kreed5120

Do you attempt for steal and foul if don't get it? Letting them use whole shot clock won't give us much of a chance to get a look.

This will be challenging to pull it off if we don't get a stop here. They dont miss FT

Finally they have a shot rim out.

Let's foul Townsend out!

If they keep making shots like Townsend just made there is no coming back. That was great defense by Lyles.

I get that they have gotten a lot of high percentage shots, but they literally can't miss. You would think at least some would rattle out.

What a terrible time to foul.

I agree, place Evan on him and then play man. He'll score some, but we need to stop their cuts to the hoop.

Yale is very good as finishing near the rim in traffic.

I will be thrilled if it's only 5 guys. Younger Mahaffey is going to draw attention if he keeps this play up.

You're talking about our 10th guy in the rotation when other teams only run 8, maybe 9 deep. If he's giving ~5 minutes of hustle and solid defense to give the main contributors a breather in our fast pace style of play that's plenty. Especially in a tournament where you're playing 3 games in 4 days. I'm not sure what more you're expecting.

UMass pulled away in the final minute. Wins 73-65.

Even with the MAC improving some this year it would be a brutal challenge for the MAC. The MAC has a steep drop-off after the top 3 or 4 teams. The MVC usually only has 1-2 cupcakes the MAC ~6.

Outside of Purdue they gave us the toughest game this far.

Same with Toledo

I will say Tavari as a freshman showed flashes that made you think he could be great. It took him some time to show he could do it on a nightly basis.

Cody Head would be getting 10+ minutes a game at most MAC schools. We redshirted him from the looks of it because he doesn't have a pathway to earn minutes.

I mean if we're basing it off of early season results then it's well deserved. I still have trouble taking them serious as a contender, but it isn't unheard of for a MAC team to have an unexpectedly good year. I don't remember last years preseason predictions, but I don't believe Miami was picked towards the top.

Smart money must have been as puzzled as I with the opening lines.

The line is appealing, but I have a policy of never betting on my teams. If anything if Akron was a huge favorite in a game I might pick the other team to cover. That way I hedge my happiness.

That was my thought as well. Also, I'm sure our bench guys are trying to play hard when they get a chance so they can earn more playing time. Groce has said several times MMK is getting minutes instead of Barre because he earned them with his effort and performance in practice. If you go out there during a game and half a$$ it you're certainly not going to work your way up in the rotation regardless of score.

That's a bit surprising to hear. Putting any Akron bias aside we've looked like the most dominate in the first two rounds of the tournament. I would have thought we'd be ~2.5 point favorites.

I will say it's nice for us that our best defender is likely Evan and I assume he will have the assignment of limiting Townsend. Keeping the ball out of Townsends hands and forcing someone else to generate the offense for Yale will go a long way towards securing a Zips victory.

How have they still not learned that you shouldn't leave Hardman wide open?

I actually feel Evansville ended up being a decent matchup for us. Gives us exposure to both size and a defense that is throwing different looks at us. Will prepare us better for later as the season progresses. Akron has a much larger rotation. I think Akron can pull away in the final 10 minutes as their legs get tired if we can keep the game uptempo.