Western Kentucky (1/5/23)

[TheColonyEagle]

[MrAlien]

I am starting to get a little concerned about UNT's ability to close out games, and the sloppy play down the stretch.

[keith]

Tonight:  UNT 2, WKU 0.

It was a good night. 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

17 minutes ago, eagle73 said:

That 7’5” center has a lot to do with not driving the basket.

He was out for basically the last 9 minutes of the game while they decided to 1-3-1 then eventually go man press. He can't do that kinda stuff. 0 reason not to be driving. It was there on multiple press break downs, but they dribble it out and reset. Like I am sure they are coached to do. Nevertheless, a good team (FAU) will beat that. The Western Kentucky Fighting McKinights almost did, by himself. We let him weak side ISO us over and over without getting rotation there. Eventually Mac tried to face guard to not let him get the ball (ended up with it anyway) to at least slow his rhythm down. 

 

A road win is a road win and they're a decent opponent. Offensively, this isn't going to cut it. Had we not gotten out to a 21-1 start, we lose that game by 10. Maybe more. 

[UNTLifer]

Scattershooting: Great road win. McKnight is a beast.  Take him off of that team and they are horrible. Hope Eady is okay and ready to go Saturday. Our offense looked so good early moving the ball and then we fall into the dribble forever game and it kills us.  Officiating still suspect. Abu has to be more consistent. So much ability and talent.  Would love to see him be more aggressive and draw contact with Sharp. Would like to see Moore and Sisoko get some minutes. Any win at Diddle is a good win. On to MUTS. 

[StealthEagle84]

We have to find a way to quit letting games get this close down the stretch. We need to start putting folks away instead of letting them linger around. 

[GrandGreen]

That I think is the worst broadcast team, I've had the misfortune to hear this year. 

They must never have heard of the concept of non-partial commentary on a national broadcast. 

 

[Side.Show.Joe]

3 minutes ago, MrAlien said:

I am starting to get a little concerned about UNT's ability to close out games, and the sloppy play down the stretch.

Western threw everything and the kitchen sink at UNT just to get this thing close in the closing minutes. UNT adjusted well enough and secured the win. But, we have to do a better job of getting to the foul line. 

[South Texas Green]

[bstnsportsfan3]

Any win in Diddle is a good win. props to WKU for fighting back. Id like to see us have a bit more of the killer instinct

[Big Z]

Awesome road win!

Stone had 2 pts

[GrandGreen]

Good win for NT, no matter what kind of team WKU has; they are usually hard to beat in Bowling Green.

WKU's McKnight had a super game and easily had the best performance of the night. 

Their 7'5 center was very effective on the defensive end.  

Still NT controlled the boards and did just enough to win. 

Perry had his usual great game, but this time had balanced scoring behind him with Martinez, Jones, Scott, Ousmane, and Huntsberry all adding 6 or more points to the score. 

[Green Otaku]

I agree with what others have said, I'd like to see the team attack the basket when it can instead of kicking it out to reset, especially when they broke the 1-3-1 and had a chance for a quick 2. I get that the coaches want to control the pace, but just get the easy points. 

[aztecskin]

Tweeted about the game during -- I got some good quotes from Mac and Tylor Perry after the game. Transcribing back at the hotel and then putting them into the game recap later. 

The twitter thread though: 

 

[CMJ]

Since no one posted it.

[2020 Sucks]

9 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

The difference in free throw attempts is suspect at best. CUSA officiating at its finest. 

These officials work all over the nation.  The 3 that worked the game last night were rated #3, 7, & #16 on KenPom.  This is the highest rated crew we will see in the next 10 years work a UNT game.  They did a good job…especially if you compare them to what we had at home last week.

Edited January 6, 2023 by 2020 Sucks

[Green Lantern]

Back in the SBC days WKU was the conference basketball program “standard bearer” I wanted North Texas to emulate. Will always enjoy any win over them. On the road is even better.

[golfingomez]

Weird feelings about this game. i didn't feel good about it going in (what are the chances WKU starts 0-3 in conference?). Then we start out white hot, only to hold on for the victory. Hard to complain, but it's clear we need to work on breaking the press. 

McKnight was cooking us by himself last night. Maybe that was the gameplan, but that kid was great.

[CMJ]

Obviously I wasn't able to watch, but any win over WKU in Diddle is a big deal.  

[drex]

Meanwhile, in Dallas, the geniuses who ran off Jankovich are stewing in their own juices.

[Green Otaku]

2 hours ago, golfingomez said:

Weird feelings about this game. i didn't feel good about it going in (what are the chances WKU starts 0-3 in conference?). Then we start out white hot, only to hold on for the victory. Hard to complain, but it's clear we need to work on breaking the press. 

McKnight was cooking us by himself last night. Maybe that was the gameplan, but that kid was great.

IMO the droughts that are happening before the end of the halves is the biggest issue. These long stretches are putting a lot of pressure on the team and letting opponents back in games. We went the whole last 6 minutes of the 1st half without scoring, and in the 2nd between 7:34 and 2:31 we had 2 points from 2 free throws made by Huntsberry. Our slow pace makes it costly when you miss a few chances back to back. 

[GMG_Dallas]

100% our biggest weakness is closing out halves. Don't understand why it consistently happens but it's going to bite us against decent-to-good teams as it did against FAU and UNCW.

I think attacking the rim more needs to be part of the solution. Get the other team in foul trouble, get in the bonus, and get after them. During that late second half drought, 4 of the 5 misses were 3 point attempts. Factor in the slow pace and limited possessions and the result is an 8-2 run by WKU.

WKU took 14 more free throws than we did over the course of the game. Many of those trips to the line were from loose ball fouls on offense (Stone had one) or fouls getting back on defense (Abou when he lost the ball on offense). Can't be giving the other team points on our possessions like that.

[Greenrex]

12 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

100% our biggest weakness is closing out halves. Don't understand why it consistently happens but it's going to bite us against decent-to-good teams as it did against FAU and UNCW.

I think attacking the rim more needs to be part of the solution. Get the other team in foul trouble, get in the bonus, and get after them. During that late second half drought, 4 of the 5 misses were 3 point attempts. Factor in the slow pace and limited possessions and the result is an 8-2 run by WKU.

WKU took 14 more free throws than we did over the course of the game. Many of those trips to the line were from loose ball fouls on offense (Stone had one) or fouls getting back on defense (Abou when he lost the ball on offense). Can't be giving the other team points on our possessions like that.

Absolutely agree.
Getting ahead, pulling up, playing keep away, playing not to lose, watch out!...seems to be a theme.

[2020 Sucks]

10 minutes ago, Greenrex said:

Absolutely agree.
Getting ahead, pulling up, playing keep away, playing not to lose, watch out!...seems to be a theme.

We’ve won a boatload of games in the MacCasland era doing exactly this.  Sometimes it stings, but it’s better than losing 90-75 by teams with more talent! Why do we bitch about winning on this board so often?!🙄

[Matt from A700]

When we play so slow, we are bound to have these long, painful droughts. I believe CBSSN ran a graphic last night about UNT's drought, and how they were 0-5 in during that time. Missing five straight shots is going to happen to every team on every night. But in our case, just one or two turnovers in the same stretch will result in a scoring drought of 5+ minutes.

After two empty possessions, we need to have the proactiveness to speed up the next play and get a good shot before the shot clock hits 1, like others have mentioned, and stop playing "prevent offense" as much.