ULL 57 UNT 43: Ugly Senior Day Loss

As crushing a blow as that loss on Saturday to ULL was to you, it was just as painful for Tony Mitchell. At least, that is what I gathered from his post-game expression and tweet.

There was a look of frustration on Mitchell’s face as Jacob Holmen was unable to find both he and Tyler Hall on the inbound play with 27 seconds left. He had the same look as Tyler stepped out of bounds on the play that practically lost the game.

That is the good news.

The bad? Well when everyone is shooting terribly, best player included, it is very difficult to win. Shouldn’t we be able to expect a victory over a team of ULL’s quality at the Super Pit?

The Cajuns are getting a lot of credit for keeping Tony Mitchell quiet. Roger, Kedrick, Brandon, and everyone else who was clanking open shots is more responsible. With no incentive to stop triple teaming number 13, ULL maintained that same damn five point lead for most of the game.

It is as simple — and as complicated — as that.

Vito threw out the oft-repeated longing for Chris Jones and Jordan Williams.

Sure they would have helped — but hitting free throws would have likely done the job here. When the two were declared ineligible, they ceased to be factors. Making them the go-to excuses for losses when we have the necessary ingredients to win Sun Belt games is lame.

The goal has always been to do well in the conference tournament. Saturday’s loss put UNT in the fifth position — we are still looking at a bye.

We have two games left: UALR and Denver, both on the road.

It has been pretty well established that playing well in the immediate games prior to the tournament portend some success. That is the thinking, at least. The reality is that we nothing is guaranteed. Having an extra tournament game to play doesn’t mean an early exit. Similarly, having a bye does not guarantee the squad doesn’t turn in another terrible shooting night.

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Worst part of the loss? We send the seniors, Kedrick Hogans, Alonzo Edwards, and Tyler Hall, out with on a terrible game. They didn’t even look affected by the situation. Hall was even playing fairly well until late.

It was just one of those days. So far this month we have managed to play very well and still drop three out of five. This loss makes the FAU one even more heartbreaking. Everyone played so well out in FLorida and we wasted it.

I’m expecting a monster game from Tony on Thursday. Everyone else just needs to turn in an average night in Arksansas to crank out a win.