On Sunday, the Cats simply could not find a way to pull out a win over Michigan. The game was close the entire 45 minutes- yes, it was an overtime. Again, Michigan put the clamps on Moore and held him well below his shooting average of 15 points per game. Coble lead the Cats, but he missed a lot of shots early in the game that normally for him would have been made. In Madison, Bo’s back.
Cats Lose Again
Then the old problem of Cat teams for many years was missed lay-ups and there were many. Couple the missed lay-ups and the poor free throw shooting by Peljusic and you easily have the margin for a win. Coach Carmody did remember to use his bench in the final seconds and overtime when he substituted Williams and Nash for Moore and Thompson to preserve fouls and energy for the two starters.
Manny Harris played a very strong game and was unstoppable when he dribbled towards the basket. He also hit some crucial freethrows late in the game including the overtime. Mirkovic was unavailable for this game due to a foot problem. Had he been able to play, it might have made a difference.
If there were still any hopes for a Cat NIT appearance, they were dashed with this loss. The Cats have lost three games by a total margin of 6 points on their home court against Purdue, Illinois, and now Michigan.
Bo’s Badgers Are Back
The Badgers have a nice four game winning streak capped by a good win over Ohio State last night. The key to this win was the strong play of Landry and Krabbenhoft, two seniors who know how to win games. The young Buckeyes were visibly fighting among themselves for points in the scoring book as Turner continued to rack up a lot of points on his dribble penetration moves.
Mullens was visibly asking Turner for the ball, but Mulens often was not in position to receive a good pass and use his height for easy buckets. He only is effective when he is set up for easy dunks, but if he does not have an effective repertoire of post moves.
If Coach Matta could teach Mullens some of the post moves a good 7 footer must have if they are to be effective at any level in basketball, the Buckeyes could be very dangerous, but until this part of their overall team game is fixed, they are beatable. Bo Ryan teams play strong and physical defense and they were able to shutdown the outside shooting of Diebler. Diebler in turn did a good job holding down the scoring of Bohannon, who have been hot in Kohl Fieldhouse.
Original Story:
http://hoopraker.com/2009/02/17/cats-...
