Halftime - 45-29 Pitt

Playing pretty good D but Pitt is shooting a lot of 3s and making a decent amount of them. That, and maybe the fouls being called (or not called) is the difference right now.

Huskies defending the basket and rebounding well. Pitt has been in a full court press the entire game and forced some turnovers (too many for my liking...). Pitt plays pretty good D as well.

Chris Johnson is back and playing like Chris Johnson (basically hustling all over and diving on the floor a lot but that's about it).

Makuoi is looking much better in this game. Beane just looks off. Hankerson is playing really well. And Thornton is apparently going to have a healthy number of turnovers this year because too many guys can't catch his passes.

One saving grace is it doesn't appear Pitt shoots FTs very well.

Anyway...gotta get them to start missing some 3s (9-20).

It'd be nice to get some FTs of our own though. In 3 halves of play at Pitt in the past two years, we're still 1 of 2 from the stripe. I say "still" because we were 1 of 2 in last year's game and we're still 1 of 2...

Two free throw attempts in 60 minutes of basketball vs. 26 attempts for Pitt.

You can draw your own conclusions from that.

Here may be some first-half indicators:
Northern-Pitt
turnovers 9-2
off rebs 2-9
freethrows 0/0-4/9
3-ptrs 3/8-9/20
steals 0-4
second-chance pts 5-12
fouls 8-5

(from LiveStats)

I was ordering food and wasn't completely paying attention but I think they said Cochran had to miss the trip due to Covid contract tracing. So, it doesn't sound like he has it, just that he was potentially exposed.

Losing by 30 now with just over 7 minutes to go.

Refuse to start watching these games until MM is gone. Same year in year out. Hopefully he doesn’t get extended again for 5 years for finishing .500.

Just got the update from the app: 89-59 final

They can basically count on 40 to 45 points from the trio of Hankerson, Beane, and Cochran so they have to get 20 to 25 from the rest of the team.

With Cochrane not playing, they've gotten 29 from the trio. The rest of the team? 30 points.

If Cochran plays and does what he normally does, add about....oh let's say 13 points. That brings the total up to 72 points (and the trio would have 43).

It's better production they've been getting the previous two games (from a points standpoint). And they weren't going to beat Pitt anyway..

Needless to say, supporting cast must get better.

And Anthony Crump is garbage. I don't like him at all. I don't like that he can't make layups. I don't like that he can't shoot free throws. And he seems pretty mopey on the floor.

But, he's playing because Mateen isn't on the team anymore. But, outside of Cochran, there has to be a better option.

Hint: It's Kaleb Thornton.

The starting 5 should be: Hankerson, Thornton or Cochran, Beane, Makuoi, and Kueth or Okanu. When they get Scott back, he should step in for Kueth. But, Covid or not, he's had a hard time staying healthy.

(12-05-2020 08:48 PM)NIUHuskie4life Wrote:  Refuse to start watching these games until MM is gone. Same year in year out. Hopefully he doesn’t get extended again for 5 years for finishing .500.

The past 5 years have been the winningest 5 year span in program history.

We should start celebrating if the Huskies break 60 points.

(12-05-2020 09:07 PM)Big Red Wrote:  The past 5 years have been the winningest 5 year span in program history.

Get real! This is only thanks to the increase in games scheduled combined with a decrease in the competitive level of the opposition.

(12-05-2020 08:48 PM)NIUHuskie4life Wrote:  Refuse to start watching these games until MM is gone. Same year in year out. Hopefully he doesn’t get extended again for 5 years for finishing .500.

Agreed. But I don’t think we’ll see Monty gone as long as STF is here. In fact, don’t be surprised if Monty gets a contract extension, if he didn’t already get it.

We have Ball State home on Tuesday (Dec 8) and at Iowa on Dec. 13 ... and then Chicago State at home on Dec. 18. If NIU muckle-chucks all three, especially that third one ...

(12-05-2020 09:25 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  We have Ball State home on Tuesday (Dec 8) and at Iowa on Dec. 13 ... and then Chicago State at home on Dec. 18. If NIU muckle-chucks all three, especially that third one ...

There is no way NIU loses to Chicago State. If they do, MM will not be at work the next day unless he is cleaning out his office.

what has happened to the defense on this team? It's pure garbage in the 3 games this year. Obviously I didn't expect us to give PItt a run...but even in the other 2 games. Teams are draining 3's against us.

(12-05-2020 11:25 PM)NIU75 Wrote:  

(12-05-2020 09:25 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  We have Ball State home on Tuesday (Dec 8) and at Iowa on Dec. 13 ... and then Chicago State at home on Dec. 18. If NIU muckle-chucks all three, especially that third one ...

There is no way NIU loses to Chicago State. If they do, MM will not be at work the next day unless he is cleaning out his office.

You must have forgotten who MM reports to. He would get a 2 year contract extension.