What happened tonight against KSU

K-State came out looking to suffocate Jimmer. Jimmer drove, forced them to collapse (drawing three or four defenders) and then he dished and a pass or two later an open shot was dropped in. Then K-State put the physical guy on Jimmer, forced him to work to get the ball across the timeline, and made us work for every pass. BYU couldn't figure it out until halftime. After the half, the Cougs held their own and made KSU work, but they couldn't overcome those 12 minutes of futility.



If I'm going to take a loss to end the season, I'll take this one. Life lessons learned, motivation for the offseason and the next season, but still something you can hang your hat on and say you made a game out of it.



Good on ya boys. Now just get some depth in the post.

we still win if we get a hand in the face of every uncontested shot that KSU took.. we were tired and slow and it showed and KSU made the wide open uncontested 3s

More depth. A dominant big man. Next year. It was a GREAT season!!!!!!

8)

First off, great game and season for our beloved Cougs. They showed well last night, though it was clear they were not the better team. That final 5 mins to end the first half was decisive. Even had the players been well rested, they still would have lost last night with the way KSU's guards were hitting every shot and making ever freethrow.



Second, I don't blame the reffing on the loss last night because as usual, they were inconsistent, which is par for the course in college basketball.



Then there is Pullen. That guy had the night of his life. He was the Glove defensively against Fredette and he was McNamara offensively behind the arc. Seriously, many of his shots were NBA 3 range attempts that found nothing but net. In the college game, I've always noticed coaches let players shoot from NBA range because they rarely ever stay hot. Pullen stayed hot. Further, KSU made every free when it mattered. The team normally shoots about 65% from the line, but hit 90% last night.



I am glad that at least they didn't get run out early like against aTm last year. They also made a respectable comeback in the 2d half that shows they were not going to just give up.



This does bode well for next season. The young guys got valuable experience. It showed Fredette he still has things to learn against NBA caliber defenses. And like others mentioned elsewhere, if BYU can find a dominat big man, they will be a true force to contend with.



In spite of not winning the OCC, or UNLV invitational, I'll take 30 wins and a close, 2d round loss in the NCAAs over anything we've seen from the men's team in nearly 30 years.

Super proud of our guys. We got further than we ever have this season in a long time. Am I bummed we lost yesterday, yes, but I'm not terribly disappointed and certainly not frustrated like I was the last year two years.



KSU played well. We came out and hit them in the mouth, but they bounced back and took it to us. Hind sight is always 20/20. If we could have this one back again I'd say more Abuou and Loyd and less JT and Jimmer. KSU had Jimmer's number and rather than change things up a bit, Jimmer kept trying the same thing over and over. On the double/triple teams he needed to recognize it was coming and go into the lane with the intention of passing it out rather than trying to shoot and then passing if shooting wasn't an option. Pullen was on him like glue - dish it and cut don't keep trying the crossover. :skeptic:



Davies probably should have gotten a few more touches down low. They weren't going to double up on him and he could have taken KSU 1:1 in the paint. I'm real excited to see what he'll do next season (crosses fingers Rose game plans for a post presence).



I wasn't expecting us to suddenly become a rebounding team; however, I didn't expect us to go so cold on offense. Seemed like we didn't work the ball around as well as we have in the best. Yes, KSU had tremendous D, but looked as if we tried to force things a bit too much.

craigoscarson wrote:
we still win if we get a hand in the face of every uncontested shot that KSU took.. we were tired and slow and it showed and KSU made the wide open uncontested 3s

I say we win if we simply rebounded better on defense.



Even AFTER we blew BOTH of our ten point leads - how many times did we get within 5-6 points in the second half, play great defense and cause KSU to miss a shot - only to have them rebound it and score?



It was painful to see BYU get within two scores so many times and get KSU to miss a shot - only to have the get an offensive board, score, and put their lead back up to 7-8.

Italics wrote:

we still win if we get a hand in the face of every uncontested shot that KSU took.. we were tired and slow and it showed and KSU made the wide open uncontested 3s

I say we win if we simply rebounded better on defense.



Even AFTER we blew BOTH of our ten point leads - how many times did we get within 5-6 points in the second half, play great defense and cause KSU to miss a shot - only to have them rebound it and score?



It was painful to see BYU get within two scores so many times and get KSU to miss a shot - only to have the get an offensive board, score, and put their lead back up to 7-8.

My impressions was first that Hartsock was working his guts out-but he just wasn't strong enough to secure the ball on rebounds.



Miles was physically our only big that could matchup. Too bad he was mentally overwhelmed. Davies play well in spots but he showed his inexperience several times.



Jimmer ran into an NBA style defense. They were helping on his drives and they a strong, quicker defender on him all night long.



Emery played okay.



Tavernari was outclassed. He couldn't rebound and he couldn't score.



Loyd is going to have to grow. People have film on him now.



Abouo made some important plays going after loose balls-- we could have used more of him.



Hawes was effective offensively but he needed to be playing the 2. He was getting worked on the boards.