Just a weird game when you look at the boxscore to find out hat went wrong in the loss to Temple. The obvious: they went 20-22 at the FT line, we went 11-21. We were favored by 20. The FT disparity in itself was not enough to explain why we lost. We had more rebounds, only turned the ball over 7 times compared to 13 times for Temple. Our four best scoring options went a combined 13 for 48. Our offense was sluggish. I don't remember a single time we went on scoring run the entire game. That's what we normally do and why we win so many games. The defense was there but the transition buckets were few and far between. Why did Francis only play 6 minutes? He made his only shot and grabbed 2 rebounds during that time. Is he in the doghouse or did he get hurt? Why did Arceneaux only play 3 minutes? Why did we even recruit him knowing he was probably a one and done if we are not going to play him more than 3 minutes in this type of game where our starters are missing 75% of their shots? There is plenty to blame to go around. I have not listened to the post game press conference yet but I hope Sampson mans up and places most of the blame on himself. There was some bad reffing in the game but there always is. No excuse for his technical foul that ended up gifting them some extra points. He did draw up a great play to give us a chance to win at the end. Don't know how that shot did not go in. Some times its not your day. Good thing this game happened now instead of tournament time when if you lose your season is over.
Kansas being blown away by TCU on Kansas' home court is a good illustration of how unpredictable college basketball can be. It is completely possible for "everything" to go wrong. Can't hit free throws, can't hit timely shot, a second late on near steals or blocks, etc.
Kansas was # 2 behind us last week and before the poll came out I saw media members saying they could overtake us for the top spot. They proceeded to lose 2 games last week and lost again tonight. We have a couple games like yesterday every year when we just can't make a shot it was added uggh with horrible free throw shooting.
At least this year we are up to 210th in FT%. So there is that. It's a muddy puddle. Last year we were 324th.
Coogs better bring their "A" game to UCF tonight. Last time UCF gave them fits on their home court. UH appears to still be searching for consistency. The loss to Temple is a case in point. Sometimes they are hot, sometimes not. Got to get on a roll in the next month.
No idea what to expect in tonight's game. A comfortable win would go a long way to build the teams confidence after the disappointing loss against Temple. The good news, this year's team plays better on the road so we should be up for the challenge. The bad news UCF's best player Darius Johnson who has been out for a couple of weeks will be back. He kept them in the game earlier in the year in our game with them at home. Keeping my fingers crossed hoping for an easy win. Go coogs !!!
Man, Jarace Walker is really impressive. To me, he seemed comparable to someone like Precious Achiuwa but nah hes more than that
Great job Cougars! Very balanced scoring, spread around the roster. Love Walker, want him to show up like this every game. We outscored them, out rebounded them, and had more assists. They had more steals and blocks.
Now that we can lean on Jarace it's a much more comfortable journey. We have a lotta house. Hopefully Sampson can keep it clean the rest of the way.
Whatever the hell happened to them in Temple game, I hope they come out with vengeance in mind when they play them again in 2 or 3 games. Some of the other earlier close games I can understand... the Temple game - no clue.
Went back and watched Sampson's post game presser. One of his better ones IMO. Made me realize how lucky we are to have him as a coach. Hope someone more tech savvy than I can copy and paste it over here for everyone that follows to watch. If not , it's on utube and is only about 15 minutes long. One of the things he talked about was that in Sunday's loss at home against Temple we played hard but in last nights' game on the road against UCF we competed. He also had Sharp and JWalk on there with him. Unfortunately it was brought up that Sasser may have hurt his knee during the game. Hoping nothing too serious. Nothing discussed as to why Chaney did not play in last night's game. I have seen a couple of tweets saying he did not make the trip because of personal reasons. That's a little concerning. Could be anything. Surprised that even though Chaney was not with the team last night, JV Air Francis did not play more. He played nine minutes, did not score but had 3 rebounds, 2 of them offensive during that time. He is one of my favorite payers. I would like to see him get more playing time. Speaking of playing time, great game for Sharp. Eighteen points in 23 minutes. 4 of 6 from 3 point range and hit all 4 of his free throws. All around great team effort . Shead was the "floor general" last night. 14 pts, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, only 1 turnover. Even Arceneaux contributed with a well timed much needed baseline drive. We are going to need him down the stretch. Sampson mentioned in his presser that he is going to be very good. Hope that means he will be back next year. Well deserved and much needed road win to get us back on track again.
College Basketball Futures: NCAAB Odds for the 2022-23 National Championship School Current Odds Summer Odds Houston +600 +2000
I've seen them there off and on when I looked...I haven't looked in a while, so was curious if it changed after the loss the other day. My biggest fear for the Coogs is what we saw against Villanova last year in the tourney and what we saw when they last the other day...when they go absolutely ice cold. Their defense and rebounding is enough to keep them in every game, obviously.
It doesn't change much. the overreaction comes from fans and the random season losses don't change significantly unless teams go through a big skid. Ex) UConn for the first half of the year was riding high, they've since slumped and gone back to earth, losing 6 of their last 8. Now they look just like any other team out there. Also, North Carolina the perceived #1 team, now are no where to be found. March Madness is what it is. It's a one and done thing where a bad matchup can cost any team no matter what "rank" you are. It isn't specific to UH. Most of the matchups are new to both who have never played each other. There's a legit shot to win it all at home. The ride to get there is very much enjoyable regardless of a loss here and there. They were never going to go undefeated. No team does. KS makes the schedule with a purpose in mind.
