1981 grad

I agree with him and being in the tournament will probably be the highlight of the basketball careers of many of these players. They should enjoy the moment. I think the portal should not open after after the tourney. We had the same thing in football where a team could not play a bowl game because too many players had entered the portal. Makes no sense.

The Zips have certainly came close. The UCLA game is a prime example. We also choked an NIT game against Ohio State that we should have won. I also remember a last second defeat against a really good VCU team at home when Zeke played. I do remember beating a Temple team during the NIT.

I am hoping that one year under Groce he can improve his game like all the returning players. Needs to get stronger, better defense, and rebound. Love how he moves without the ball and his quick release. He can be unstoppable.

And Kent won their 2nd round game by 2 points.

For those wishing to follow Kent, to hope they win and advance the MAC or those who hope they lose, well, because they are Kent. Here is information about the game: https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/well-traveled-kent-state-visits-stanford-in-nit-second-round/ Kent's victory and the Zips clearly being outmatched against Arizona, am I the only Zip fan left wondering if we had lost to Miami and gone to the NIT, would we be making a run in the NIT?

I hope all the players come back and that they improve as much as last year returning players. After the Arizona beat down, they have to get stronger on the boards. Hardman has to improve his defense. Okonkwo need to be able to finish at the basket. However, I thought his offense improved a great deal from the beginning of the season. Lyles has shown what a great rebounder against Miami, but he must improve on the boards against better competition. Looking forward to big improvements from this group.

I have said the same thing over and over again. Maybe they will listen to you.

I thought for this game to be competitive we had to play our best game shooting well and we had to rebound. We did neither. How many times are you going to see a game where Nate played 36 minutes with 0 rebounds. And it was not for lack of effort. Arizona had the height but they were also athletic and were a good rebounding team and shot blockers. They did shoot well from 3 but many of those were wide open looks. The Arizona defense did not give us many open looks from the 3 line and we saw some forced shots. The lack of rebounding has always been our weakness when playing quadrant one teams. (St Marys) The x and o can only go so far. As many of us had said on this board, we needed another big man who is strong on the boards. I also think Okonkwo and Lyles can improve their rebounding skills. I really enjoyed watching the Zips play this year that set a team record for wins. I thought this team showed true grit coming back from 18 points in the championship game. I thought the first Miami game showed just how good the Zips could be when they are shooting the ball well. Most importantly, this team was smart articulate and played for each other. Really looking forward to next year.

Nate did draw some fouls and did get to the foul line to score 13 points. Arizona was the best team we played all year. He had some good looks but could not hit.

That is the 2nd three that Wilson has forced up. If it is not there he just needs to pass the ball. They are really guarding us well on the three line.

We are down 10 and we were down by 12 in the Miami game so this team is certainly capable of coming back. Need to hit some three balls. About half the 3 balls were open looks while the other half were forced. We also missed some foul shots which we cannot afford and Lyles did not box out on a foul shot leading to 2 points.

If we had the usual MAC refs we would have had twice the number of fouls. Letting the teams play. What was with that Grey shot with 9 seconds left. It looked like he had no idea about the clock.

Keep it under 10 and regroup in the 2nd half when we can hit some shots. We have not played great and still in it which is a good sign.

I thought Scott's basket was a three.

Great timeout and subbed in Scott for Wilson. The movement looks much better. Tevari making some great moves. Keep it close and we still have not hit a three. Really good defensive rebounding thus far.