Couldn't watch live, just watched a replay. First, the two fouls on Dickinson in the first half were garbage. We needed the bench today, and all three came through. Chaundee and Davis kept us in the game when we just couldn't make shots. Johns contributed some strong finishes inside and good defense on smaller bigs who were a good match up for him. Franz, Livers, Eli were all cold as ice during the first 16 minutes and Hunter was on the bench with two fouls.. When we were down 12, a shot of the Terp players showed them smiling and feeling good. To me, that was a bad sign for them. As bad as we looked, I felt that we were locked in. Maryland was making everything; we were missing everything. Once they missed a few, I knew we'd make a run. 16-2 in the last 4 minutes of the half is a run.
Credit of course to Smith who great from wire to wire. The nifty pocket pass to Franz to end the half was an exclamation point, but he made good decisions all day. For a 5'11" Columbia transfer to dominate a game like that is pretty special. If this was hockey, the number 2 star would be Eli. After a rough start, Eli did a great Spike Albrecht against Louisville impression, knocking down threes and finishing with that underhand bank shot off the glass. I didn't see him favor the ankle at all. Then Franz heated up from outside and the gangly driving finishes. He has incredibly long strides. He and Hunter secured the defensive rebounds.
I'm a little worried about Livers. He was way off on threes and didn't seem to be moving well. He was on the bench a lot. You have to wonder if he's still dinged up. We prevailed without him, but we'll need that sweet three point stroke to get to the title game ad beyond. Chaundee was better than Livers today.
As chippy as this game was, there were very few fouls called. I haven't seen any of the post game commentary, so I don't know what actually transpired when Juwan was ejected. Seemed like Morsell had a lot to say then and during the whole game. Juwan was fired up for this game anyway. His half time remarks showed it. Screw the seedings, we needed to get back to winning. Tomorrow will be another battle. I like our mindset.
Credit of course to Smith who great from wire to wire. The nifty pocket pass to Franz to end the half was an exclamation point, but he made good decisions all day. For a 5'11" Columbia transfer to dominate a game like that is pretty special. If this was hockey, the number 2 star would be Eli. After a rough start, Eli did a great Spike Albrecht against Louisville impression, knocking down threes and finishing with that underhand bank shot off the glass. I didn't see him favor the ankle at all. Then Franz heated up from outside and the gangly driving finishes. He has incredibly long strides. He and Hunter secured the defensive rebounds.
I'm a little worried about Livers. He was way off on threes and didn't seem to be moving well. He was on the bench a lot. You have to wonder if he's still dinged up. We prevailed without him, but we'll need that sweet three point stroke to get to the title game ad beyond. Chaundee was better than Livers today.
As chippy as this game was, there were very few fouls called. I haven't seen any of the post game commentary, so I don't know what actually transpired when Juwan was ejected. Seemed like Morsell had a lot to say then and during the whole game. Juwan was fired up for this game anyway. His half time remarks showed it. Screw the seedings, we needed to get back to winning. Tomorrow will be another battle. I like our mindset.
