MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Willy Wonka]

Pulling my best Loco...

Tommies outboarded by 10, 42-32. Tommies get 2 points in 34 bench minutes, while the Larries got 11 of 22 bench points from Kroeger, including the clutch FTs. LU shoots just 35% and still wins. Big Bopper plays his typical solid game with 15-12-5.

Ike looks like he struggled, finishing 4-11 for 8 points and 5 turnovers. He did have 14 rebounds though. Keating played well, but Sweeney went off in his final game - likely earning the Nightly Neal Award in the process

Dwyer will have his hands full next year trying to replace The Minnow.

[Touchdown Tommy]

snooze willie snooze

[LUMAN80]

hey AK- so all that talk about romping the Vikings and going to the final four.... Where exactly in the stands does saint thomas plan on sitting?

[Kilted Rat]

They have a row of tickets right in front of the row Lawrence purchased.

[Sam Johnson]

Well, since no one could hear the game I thought i'd post a lil update on how things went from an LU fans perspective.

First off, congrats to the Tommies...there were several times that they could have folded when down big in the 2nd but they didn't toss in the towel.

Thoughts:
1) Refs were pretty good. You could tell that UST wasn't used to that style of refs though...lots of lost looks or outrage.  They didn't handle the end of the game well (lots of confusion on if time ran out before a UST three), but it didn't really matter b/c the shot wouldn't have done anything w/ UST down 4.  Way better than the normal MWC refs we'd usually see.

2) Rosefelt is not a physical player inside and that's what hurt him tonight.  Braier, Osland, and the other LU bigs put a body on him and he responded by getting frustrated.  Great athlete though...if he can get free he can hurt you.

3) Schnettler can shoot.  I think he would have preferred not having to run all over the place to try and get open.  MacGillis will do that to you.

4) "Touches the rafters"...I assume the color guy was describing that crazy rainbow three that Sweeney shoots?  He got hot at the end though.  Tommies never make that run at the end without him.

5) LU had this one in the bag and took their foot off the gas.  I'm not sure why, but we didn't keep on the same pressure.  We were beating UST down the floor for transition layups (while up 12)...thought the game was done, but we let UST hang around.  I'm really proud of them for hanging in.  It would have been easy to let the momentum slip completely away and lose it at the end.  But they got it done.  Mac's three and Kroeger's throws were the definition of clutch.

6) LU was ice cold from the floor in the 1st.  Lots of good lucks with nothing falling

7) Good student support for UST...too bad they had to ruin it by throwing bottles, cans, etc onto the floor after the loss.  I'm sure it was a heartbreaker (especially if you're as wasted as some of them were  ) but no call for that.

8) Time to hope that the NCAA wants to reward excellence instead of taking the $$$.

9) And last but not least, hats of to Braier for cementing his place as the best player in LU history by taking his place as the all time leading scorer in school history.

Hopefully the road to Salem still runs through Alex!

[ustbumkneez]

Just pulled into Madison after catching the UST game. Great atmosphere at "The Alex". Strong, supportive St Thomas crowd made the drive, which was nice to see. Thoughts from the game:

*The 11 O boards given up in the first half killed the Tommies, especially considering Lawrence couldnt buy a bucket. After UST got up 14-5, almost every posession for LU from then on in the first half was netting at least 2 looks at the hoop.

*Mike Keating played a great all around game, making key stops, grabbing boards when it didnt seem like anyone else would, and hitting some timely, clutch shots.

*MacGillis is a phenomenal defender. All but 3 of Schnettlers points were when someone else was on him. MacGillis barely gave him any room to breathe. He did adapt, and attacked the middle, opening up some looks for other guys.

*The way the refs were calling the game was not anywhere near the MIAC standard UST was used to-lot of touchy fouls, and a lot of calls off the ball. This led to 4 UST starters being saddled with 2 fouls barely over halfway through the 1st.

*On USTs posession when they were down 3, when Sweeney missed the three and Ike got the rebound, Schnettler was wide open on the far wing-that was where Ike was trying to get the ball when it got stolen. If Schnettler gets the rock, Im confident were heading to OT. Tough pass, however.

*It was really fun to watch Sweeney in the last 3 minutes. You cant completely appreciate how much he dominated that last little bit of the game without being there. The way he was carrying himself, I dont think anyone doubted that each one of his shots was going in. Guys in his face on the 3s, absorbing contact on his layups; he went out swinging.

*LUs balance is pretty impressive. With the exception of Page, they got significant contributions out of all of their guys. There wasnt much of a letup, and that has to be a credit to the system Tharp employs.

Congrats on a great season Tommies. Keep it rollin next year.

[JUSTINTYEM]

Well page was in there to do nothing but give Bopper a quick rest.And Pages 5 min. and Boppers 35 minutes show that.Page did what he was suppose to do and did it well.Great game,The UST Fans at the end were Terrible.But the players had Class.

[sumander]

Willie, Here is my nomination for the Nightly Neal Award:

30 Ryan Kroeger........    2-4    2-3    5-6    0  0  0   2  11  1  1  0  1  14

Where is oAs by the way? Haven't heard from him in a while.

Wondering for those of you that were at the game or listened to it, was fatigue a factor at all for the Tommies? LU had 9 players with double digit minutes while UST had 6 including Weaver with 23. They shot 23% from beyond the arc in the second half.

[titan2000]

UST was a good team; I think McGillis on Schnettler was the best part of the game.  Both players fighting through picks, looking for the shot, never stopping.

It looked to us that the Tommies big guy Ike was winded and I agree that the fouls were being called tight, both ways.  The LU guys were bodying him hard all night and he just moved further from the hoop for much of the middle half of the game.  As for fouls, these refs were a lot better than the MWC refs, that's for sure.

Sweeney 3 shooting was awesome, clutch.  Props.

The fans throwing the bottles and cans on the floor after the buzzer really was inconsistent with the good back and forth that I thought went on before and during and after the game.   

[Sam Johnson]

Willie, Here is my nomination for the Nightly Neal Award:

30 Ryan Kroeger........    2-4    2-3    5-6    0  0  0   2  11  1  1  0  1  14

Where is oAs by the way? Haven't heard from him in a while.

Wondering for those of you that were at the game or listened to it, was fatigue a factor at all for the Tommies? LU had 9 players with double digit minutes while UST had 6 including Weaver with 23. They shot 23% from beyond the arc in the second half.

I thought thats partly why UST committed as many (seemingly) silly fouls as they did in the 2nd half...they looked tired out there.  You could also see it when LU would sprint past them for layups.  Again, props to the Tommies for not tossing it it when it could have become a rout.

[ustbumkneez]

sumander
Watching the 2nd half, you could tell UST was wearing down a little more than normal, but that was just a result of how hard LU was forcing them to work on the offensive end. To get a good look, the Tommies had to run off a lot of screens and deal with a lot of contact in the paint, so I think that took its toll. It definately contributed to USTs inability to shrink the lead below 10 for basically the entire half (up until Sweeney took over). The 4-5 transition layups LU got in the 2nd half also would point towards Tommie fatigue.

t2000
The bottles thrown at the end were unfortunate. I know a lot of fans were frustrated with the lack of a foul call on Schnettler there at the end, and especially upset with the referees inability to control and manage the clock. (I still dont understand the last play of the game-where Ike dunked it-can you explain? No one on the UST side got an explanation) In any event, nothing should have been thrown out there.

Aside from when Braier missed the front end of that one and one, and Krogers miss the first time he stepped up to the line, LU always had someone hit the clutch shot. Kroger hitting that DEEP 3 with the shot clock at 1 when UST was mounting a little charge, Bradleys three from the wing to put LU up 8, and obviously MacGillis' 3 in the last 30 there to put them up 5 (off an offensive rebound, of course).

[Sam Johnson]

t2000
The bottles thrown at the end were unfortunate. I know a lot of fans were frustrated with the lack of a foul call on Schnettler there at the end, and especially upset with the referees inability to control and manage the clock. (I still dont understand the last play of the game-where Ike dunked it-can you explain? No one on the UST side got an explanation) In any event, nothing should have been thrown out there.

Aside from when Braier missed the front end of that one and one, and Krogers miss the first time he stepped up to the line, LU always had someone hit the clutch shot. Kroger hitting that DEEP 3 with the shot clock at 1 when UST was mounting a little charge, Bradleys three from the wing to put LU up 8, and obviously MacGillis' 3 in the last 30 there to put them up 5 (off an offensive rebound, of course).

I felt bad for the Tommie fans...I was just as confused as they were until I was able to talk to the official score keepter after the game.  He told me that the clock operator hit stop when the whistle blew, but that the horn had already sounded at the scorer's table (LU doesn't have a loud obvious horn) and the refs didn't hear it.  The dunk didn't count as the game was already over, but I wish the refs had said something about it.  I'm not sure there was a foul on the last play, from my angle it looked like the UST player lost his balance (and its a view the other older, impartial fans I talked to saw as well) but it never should have been an issue. LU really should have laid off since the 3 wouldn't win it and the refs shouldn't have blown the whistle since the play couldn't decide it.  Basically it was a funky end to an all around great game.

Congrats to LU on getting to host a sectional.  We'll need that fan support...IWU is looking mighty tough.  Great game coming up this Friday! 

[piperinsider]

A little late, but mad props to Ryan Coleman for his photos from the USt-NCC game. There are some sweet shots. Tommie fans, make sure to order a few of your nice season. Support Ryan, he does great things for our conference!

What now?

Anybody be interested in a NCAA bracket pool for us MIAC posters on like yahoo or some other free site just for the hell of it?

[miacwatchmen]

Yeah that would be cool. I would be up for winning another pick' em 

[sumander]

PI - I would be up for a NCAA pick em!