is this team really that totally dependent on Hannah for offense?
If the Shocks want to have a serious chance at an at-large spot in the NCAA (should they need it), this is the kind of game they need to win. The same is true of the next two as well (and probably also the Bracket Buster game and at least one of the road games at Bradley and SIU -- but first things first. Let's get the next two before worrying about those others).
What a miserable, worthless pain in the butt. If this wasn't the most unsatisfactory loss in the last couple of seasons, it's exceeded only by the debacle in St. Louis.
Yes, this seems to happen every year: the Shocks lose one -- usually, although not necessarily always, on the road -- they shouldn't lose, to a team they ought to beat. So hopefully this is that game for this year. But still, what a costly game to blow. Now they're one game up on Creighton instead of three; two losses behind UNI instead of playing for a tie next week (talk about zero margin for error); and a useful (and probably overrated road win and resume enhancement), plus an RPI boost, was there for the taking and dropped.
And what a way to blow it, too. I didn't see past the first few minutes, because my wife and I had to go out (stupid 4 o'clock start time). So if WSU got homered -- and it's obvious from the box and play-by play summary that they were severely affected by fouls -- I missed it. But even if they did, 11-18 from the line for one of the nation's better foul shooting teams, including 5-12 from everyone but Hannah, isn't winning basketball. And a total of seven points (and seven shots) from Ellis, Blair, and Stutz in 58 combined minutes -- plus no free throws even attempted by those three or Durley -- has to make you wonder. Is this team really that totally dependent on Hannah for offense?
If the Shocks want to have a serious chance at an at-large spot in the NCAA (should they need it), this is the kind of game they need to win. The same is true of the next two as well (and probably also the Bracket Buster game and at least one of the road games at Bradley and SIU -- but first things first. Let's get the next two before worrying about those others).
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