Post mortem

[Sbee]

this is a tough one, Uconn deserved it, they took away our interior scoring and I didn't think that there was a team in the country that could do that. Dawson and Payne gave us nothing inside and they were playing at such a high level for the last 6 games.

keys to the game

turnovers, some uncharacteristic and unforced. a lot of them led to run outs and easy baskets, that's the game right there. a lot of it was a result of not being able to go inside, it's like a football team where you completely take away the run game, you're going to throw some picks

Our defense was just fine, Uconn shot 34% and 22% from 3, you should win when you do that.

of course Appling not being the player he was earlier in the year caught up to us. when we were scoring inside we didn't need him to drive and create, with no post offense, we needed him more and he didn't have it.

also, we had 3 bench points, all from dan chapman on that banked 3 at the end.

We were out played today, credit uconn. frustrating end to a frustrating season, some great moments but I felt like this was a great chance at a title. we lost to a good team, but I think we beat a better team than Virginia on friday.

tough day for spartan fans

 

[Sbee]

21 of 22 from the line for them hurts too, they just had a good day

 

[Spartanmack]

No way UConn is better than UVA - we played horribly today (turnovers, didn't attack the rim, horrible half court offense - how many times did we do nothing until 5 seconds left on the shot clock, no pick and roll, no effort to get the ball to Dawson or Payne inside - we had their center in foul trouble pretty early in the 2h but didn't even try to get the ball inside to Payne, etc etc). Even with all of that and more, we were outscored by 14 at the foul line (11 not counting the late foul) and still had a chance to win the game. Yes, UConn played good D but we were flat and made no adjustments.

 

[Sbee]

No way UConn is better than UVA - we played horribly today (turnovers, didn't attack the rim, horrible half court offense - how many times did we do nothing until 5 seconds left on the shot clock, no pick and roll, no effort to get the ball to Dawson or Payne inside - we had their center in foul trouble pretty early in the 2h but didn't even try to get the ball inside to Payne, etc etc). Even with all of that and more, we were outscored by 14 at the foul line (11 not counting the late foul) and still had a chance to win the game. Yes, UConn played good D but we were flat and made no adjustments.

as for the fouls, I just hate the inconsistency. it seems like the emphasis is the hand checking, but along with that they are letting people just get hammered inside. they don't want to make games 3 hours so they don't call everything, they pay attention to the touch fouls on perimeter players and letting guys get hammered down low.

we didn't adjust to that well and that's part of the reason we're disappointed but i think that's bs overall

 

[LuciousGameWinner]

I just really want to know the situation with Appling. There is something there that we were not told. It's impossible that it's all a confidence issue.
I was more worried about Harvard than I was about Uconn, I just didn't think they had any answer for Dawson and Payne. Boy was I wrong.

 

[MSUMatt28]

8 shots attempted in the paint all game. Lowest total in an NCAA tournament game in 5 years. Geez.

 

[Sbee]

5 second violation
denzel carry
appling travel in open court
appling not looking at inbounds pass
trice losing his dribble out of bounds


those were just killers, pretty much unforced. Uconn d was great but we were really sloppy

 

[Sbee]

Down 2 with the ball, 1:30 left, Payne loses the ball in the post, ends up going off of dawson in a loose ball situation, that was a killer too. Payne just didn't handle the doubles well inside, especially with their size and athleticism. they forced a travel on the first possession of the game when we tried to go inside right away.

just critical errors at the wrong times

 

[tomdalton22]

better game plan by UConn. Izzo got out coached.

 

[Sbee]

better game plan by UConn. Izzo got out coached.

partially, they were able to take our strength away but other teams tried the same thing. Uconn had the size and athleticism to do it, other teams didn't.

also throw in the unforced turnovers for MSU and Uconn going 21 of 22 from the line. those are all big factors

 

[Spartan23MSU]

5 second violation
denzel carry
appling travel in open court
appling not looking at inbounds pass
trice losing his dribble out of bounds


those were just killers, pretty much unforced. Uconn d was great but we were really sloppy

appling 3 point foul at the end.