So it turns out I have no idea how bracketology works or how the tournament selection is decided. I’ve been saying for what seems like 10 games now that we’ve shot ourselves in the foot so often this year that there was NO WAY we could possibly make the tournament. According to most prediction models though, I would be incorrect. Now we need A LOT of things to go our way to go dancing, but there’s still hope. We have to focus on the task at hand tonight and that’s taking down the Kansas State Wildcats again.
I certainly won’t be counting this team out but we do have a bit of luck on our sides as their superstar and 3rd leading scorer in the country PJ Haggerty is out with an injury. I’m of the belief that teams are often more dangerous without their star player so I think it would be in our best interest to get out to an early lead and stay on their neck. We’ve had a lot of trouble with that this year so we’ll just have to see how the guys start the game.
The main story of the first half (and really the entirety of the last game vs. BYU) is the leap that DJ Thomas is taking in his offensive game. Last game he finished with 13 and shot 50% from the field, and in this game he finished with 10 in the half. I’ve been hoping for this kind of play from him all year and, as they say, it’s better late than never.
With what I’ve seen from him and Amir Jenkins this year, I’m hopeful that we can use them as a foundation for next season. We’ve got a 5-star recruit coming in as well so I think that we can be both very talented and very young which is exactly what you need to build a program provided that we’re able to keep them all in Morgantown.
We ended the half up 26-23 and the team stats are basically that even as well. The only real advantage that we had is our points in the paint (16 to their 8) and rebounding (20 to their 16). I like the fight that we’ve shown this game when we could have very easily coasted. A mentality like that is going to come in handy in March, if we get there that is.
Juuuuuust when I thought that we could pull this one out, this team proved to me again that we are not ready for the bright lights. The first 10 minutes of the 2nd half was the worst stretch of basketball we’ve played all year long: Kansas State went on a 21-0 run, we turned the ball over 6 times, and we went scoreless for nearly 8 minutes. After that putrid stretch it just wasn’t much of a game. We cut it to a one possession game at one point but with every mini-run we went on they hit a big shot to stop the momentum.
I’m not sure if I’m just extra irritated for basketball reasons or if it’s because I didn’t get much sleep last night but I don’t think this team deserves a Roundball Big 3 of the Game. If it were up to me right now they don’t deserve to play the last game of the year against UCF or to play in the Big 12 Tournament. Just an incredibly frustrating loss after a pretty solid first half. Mental mistakes after mental mistakes and this team proved yet again that we don’t have the fortitude to claw back into the games in a timely manner. Truly a disgusting effort.
To save myself from further anger I will be trying to catch up on the sleep that I missed out on. I love you, Dad. I miss you.
Round The Game 
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