What a great season for The Herd - Conference Tourney Champs, first NCAA in 30 years, first NCAA win in program history. That being said...
The team that won last night was the best team on the court. The physical nature of the way that WVU plays certainly took its toll from about the 10-minute mark. Losing Jansson had a big impact on the game as he is a corner 3 specialist that would have been very helpful in early offense once we beat the press (which I thought we handled relatively well).
Reality is, we were flat out under-manned last night. That is mostly a WVU thing, but also a little bit of a monster of our own creating. Beating Wichita required a monumental effort - and we realistically only played a total of 7 players in that game (as usual) - with Watson and George playing about 15-minutes each. I know they're young kids, but to turn around and expect them to replicate that same level of performance against an even bigger, stronger, and more aggressive team is a really tall order. We suffered the fate of MANY mid-major programs that pull off a 1st-round upset only to be greeted by a top-5 seed from a power conference school. I hate it that it was WVU, but if it were a school like Texas Tech, Kentucky, Purdue, Kansas, or Syracuse, the reality is that our fanbase would feel different (me included - we all hate losing to the Eers).
Would Levi Cook and/or Iran Bennett have helped - most definitely... assuming they made it into the rotation. If were only going to go 2-deep off of the bench - it almost doesnt matter. WVU is now considered one of the top 4 seeds remaining in the tournament according to ESPN analysts and the played like that last night. Congrats to The Herd for a great season that we will hopefully look back on as a "new day" for the program. My son and I were able to go to both games. One of the best things about this team is the quality of the character of the kids... we got to meet the team and get to know the players and staff - proud to have them represent Marshall University!
The team that won last night was the best team on the court. The physical nature of the way that WVU plays certainly took its toll from about the 10-minute mark. Losing Jansson had a big impact on the game as he is a corner 3 specialist that would have been very helpful in early offense once we beat the press (which I thought we handled relatively well).
Reality is, we were flat out under-manned last night. That is mostly a WVU thing, but also a little bit of a monster of our own creating. Beating Wichita required a monumental effort - and we realistically only played a total of 7 players in that game (as usual) - with Watson and George playing about 15-minutes each. I know they're young kids, but to turn around and expect them to replicate that same level of performance against an even bigger, stronger, and more aggressive team is a really tall order. We suffered the fate of MANY mid-major programs that pull off a 1st-round upset only to be greeted by a top-5 seed from a power conference school. I hate it that it was WVU, but if it were a school like Texas Tech, Kentucky, Purdue, Kansas, or Syracuse, the reality is that our fanbase would feel different (me included - we all hate losing to the Eers).
Would Levi Cook and/or Iran Bennett have helped - most definitely... assuming they made it into the rotation. If were only going to go 2-deep off of the bench - it almost doesnt matter. WVU is now considered one of the top 4 seeds remaining in the tournament according to ESPN analysts and the played like that last night. Congrats to The Herd for a great season that we will hopefully look back on as a "new day" for the program. My son and I were able to go to both games. One of the best things about this team is the quality of the character of the kids... we got to meet the team and get to know the players and staff - proud to have them represent Marshall University!
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