LoyalZIP

Groce just flat out called it the worst officiating of the year. Can’t disagree. Definitely wasn’t one-sided, but it just put UA’s offense right into the mud.

Normally not like this after a game, but I cannot lie I’m livid. I guess I’m not used to losing to teams like that. I’m not faulting the effort. Just so much dumb $*** tonight offensively. They played hard but looked afraid on offense. Just a bad loss. A game they should have won.

Man I can’t stop thinking about getting a 5 seconds out of a media timeout SMDH

Officiating is a joke both ways. Zips just have no offensive threat. When was the last time we even attempted a jumper? Tavari is one of the most freshmen freshmen I’ve ever seen tonight. Wow.

How the hell does Akron get one there?!?!?!?

Man. I have to assume that if Aziz hadn’t left, Groce wouldn’t have recruited Mosengo and Tavari would get the red shirt. I know he’s shown flashes, but this is pretty bad.

Tavari is all over the place, and not in a good place

My kingdom for a made open 3

Man we do some stupid s*** on offense. Holy hell. Zero plan when driving. 5 layups blocked/turnovers in there?

Tavari plays like a freshman, big time. Gotta kick it out on transition there.

Groce gonna get a T. I don’t blame him.

Imagine this: Tavari hits an open transition 3

Brutal call on Nate IMO. Down another one.

Good lord. Every time.

X has been working out a bit with the guys, I’m not sure that pic is any confirmation that he’s actually playing. Either way, I’m glad it’s not a serious injury.

Code Red! A MAC tournament staple!

His 2nd time on Joe's recruiting board

He's gonna be a good one. Hopefully Joe can fill that void soon.

Normally against a team like NIU, I wouldn't be overly encouraged by the result we just had. If the second half had been as bad as the first half, I would expect to get run off the floor tonight. However, anytime you win a half by 20+ in this league, you've got something good going. I'm not going to assume this team has solved all of its issues--its' still got a loooooong way to go--but it was encouraging to see them perform as they were advertised in November for a bit. The key to victory tonight is Tavari Johnson. He must produce. He'll have the ball in his hands the most unless he plays poorly enough for Tribble/Johnson to take over. And the better we shoot it from outside at the start, the less pressure on Freeman to carry the load. I think we'll struggle big time tonight if we have to do that. Enrique's play has been very suspect at times this year, and the first half on Tuesday was pretty alarming. He ended the night 10-18, but missed so many easy ones in the first half. That cannot happen. I know we shouldn't be relying on him to create all the offense, but the thing that separates him from any old center is the ability to put it in the bucket. Last year, Sparks had a hell of a day at the JAR. On the return game in Muncie, a total non-factor. On paper, the KJ Walton Classic should be a pretty solid matchup. But winning on the road in these Friday primetime games is no easy task. Lewis has figured out a lot of what Whitford couldn't. He gets a lot out of everyone on that roster, and in addition to bringing back Sparks, he got Jarron Coleman to return from Muncie after a one year rental at Mizzou (KJ Walton's first stop in college). You should check out the Ball State message board Over The Pylon. It's probably the second best board in the league behind ours. I'm happy for them that they don't have to suffer through Whitford ball anymore. But I'd love to see Groce make them suffer through a late home game tonight. Go Zips!

Zips +2.

Evansville (Kalle) played Mo. St. (Trimble) last night. Kalle starts and puts up barely any numbers, and I noticed Trimble hasn’t played since 12/10. Hmmmmm….

Ugly ugly ugly game. Turnovers, fouls, horrible misses all around. But any MAC win is a great win. Onto Miami!

Last night definitely showed that Hank is solidly in his role as a complimentary player. And he’s a good one, but he’s ultimately not going to be a guy that can replace any of X’s production, and his offensive production is hurt most by X being out. Tavari has absolutely got to be better. NIU has one decent guard, but Tavari was still pretty bad last night. He nearly fouled out on stupid reaches at midcourt. And he was alligator arming bunnies he started the year hitting. A couple open 3s weren’t even close. After the Nevada game, I assumed we’d see pretty steady growth out of him, but this team’s ceiling is far smaller at this moment with him in charge. And that’s fine, as: 1. X should be back soon, and 2. He’s a true freshman PG. Tribble was good yesterday, but it took him so long to get going. That first half was yet again full of missed shots within 5 feet. Friday will be a lot tougher against a better team. Hunter was pretty invisible, but did show some nice hustle and good body language. Maybe he’ll come around, my hopes are not high. This should be a great college basketball game to watch on Friday, I’m glad it’s on national TV as it is well deserved.

This is actually an 8:30ET tip on CBSSN.

The final 15 minutes or so, NIU put on one of the worst displays of basketball in every single facet of the game that I have ever seen. It got me to thinking, they have been a lot like the Akron football of MAC basketball. Usually in the bottom 3, with a couple of years sneaking up into the top half, with no real shots at league titles over the last 15 years. And to that point, I'm so glad that Zips basketball has been where they are, and while 17 years of pretty awful Zips football has been hard to watch, I would much rather they be where they have been than UA basketball be where NIU is. I can't imagine tuning in 32 times in the dead of winter to watch a product so horrible year after year. With football, at least it's only 12 games and there's no fun conference tournament or everything. The 17-18 season was bad enough, I can't even begin to imagine having so many consecutive seasons even worse than that one. I'm so thankful to KD and coach Groce for giving us such a quality product. Zips fans are pretty damn lucky.