Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

[PantherHawk]

Wow Ali and Adam had some key misses tonight! Those are not the only reason we lost, but it goes to show we make those, the game is a lot closer than what it was! I thought UNI should of pounded it inside more and got to the free-throw line more! We played outside and "soft" basketball. We played into MSU's hands!

[JayJ79]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

7 missed free throws.
7 point loss.

(okay, no, that wasn't the main reason UNI lost, as I don't expect any team to hit EVERY FT in the game. But I expect the younger guys (that is, the non-seniors) to use that as motivation for practicing their charity tosses)

[PantherHawk]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

Yeah those are key pts! Even if we miss 3 or 4, we are still in the game in the end! I also noticed we didn't finish at the rim tonight? We missed a lot of bunnies and lay-ups as well. Just alot of things didn't go our way tonight, but none the less, we had a hell of a run! sad that it is over, but we can look to next year and hopefully get back to that game again!

[Spartiate]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

Both teams made 14 FT's UNI 14/21 MSU 14/19

What killed UNI was there was no magic from behind the arc UNI was 4/16 vs MSU. Last week vs KU it was 9/26, a 15 point difference The FT % was higher but only 2 more points 16/19.

The other was one FG in the last 12:37 of the game. UNI was shutting down other teams like that but no team had reversed the roles until tonight.

UNI had a great year and MSU is going to need some magic to beat Tennessee.

[UNIChippewa]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

It feels like all of our misses came at key times too. Even though it was early in the game, Ali's two misses towards the start of the game came at a bad time since makes would have given us a little bit more separation at the start.

I bet poor Adam has to be sick to his stomach with those two misses towards the end of the game when we were down by two with a chance to tie it. Those were huge, we make those to tie it up and it's back to anyone's ballgame.

[cjrobb15]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

Why did we abandon going down low in the 2nd half. It seems like every I looked under the hoop Jordan or O'rear had an advantage down low. Once we stopped driving MSU stopped picking up fouls as well. Im not in any way trying to call out our coaches or players. I am just curious as to why we abandoned something that was working fairly well for us in the 1st half.

[Big_Al]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

Another issue:

Sonnen, Dunham and O'Rear contributed no points against MSU. Collectively, they put up 12 points against UNLV and 8 against Kansas. Now, none of those guys put up the numbers like the starting 5 but in a game like this any help they can give is critical.

Defensively, I thought UNI did great -- if someone had said before the game that UNI was going to hold MSU to fewer points than either UNLV or Kansas, I would have predicted a sure win. Unfortunately, MSU gave UNI a taste of their own medicine in the second half.

On the bright side, though, we have a really solid squad of underclassmen and I think the future looks bright as long as coach Jacobsen can keep on recruiting the right sort of kid. The experience they got in this year's tourney is invaluable and can only pay dividends in the future. Also, remember that, for as good as Butler has been for the last decade (and they've been pretty damned good), this is their first Final 4. Xavier, which is another quality mid-major (yes, I know, they don't like that term) with 9 NCAA appearances in the last decade, has never advanced past the Elite 8 -- although they did get there twice in that timeframe.

I guess I'm saying there's no shame that they couldn't climb that mountain this year -- we can climb that mountain but it may take a couple years to get there.

[jegbomb52]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

I thought it had more to do with the constant crying of Tom Izzo (never seen anything like it) and the two short, african american coaches at the end of the Michigan State bench that were jumping up and down screaming all night and punching and slapping the floor. Classy.

Of course this had nothing to do with it, but did anyone else see it?

[TommyT]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

We had owned the second half of games in both tournaments (MVC and NCAA) up to this point. This game saw us get away from what worked. Maybe the constant physicality of MSU finally wore us down to the point where we didn't want to run into them anymore. MSU had a great gameplan in the 2nd half, they made their shots and the refs did not give us any breaks. Oh well, only 7 more months until this all starts again!

[UNIFanSince1983]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

We were out rebounding them 16 to 10 at half, and ended up getting out rebounded 31 to 20. THIS WAS THE PROBLEM. You cannot get out rebounded 21 to 4 in the second half and win any games. Plus we didn't make a field goal the last 10 minutes of the game either.

[95UNIGRAD]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

We were out rebounding them 16 to 10 at half, and ended up getting out rebounded 31 to 20. THIS WAS THE PROBLEM. You cannot get out rebounded 21 to 4 in the second half and win any games. Plus we didn't make a field goal the last 10 minutes of the game either.

That's unbelievable - hadn't realized the numbers were that lopsided. When you combine the poor shooting from outside, the rebounding disadvantage, and the key missed free throws, it is UNREAL that they had a chance to tie the game with a pair of free throws in the final two minutes. Kinda makes me think we were definitely the better team overall to have that many things go wrong and still be well within range of a victory in the final couple of minutes. Interesting.

[JayJ79]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

Kinda makes me think we were definitely the better team overall to have that many things go wrong and still be well within range of a victory in the final couple of minutes. Interesting.

Talent-wise, I'd say both teams were about even. UNI had the better effort/strategy in the first half, while MSU had the better effort/strategy in the second half. And MSU had a bit more edge when it came to intangibles that night (luck, shooting (they were "on", we were "off"), etc.).

I can't really whine that "we were the better team" too much, because then we just sound like many of the teams that UNI has beaten over the course of the year.

[95UNIGRAD]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

Jay - I don't think it's really whining to say we were the better team overall going into that game. Your points about their effort/strategy being better in the 2nd half are dead on. I think many expected us to get through that game because of their injuries (although the talk about the two guys outside of Lucas was obviously overblown). I still think we were the better team overall - not by a lot, obviously, but by a marginal amount - with all other things being equal we win that game. Unfortunately we made the mistakes and weren't "on", therefore the loss. It's disappointing, but absolutely zero regrets about this team and the way they handled themselves all year.

[JayJ79]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

Yes, perhaps "whine" was a bit too strong of a word. Sorry bout that.

But I still say that it is the same type of thing that other teams have done after losing to us (claiming that they were the more talented team and should have won), which some of our fans got offended over such remarks. But then, some people get offended way too easily when it comes to what other schools/fans say.

And I'm rambling.

[9YRPLAN]

Re: Free-Throws will win and lose you a game!

MSU makes most teams look bad on the boards. they combine fundamentals and coaching with athleticism, raw strength, and relentless effort. they are a very strong team. strength is probably one of our few weak spots this year.