Evansville @ Wichita State

[Wufan]

This why It's not a A Wufans

With all due respect: "That's why it wasn't an A wufan."

That is what I thought. Thanks for the clarification.

[sect.3purple]

I just watched the game - late-night replay on Fox. I usually don't comment on officiating, but I thought this was one of the worst-officiated games in favor of the home team that I have ever seen. There were several charges by WSU that were instead called as blocks. Three times Ryan was fouled in the act of shooting...no call! Toward the end of the game, when the Aces were making their comeback, there were two horrible fouls called on UE, one on Ryan and one on Taylor, which should have been a travel on WSU and a foul on WSU. Also, there were two clean tie-ups that should have been called jump balls, but fouls were called on us! Now, I don't know if we could have come back and won without so many biased calls, but I think we may have.

This comment is not to take anything away from the Shockers. They are a great team, and we just could not match up with Stutz that first half. However, I still believe we would have had a good chance to win had the officiating not have been so one-sided. This isn't sour grapes. We lost and it is history. Just shouldn't be officiating that favors the home team!

[Wufan]

Not too suprisingly, I felt that the Aces interior players were all over our guys and that those holding/over-the-back plays should have been called. I guess I'm just emotionally biased toward my team.

[2livewu]

Next year, is a year most people have the feeling UE should compete for the top 2 spots. Although they will still lack a true center, they will have 2 Sophmores that gained valuable minutes this year. Not to mention a big guy signed for next year, probably can't expect much from a Freshman big though.

Thanks for your concern for our program though.

By "most people" are you referring to a majority of the people in the shower with you? I don't know ONE person that thinks UE is going to be 2 in the Valley next year. With CU a mortal lock for the 1, UE next?

Now, I'm a big fan of Jordan Jahr, and IF he comes back a full speed, he will help you, but you lose arguably you're 2nd and 3rd best players, and in Harris, the one guy that can compete athletically with much of the conference. Anything in the top half of the Valley would be a huge success story.

[purple&orange]

Wichita was flat out dominate on the offensive end early, both in execution as well as the way they shot the ball. I remember at one point, although I believe it was early 2nd half when Smith had both his free throws rattle around, the 2nd sitting on the front rim for a bit before falling making a comment about how even the shots they are missing just can't help themselves to fall. The WSU gameplan of going back to Stutz was expected but a couple of his baselines moves, especially the reverse surprised me as I hadn't seen that from him against UE the last couple of seasons (granted we don't get a ton of WSU games here in Indiana). UE struggled to rotate and get good position in the first half but give WSU the credit for taking advantage via good ball movement and finding the open guy. You don't shoot near 80% by accident and they took what they were given by the way UE was trying to defend and got high percentage shots that they continued to hit.

Liked the changes defensively in the 2nd half as disappointing as the first half was from a purple perspective. They made it look much closer than it really was. Sawvell has come along well after not seeing the floor early or often after his bout of mono. I think the emergence of Sawvell and Rokas inside instead of Peeler was the key to the turnaround in conference play, along with them gaining the experience that goes along with being a freshman in college basketball. How much of the UE run to get back in can be attributed to what WSU was doing, taking a couple quick shots and perhaps letting down a bit can be debated, although you can say they earned that right by the way they played the first 25-30 minutes.

If you will allow me to go on a little rant here on the expanded replay in college basketball. There was an offense foul called on Ned Cox for pushing off near midcourt. It was an offensive foul, he put a forearm to the chest and extended, perhaps not to the point of knocking the WSU player off his feet 12-15 feet, but certainly enough to move him off him and gain a sizeable advantage, but without the full extension by Cox it's a play you see 100+ times a game as guys set up cuts, battle for position and so forth and NOTHING close to be flagrant at all. I shake my head and wonder how they managed to call a game without replay and only 2 guys on the floor years ago. To me it was a pretty common sense pushoff with the outside arm, nothing to see here, let's move on and not kill the flow of the game....yet I digress

After getting that out of my system I think WSU is a top 25 squad. I'd put them in ahead of Virginia or Connecticut at this point. If you go by the "eye test" which is usually reserved for talking heads as a way to disparage smaller schools by using a middling BCS team (see the Illinois' and Virginia Tech's of the world, or Colorado last season) who didn't play anyone in the non-conference and gets a number of RPI Top 50 games that inflates their numbers that don't look all that impressive when you see the record in those games my eye test puts WSU in the top 25. They have the ability to beat you inside and out and they can defend. Very athletic and I felt they made it at times look too easy, borderline unfair the way they played in the first half, they were that good. I hope they get Murray State in the Bracketbuster and a win there will suddenly awaken the world to what this WSU team is and get them in the Top 25 (even though nothing really changed but sometimes it takes proving yourself over and over again to drive home a point with the voters who can just as easily pencil in a BCS school with a history as to put in someone else.)

It's a process getting to where WSU is, and has been the last few seasons. Do I think Marty can get us there, yes I do. It's not going to be easy to continue the climb, I'd argue those last steps are the most difficult. I know some UE fans are critical of the motion offense but I love it, granted you get the personnel to run it. There is still a lot of work to do over the last 8 games, including Creighton twice, to come out of this logjam that is 3-7 in this league near the top of that. I can say my mindset has changed in that in years past a road game brought all sorts of negative emotions and felt like an almost certain loss well before tip-off. This may ruffle some feathers but I feel UE can beat anyone at home and outside of @ CU or @ WSU, I think they can win those other 7 too. Not a can as in "if everything breaks our way" but in a realistic if we go out and play there is no reason why we can't beat these guys. Rarely any team can play poorly and still win (see the home game vs Drake as a great example) but using that grand old "eye test" I've seen UE do more things, especially offensively this year that I've interpreted as growth. With any addition there is a loss as well, both Harris and Holmes are a large part of this team. I just don't feel like UE is as outmanned on a consistent basis they way I felt they were 3-4 years ago during the start of the Simmons era.

It all starts anew with Indiana State at home, as the Varsity to whatever crummy ACC JV game is as the lead in on ESPNU, per Sunday night tradition with all Valley teams that follow the ACC game.

[2livewu]

I just watched the game - late-night replay on Fox. I usually don't comment on officiating, but I thought this was one of the worst-officiated games in favor of the home team that I have ever seen. There were several charges by WSU that were instead called as blocks. Three times Ryan was fouled in the act of shooting...no call! Toward the end of the game, when the Aces were making their comeback, there were two horrible fouls called on UE, one on Ryan and one on Taylor, which should have been a travel on WSU and a foul on WSU. Also, there were two clean tie-ups that should have been called jump balls, but fouls were called on us! Now, I don't know if we could have come back and won without so many biased calls, but I think we may have.

This comment is not to take anything away from the Shockers. They are a great team, and we just could not match up with Stutz that first half. However, I still believe we would have had a good chance to win had the officiating not have been so one-sided. This isn't sour grapes. We lost and it is history. Just shouldn't be officiating that favors the home team!

Seriously, put down both beers, and try not to spill the bong water when you do. You were out of control before the game with your predictions and hatred for WSU, and now you blame the officiating? Do you have a long term brain injury?

Even though the possibilities approach being limitless, I'll give you 2 things to think about. 1)This is a man's game. This isn't the KCAC or the SWAC or even the Horizon. We're playing a man's game and it comes with contact. Sorry if Colt is undersized and weak, but he gets enough calls as it is. Sack up and take some contact. That's what's going to happen in the dance, if UE makes it (which they won't).

2)Evansville does a great job of making the officials job nearly impossible. They grab and foul essentially all the time, and what to let go and what to call a foul, when it's all a foul, becomes a management issue. If they aren't allowed to do that, then they lose, because they don't have the size, strength or skill to compete with the men that WSU and teams like WSU (read very good D1 programs) possess.

One more thing, remember it's a LOT easier to play from 25 down when there is NO pressure (UE was NEVER going to win or even frankly be in that game, it was never under 9 points and even that wasn't any concern) than it is to expand a 25 point game.

[Ace Dad]

2LiveWu: 90% of your comments I understand. We will disagree on your perception that there was no way the Aces would have come back when we were 9 down. Couda, wouda, shouda: There was a sequence of plays where if the 3 goes in, the game is now a two posssession game. If WSU turns it over....

I watched your fans in the stand and they were nervous, very nervous. You had a 25 point lead and it gradually whittled down to within striking distance, on your home court. This did not happen with Bradley or SIU.

I also do not buy it is easier playing 25 down on the road in a hostile arena. These boys could have folded. The "easy" thing to do is go through the motions.

The better team won last night. If we played you ten times this year you would win 7-8 of the games.

[Bball Junkie]

Congrats to the Shockers and their fans for a solid, hard fought victory. Your big men are simply too big for our undersized young post players to handle this season. I thought Sawvell and Rokas played pretty well (especially on the offensive end), but in reality, they are 3 and 4 men.....not true post players. I liked the energy and emotion that Kenny Harris played with last night....looks like his ankle is starting to get back to 100%. And please, Aces fans, do not blame the refs for this loss! Sure there could have been a few charging calls made against the Shockers, but not 12 points worth. Plus, I am sure they could have called a few more fouls against the Aces while trying to guard in the paint .

[iSASO]

2LiveWu: 90% of your comments I understand. We will disagree on your perception that there was no way the Aces would have come back when we were 9 down. Couda, wouda, shouda: There was a sequence of plays where if the 3 goes in, the game is now a two posssession game. If WSU turns it over....

I watched your fans in the stand and they were nervous, very nervous. You had a 25 point lead and it gradually whittled down to within striking distance, on your home court. This did not happen with Bradley or SIU.

I also do not buy it is easier playing 25 down on the road in a hostile arena. These boys could have folded. The "easy" thing to do is go through the motions.

The better team won last night. If we played you ten times this year you would win 7-8 of the games.

WSU and Evansville have played 11 times in Wichita in the last 11 years. WSU has won them all. I think the number this year would be closer to 9 or 10 of 10. Maybe you're thinking that in 2-3 of those games that the entire WSU frontcourt would foul out of the game by halftime. Jake White, 6'8" freshman, did not play 1 minute against UE last night. I think he would be a good matchup for the UE freshman bigs because he has very good basketball instincts. If White played 35 minutes, that would be UE's opportunity to win.

[Ace Dad]

"This isn't the KCAC or the SWAC or even the Horizon."

TwoLiveCrew..............you are killing me LMAO!