YSU - Milwaukee MBB

[mudclods]

Shemar isn't dressed so I'm assuming did get a suspension; however, Luke Chicone is dressed and warming up.

[ucfpengbuck]

The Good.
1.Akuchie 33 pts and 6 of 10 from three.
2. Will Dunn.  Who is that man!!
3.Only 8 turnovers
4.35 to 26 rebound advantage.
5. Nice to see Chicone back.

The bad.
1.Losing a 26 point lead at the 10 minute mark.
2.Need Cohill & Olison to play better
3.Put this as a wierd factor but don't want to see Akuchie fall in love with the 3 pointers.
4. Need Ogoro to show some threat on offense.

[Penquin68]

I agree with the above. Will Dunn is showing what he can contribute and it is big. Not sure why he wasn't playing previously. Might be that he doesn't fit the mold of a defender that can fit in a full court press defense. He needs to improve his defense, but it isn't all that bad in my opinion. But he gives us a 6-8 guy that that can do well from the outside, near the basket, and rebound. What else do we want?

And I agree that Akuchie needs to be a presense inside and not fall in love with the 3 point shot. They were falling today, but his history with the 3 is not good. And we need him inside along with Dunn to give us size inside that we always have been lacking.

There is hope for us to improve with this new lineup. Hope it continues to grow.

[Double ET]

Just like the other games, we had trouble either in building on or holding on big leads. It looked like we often lost the intensity once building up that big lead.

[ucfpengbuck]

Losing the lead kind of stunk but UWM was at a point down 26 they could play with house money and played with nothing to lose since they were not going to win.

Chicone needs to get reps and get back into a rythm again.  He'll help us going forward.

[Dmorton]

Need to go on a streak now!!!  Like to see 6 out of our last 9 at least!  Momentum for the tourney!

[mudclods]

Even if Green Bay & Milwaukee are down this year, it's still impressive to sweep both teams for the season, and outside of the first Milwaukee game pretty convincingly.  And that's actually 5 straight and 7 of the last 8 over Milwaukee.  You have to wonder how different Milwaukee would be if Patrick Baldwin Jr was playing.

Nice to see a good crowd yesterday and let YSU feed off the energy, reminded me of pre COVID when YSU was playing so well.

At this point in the season, we know YSU can play with anyone.  The problem has been closing games out and letting leads slip away.  The first half and part of the second half was as good as YSU can play.  Still disappointing the later stages of the game to even give them a pulse after a 26-point lead.  Can't really blame the offense because YSU scored more in the 2nd half, but the defense got lackluster.  Seemed like YSU didn't have the intensity, didn't guard as well, and just allowed them so many uncontested baskets.   You just hate to see them give up 51 after holding them to 21 in the first half.

Akuchie needed one of those breakout games as he's been struggling of late.  YSU needs him to score to be at their best.  The emergence of Will Dunn has been incredible.  I had been surprised he hadn't been getting any PT, you just wonder what could have been if he played in some of those tough losses.  He definitely creates a mismatch for teams with his ability to shoot the ball and has looked athletic inside.  Just need to get him a little stronger with the ball.

I was glad to see Myles Hunter finally have a good game.  Think he needed that for his confidence.  And you hate to see him get discouraged and want to transfer after the season.  YSU needs him going forward.  Luke Chicone definitely seemed rusty, hope he can get back in the groove. 

YSU is 7th in the standings, but has pulled away from everyone behind them and closed the gap some on the teams ahead of them.  Couple keys games today with Cleveland State playing NKU & PFW playing Wright State.  If Wright St and Cleveland St would both win, YSU would be tied for 6th with PFW and just 1/2 game back of NKU for 5th.  Detroit currently holds the important 4th spot, but they've played 4-5 games less than some of the teams.  They have a couple tough upcoming games on the road this coming week against Wright St & NKU.  If YSU can take care of business against IUPUI & UIC, they can get right back in this. 

[mudclods]

Wright State beats PFW, but unfortunately CSU blew a 14-point 2nd half lead and lost to NKU.   

After slows starts by both Wright St and NKU this year, both have come on with NKU now winning 5 straight.  So YSU is now tied for 6th with PFW, but lost both games to them. 

I feel Oakland is the best team.  CSU has won a lot of close games this year large part due to their senior leadership.  Would have to put Wright State & NKU in that 3rd & 4th.  It's hard to judge Detroit with them playing so many less games.   

On Thursday, Detroit plays at Wright St and Oakland plays at NKU.  Gotta hope Oakland beats NKU then Detroit plays at NKU on Saturday.  Things started to clear up this weekend and I think after next weekend will tell the tale even more. 

Looking at everything now, the one lost that probably stung the most was blowing the NKU game.