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In a 1-point game there are any number of things that could make a difference. The Zips certainly made enough mistakes in the MT game to account for a single point. But the officials also played a role. There were some things about the officiating in this game that deserve specific mention. Two of the refs (Tim Gattis and Zelton Steed) primarily officiate Conference USA games and the third (Jeff Spedoske) primarily Horizon League. One thing I noticed is that most of the questionable calls came from Gattis when he was much further away from the play than the other two officials. In the middle of the first half when the Zips were fighting back from a deficit, the refs called charging fouls on the Zips on four drives to the basket. That's certainly a good way to discourage a team from trying to take the ball to the basket. Even worse, two of those charging fouls were called on Noah. Then they immediately called a third foul on Noah that appeared to be a minor touch. Calling three quick fouls in less than four minutes on a team's key player is a good way to change the flow of a game. One call that stood out in its sheer insanity was a palming call on Pat as he backed a defender in on the basket in the midst of a Zips rally. Now this is the third season I've been watching Pat back defenders toward the basket, and he's always consistent in his dribble. There was nothing different about this dribble other than one official chose to make it the only palming call we're likely to see in a Zips game all season. I would categorize some of the officiating I saw in this game as selective, and I would have said the same thing if the Zips had won. There have been games the Zips have lost where I thought the officiating was fairly even. I don't blame bad officiating for losses, but neither do I ignore questionable officiating whether the game ends in a win or a loss. Win or lose, the officiating was below average in this game. Did anyone else see other calls that stood out as questionable?

Thanks UA ..... He is excited to get going. I'm sure he will contribute. Solid technique guy, great pad level and leverage. He will take up blockers ....... Very high football IQ A bit of boasting but his high school team won their third straight state championship last night ..... Good way to close that high school career

Let's be honest, if Antino stays in and misses the shot there's just as many people questioning why our 2nd best three point shooter this season (and a guy who has hit clutch shots before) was on the bench.

The guards, primarily Robatham, have to attempt to penetrate more and break down the defense. Way too much passing around the perimeter. MTSU had cutters most of the game getting easy layups. I think Pat could have scored 25 if they kept feeding him low.

The Zips never adjusted to MT attacking the back door in the paint -- which is why they shot 55%. The Zips live and die by the 3. The Zips didn't attack the basket on offense, MT did....can't blame the refs. If the Zips attack, they get calls too. The TO with 14 seconds left was a bad one. It gave MT a chance to set up to guard the 3 point line,,,,which they did and that is the reason they didn't get a shot off. I said to my buddy near the end of the game "it's funny how everyone is complaining about the refs." The fouls were even. Get over it folks, KD got out coached. He had no answer for the inside play of MT.

Zips played well enough to win if both teams had hit their season shooting averages. While the Zips were right on their season averages, MT came into the game shooting 37.7% from the field (32.6% on 3s) and ended up shooting 55% (and 50%) tonight. Blame it on the Zips not playing tough enough D or MT just having one of those nights where everything goes in or a combination of both. But shooting percentage was the difference. In every other stat the teams were close. In fact if anyone had said before the game that MT would shoot 55% from the field, I'd have predicted a double-digit Zips loss. As for the last play, it was a combination of MT playing tight enough D that no Zips player felt open enough to take a clean shot and making one pass too many. The buzzer sounded almost the instant the ball hit Pat's hands. He wasn't that close to the bucket and didn't have time to get anything off anyway. No one on the floor had much confidence in their shooting at that point. For example, Kwan started off 2-2 and then went 1-10 the rest of the way while Jake and Reggie were a combined 1-9 for the game. In retrospect we might question why Antino wasn't on the floor as he had the hot hand late in the game hitting 3-4. It's just going to be an up-and-down season until the Tree-less Zips learn to handle various game situations like getting off a last-second shot. One thing I'm pretty sure of is that the players won't try to blame each other for team issues but will work together to find solutions. A characteristic of Coach Dambrot teams is that they adjust when one aspect of the game is off and compensate with other areas of the game. They fell just short tonight but hopefully learned a lesson that will help them later in the season. I expect this team to be much better at that as the season goes on.

Looks like you won't have to shut up, after all. Good luck to Tree. He certainly got his share of breaks while he was here. I hope one day he realizes that. And, I hope, for his sake, that he gets a degree and moves forward in life.

Setting ourselves apart from the rest of the Ohio MAC schools. We'd be different. We'd play games against different opponents. People would look at UA as something other than one school among many. That can positively affect enrollment, and even local perception. The other five Ohio MAC schools have all been together since 1962. We can never become more than what they are unless we become different from them. Besides, C-USA has more and better bowl opportunities, a better national profile, better basketball, better soccer, and better fans. And even if you still consider it a competitively lateral move, it still sets us apart, and that is something that's incredibly valuable.