Oh So Close

Before everyone starts blaming Wolff for the loss with his time-out just before Tyler Morris sank a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4 seconds left in the game (I, too, blame him for the loss, partly. Keep reading.), we can't be too quick to forget the thirty-nine minutes and fifty-six seconds of play that proceeded that heartbreaking moment.

With an ending like that, it's easy to forget what a vomit-inducing, sloppy, sloppy game we played as a team. Tonight's game featured a combined 48 fouls, an abysmal shooting percentage from the floor and from the line, and the worse mohawk since this confusing image.

We started off well, with a good first half until about 5 minutes left. That's when things went downhill. We were lucky to be down only 3 at the half. In the second half, it seemed like we only got back into the game when Corey Lowe got hot. It appears that he's much more of a leader than I thought he was, if he can make the players around him that much better.

Though it wasn't all bad in tonight's game. Hell, we kept up with a somewhat decent A-10 team. Before he got into foul trouble, Big O was playing like I've never seen him play before. He was aggressive and dominant. Brian Macon had a great game too, but as a team, we didn't play at the level that I know that we can. Considering we lost in the final seconds, if we had played to our fullest potential, we could have came out with a win.

I'd also like to add that we had a pretty decent crowd at the game. I'd say about 45% of the crowd was UMassholes, but what did you expect? Perennial self-embarrasser Dean Elmore even made it out, only to lose a 3-point shooting contest to a girl who appeared to have never touched a basketball before. And in case you were wondering, yes, there was a hockey ticket promotion. But if it gets kids to the games, then I don't mind it (although my ratio of Hockey Jerseys to Basketball Jerseys worn by fans is now 7:1. That's not right.).

In the end, yeah, I guess you could put the blame on Wolff. After all, he called a time out with 4 seconds left, just before Morris was able to give us the lead, and then set up a final play in which we couldn't get a decent shot off. But any casual fan will know that it was three of the main things that have held us back in the past few years: turnovers, rebounding, and free throws. That's why we lost