Game 9- Bucknell

[clarkwgriswold]

Woke up to finish the half.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Nice finish to the half. Not a great half and still put up 49 pts with a 13 pt lead. Scary.

Edited 3 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[MDZip]

Doesn't feel like a good half and yet still on pace for around 100. 

[LZIp]

It’s crazy to me how we have 7 players capable of going off and beating you every single night (both Mahaffey’, Tavari, Shammah, Sharron, Lyles and even Hardman).

 

Liking seeing Barre get more time. A true big that can play is going to be important in March.

[csims0917]

Team felt super lazy and a step behind on defense until those last two minutes. Been worried the defense struggles are the same as last year. Could just be an effort issue but that’s a whole different problem. Groce is about to light them up 

[Blue & Gold]

Smallish crowd tonight

[1981 grad]

Bucknell started to miss some open threes and that made all the difference so that we could pull ahead by 13.  Also, a nice steal by the Zips.  It looks like we have 9 man rotation with Stankovic being the odd man out right now.  I think he has to be more aggressive on defense.  Between Barre and Stankovic, I think it would be Barre since we need a rim protector.  I thought based on all the hoopla on this board that he was a starter for Duquesne.  Instead, he only average 4 points.  He seems to fit in well with this team.

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 minute ago, Blue & Gold said:

Smallish crowd tonight

 

Gotta find a way to get more students out to the game. Run a contest for an automatic A on a final or something. 😅

[Let'sGoZips94]

3 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

Bucknell started to miss some open threes and that made all the difference so that we could pull ahead by 13.  Also, a nice steal by the Zips.  It looks like we have 9 man rotation with Stankovic being the odd man out right now.  I think he has to be more aggressive on defense.  Between Barre and Stankovic, I think it would be Barre since we need a rim protector.  I thought based on all the hoopla on this board that he was a starter for Duquesne.  Instead, he only average 4 points.  He seems to fit in well with this team.

 

Barre had the heart condition flare up at Duquesne which seemingly really limited his availability. The hoopla surrounding him came from his highlight film when he committed. He's quite athletic and long; fits this system really well once he gets going. 

[csims0917]

18 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Smallish crowd tonight

Week 15 of the semester. I expect a lot of students are bunkering down for final projects and exams 

[csims0917]

Groce is tired of this crap😂

[AkronAlumnus]

18 minutes ago, csims0917 said:

Week 15 of the semester. I expect a lot of students are bunkering down for final projects and exams 

I was wondering if they were still on break.

[csims0917]

Got me ranting in a potential 30+ pt win. What am I a buckeyes football fan😂

[MDZip]

Great steal by Barre, up ahead to Scott, lob off the glass and a slam by Barre. Beautiful. 

[1981 grad]

Reghi makes a good point about Lyles in that he only averaged 2 points a game as a sophmore and is now averaging 14 points per game with back to back 20 point games.  However, you can also make the same argument about Tevari and Scott.  These 3 guysl have really improved their game in year 3.  Give them credit and give Groce credit.

[csims0917]

This lineup in rn is a potential starting lineup in a year or 2 with how young they all are 

[AkronAlumnus]

I like the zippy inflatable. It's a nice touch. 

[MDZip]

Rich Brisco sighting. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

Brisco is in. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

On 11/30/2025 at 11:39 PM, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Stay focused on this game, win by 20+, then get to the Tulane game where their fan base will be focused on football. 

 

Mission accomplished. 

[csims0917]

Onto the next one 

[clarkwgriswold]

Groce was not happy with the defense in the post-game.  He said if they're going to be great, as opposed to just good, they have to get better on defense.

[clarkwgriswold]

Groce also mentioned that Bucknell was down 2 starters, had 4 guys out and played zone much more than usual.  Here's hoping facing the zone helped them work out the kinks to face Tulane who exclusively plays zone.

[kreed5120]

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Groce was not happy with the defense in the post-game.  He said if they're going to be great, as opposed to just good, they have to get better on defense.

 

When they haven't been forcing turnovers the defense hasn't looked all that great in the half-court. We've been a bit slow in our defensive rotations, which has led to many wide open looks from our opponents. Definitely something we will need to clean up as the season progresses.