I packed it in after the horn last night as it was way past my bedtime here. Varied thoughts today:
(1) It happens. Can't shoot as we did in the 2H and let them shoot as they did and stay in the game. Just gotta put it behind us and move on;
(2) I don't know that they're consistently a superior team on the floor, though they are on paper and certainly were last night in the 2H. They have an extraordinarily efficient offense but their defense can be spotty. OSU was down 20 to them in WL in the 2H and nearly won. I look at the box score from last night and note that if we just have three more treys fall in the middle of the second half, and get to the line a couple more times, the complexion of the game down the stretch changes considerably even with Ivey dominating. We were soft on the boards and still matched their rebounding. And that MLK-Day game in the SFC is much different if Kofi isn't concussed early on, IMO.
(3) In Brad's presser around 9:25 he notes that
AC has had only 5 practices all season. For him to give us 20 mins last night and play as he did is remarkable. Once he can practice
and play regularly, and gets his conditioning up to game quality, we'll see an additional, dangerous dimension to our team by March compared with now. And the best part is that for the BTT teams won't have seen it during the season save for the final half-dozen games. Remember, we have been playing without our starting point guard all season long. We've improvised at the PG spot and have continued winning. That makes me optimistic for a solid run during March if we're healthy.
(4) Winning out will be very tough for us and for Purdue. Any of @Rutgers, MSU and Michigan can trip us up. All three, however, are winnable. I'd be less optimistic if we had to play OSU on the road. Dumb luck that we get them once, and at home.
(5) We're fortunate that we had the easier 2/3 of the conference schedule up front when we were not at full strength. If Belo can play 20-25 consistently and ramp up to his peak self, if Trent stays healthy, if Omar and BBV can spell Kofi effectively w/o defensive letdowns, and the frosh continue to contribute mins, I like our chances for at least a share of the title. BU has done a masterful job working around lineup constraints so far.
(6) Rest. Practice. Crush the 'Cats on Sunday.