This is what happens when you get into such a big foul differential early. ISU was able to get to the paint because they were in the bonus with 12 left to play. Cant bring any physicality when said physicality risks giving the other team 2 free shots
Hopefully this is an outlier, on this game and the Kentucky game we were out of it. Yeah Walker was out and we did throw in the towel from the 12 minute mark on. For whatever reason we looked tired and yes quitting was a factor. Maybe they were still doing a victory lap from the outcome at Drake. A tale of two halves. Also, need to get Dease back on track as he is prone to streakiness, thought he was forcing a lot last night.
Hopefully this is an outlier, on this game and the Kentucky game we were out of it. Yeah Walker was out and we did throw in the towel from the 12 minute mark on. For whatever reason we looked tired and yes quitting was a factor. Maybe they were still doing a victory lap from the outcome at Drake. A tale of two halves. Also, need to get Dease back on track as he is prone to streakiness, thought he was forcing a lot last night.
This is interesting as I too think they were exhausted. 4 of the last 5 games on the road, 6 straight games every 3 nights since January 28th with no break. The guys played hard, competed, and then perhaps just ran out of juice and it spiraled. Think about it: We played on the road Monday, travelled back on Monday, practice Tuesday, travel Wednesday, shootaround, and then play. We have done that for 6 straight games. Add to that that our entire gameplan kind of got foiled when their big got hurt so IL State essentially played 5 guys under 6'5" all on the perimeter. We didn't have time to adjust and it appeared didn't have it in us to keep pushing. This is not an excuse, perhaps just the reality. The good news is I would rather it happen against a top half team in our league (that we didn't expect to beat anyway) than have run out of juice against a bottom feeder and lose a game we can't afford to lose.
To Rez's point, I do also think the referees killed our momentum after the start of the second half. It did not cost us the game but it did totally shift the feel of it. We went up 7 to start the second half, then it got close, and then there was about a 4 minute stretch near the 12min mark where the fouls went from 2-1 to IL State being in the bonus. So 5-6 fouls in about 4 minutes, most of which were marginal fouls if at all. IL State got some easy free throws to go down and then the free throws snowballed from there. They ended up 17-17 from the foul line and went 6-6 in 1.5 minute stretch at about the 12 min mark of the second half. You could just feel things changing as that stretch continued.
It stinks to lose but this was never a must have game. The reality is that our program is not there yet where we "must have" wins on the road against pre-season favorites. We have however changed the fact that this team is winning the games that they should win which was not the case in the past years. Let's hope that trend continues as we have 5 games left several which are games which we as fans should expect to win. If we get those wins, we just might end up with our highest MVC win total since joining the league which is something we can all celebrate.
