YSU at IUPUI MBB

[mudclods]

YSU is a 13.5-14.5 point favorite.  YSU is 125 in the net rankings, IUPUI is 359 out of 362.

In the last game at home, YSU trailed by 1 at halftime and came back to win 75-65 thanks to Brett Thompson going off for 20 2nd half points.  That was after 2 straight losses.  That 2nd half kick started YSU to 3 straight home wins and 4 victories in the last 5 to get back in the race for the title. 

YSU is currently tied for 3rd in the league with NKU.  They are 1 back of Oakland, who they lose the tiebreaker to, and are a half-game behind Green Bay.  Oakland plays at Green Bay tonight so a win by YSU would put YSU in a tie for 2nd worst case. 

IUPUI is 6-15 and 2-8 in the league.  They only have 3 DI victories; Valpo, Detroit & PFW.   The PFW victory was shocking as they scored 85 points to beat them by 6 on the road.  IUPUI has only scored more than 67 points 3 times in their 10 league games with 2 of them losses.  They are only averaging 65.8 ppg in league play. 

YSU leads the all-time series 20-2 and have won the last 6 and since joining the league YSU is 12-1 against them.

[go guins]

Much better 1st have than the IUPUI game in YO.

[guinpen]

Have had some nice leads but then we take the foot off the gas and let them catch up some.

[go guins]

15 at the half 19 with 5 to go. Had a cool 5z minutes early in 2nd half, but this was never in doubt.

[guinpen]

Found the gas petal again, lead by 27

[Double ET]

78 - 50 YSU wins.

[go guins]

Took this team a few weeks to get on the same page but in the middle of the season we are playing better than we were in the middle of last year. Sure would like to win the tournament!

[guinpen]

Z had some nice blocks

[ucfpengbuck]

Had a few periods of schizophrenic play and the turnovers were disconcerting but a 28 point win on the road is nothing to complain about.
Zorgval and Farmer played great and Ziggy and Burns were dominant.   Love seeing the lobs to Zorgval.

[Double ET]

Z had some nice blocks

He has been playing better as of late. I think he had 5 or 6 blocks and numerous defensive intimidation tonight. YSU had way too many turnovers also. Needs to clean that up before the next few games with the good teams. Except for those 5+ minutes in the middle of the 2nd half, we did well on both sides of the ball.

[mudclods]

UGLY game, YSU probably should have won by 40 or more, but like was stated can't complain about a 28-point win on the road following a 41-point win on the road.  Not sure what was going on during that one stretch in the 2nd half.  YSU went nearly 6 mins without a point until making a FT and nearly 7 mins without a FG.

Not a good night shooting 3's at just 4-20, but a good job again from the FT line at 12-14 that was after going 15-15 at Detroit.  So YSU is 27-29 in the last 2 games after probably losing the Oakland game due to FT shooting.

Great game by Farmer with 15 points.  His play has definitely improved.  Zorgvol has also been playing better with more mins.  The 5 blocks was impressive, he probably could have had a couple more.  Another double-duty for Burns with 16 points & 13 rebounds.  Reid continues to shine with 16 points.  Thompson seemed off tonight with just 6 points and 5 turnovers. Rush only played 22 mins.

YSU got some help tonight with Green Bay knocking off Oakland and PFW winning on the road against NKU.  That puts YSU into a tie for 2nd with Oakland just a 1/2-game back of GB, who they still play twice.  GB's turn around this year has been unbelievable.

[Double ET]

Both Rush and Thompson had an off night.
Rush couldn’t make the 3 ball so he tried to take the ball to the basket. He was stripped with ball numerous times and couldn’t finish the layups in others. Coach took him out and put in Farmer.

Thompson also had an off night. He committed many turnovers. At times, he seemed to think he was fouled and the referee didn’t make the call. His continuous complaints finally were rewarded with a technical. Coach sat him down for a long time.

For whatever reasons, these guys played with frustrations most of the night. Going forward, coach could probably substitute out Rush with Lovelace or Farmer. However, I don’t think anyone could replace Thompson.

[mudclods]

Both Rush and Thompson had an off night.
Rush couldn’t make the 3 ball so he tried to take the ball to the basket. He was stripped with ball numerous times and couldn’t finish the layups in others. Coach took him out and put in Farmer.

Thompson also had an off night. He committed many turnovers. At times, he seemed to think he was fouled and the referee didn’t make the call. His continuous complaints finally were rewarded with a technical. Coach sat him down for a long time.

For whatever reasons, these guys played with frustrations most of the night. Going forward, coach could probably substitute out Rush with Lovelace or Farmer. However, I don’t think anyone could replace Thompson.

That was Thompson's worst game since he's started.  Ironically in the first game with IUPUI he was held scoreless in the first half then went off for 20 in the 2nd half.  He definitely seemed frustrated all night.  I love how hard he plays and his passion, but sometimes it's too much.  I really worry he's going to lose it in a big spot and cost YSU a game with a technical or get into an altercation.  I couldn't understand his deal at the end of the game when it seemed like he had no interest in picking up the ball for the inbounds play after his turnover when they scored. The official started the 5 count and Thompson tossed him the ball and he called him for a technical.

It was 3rd time in the last 4 games and 5th time in the last 8 games Rush hasn't reached double figures in scoring.  While his 3-point % and scoring his down, is it just me or does it look like he's lost a step this year?  Just doesn't seem to have the explosiveness he had last year getting to the rim.  He's struggled so much this year on fast breaks to finish or has had turnovers.   

[YsuPride]

Sundance Wicks is coach  of the year from GB.  He has done a complete turn around with the program.   Last to 1st in his 1st year is unreal.   We got some tough games ahead.  PFW is unpredictable in the way they play night in and night out.   Oakland owns the tie breaker with us and is unpredictable as well. Wright St is playing good and a dangerous team.  RMU is coming on as of late too.  League is good and has 7 teams over.  .500.  We got the most victories with 15.  Thoughts??

[Cimo7]

Sundance Wicks is coach  of the year from GB.  He has done a complete turn around with the program.   Last to 1st in his 1st year is unreal.   We got some tough games ahead.  PFW is unpredictable in the way they play night in and night out.   Oakland owns the tie breaker with us and is unpredictable as well. Wright St is playing good and a dangerous team.  RMU is coming on as of late too.  League is good and has 7 teams over.  .500.  We got the most victories with 15.  Thoughts??

as you stated, the league seems to much deeper and balanced this year. Not sure if one team stands out amongst the rest. We have as good as shot as any. Will depend on how we are playing come March and if we can put together a string of  games where we play consistently good defense and shoot well. I do worry we dont have that go-to player like Cohil last year. He single handedly won us a few games. Maybe Thompson is that guy but idk. Everyone needs to play solid and together as a unit to win this thing.