I am going to keep this relatively short because I am raging pissed right now.
That game was awful. Just awful. By both teams. Wide open looks missed, bad passes, and unforced turnovers galore.
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Klay Thompson and Faisal Aden had real bad nights. Klay was at least able to get to the foul line, but Aden was almost completely shut down. K-State's star, Jacob Pullen, struggled just the same, but came up with a big shot down the stretch and hit the clinching free throws. The "stars" were not shining tonight.
- The refs were just bad tonight. But we have come to expect that, haven't we? If we weren't throwing the ball all over the place in the first half, maybe we wouldn't have had to worry about some iffy calls in the last ten minutes.
- I hate Rodney Macgruder. The guy knows how to deliver a back-breaking three. I've never seen the Macgruber movie, but I'm sure it sucks and I am definitely not seeing it now.
- I know a lot of you are pissed that the Cougs missed a bunch of free throws. Instead of being mad that those missed free throws kept us from winning, you should be happy that our ability to get to the free throw line was keeping us in the game on such a horrific shooting night.
- K-State is not the fifth best team in the country. KenPom had them as #23 coming in. The win would have looked nice on our resume thanks to a bloated AP ranking, but don't think we were lucky to just "be in it."
- No more zone. Please. It is fine in small doses, but playing it for long stretches is just asking for trouble (like back-to-back Rodney Macgruder threes).
- Reggie Moore showed flashes late of why we really need him back healthy. He crossed his man and hit a jumper to pull the Cougs within one, then drove the lane and fed Casto to put WSU in the lead. Can't wait for when he has both hands to work with.
- The rebounding was frustrating, but not unexpected. WSU has been shaky on the boards all season, and K-State is an excellent offensive rebounding team.
WSU should have won that game. They shut down Pullen. They were aggressive and drawing contact. However, the first half they made too many boneheaded plays and in the final minutes (or really, throughout the whole game) couldn't get that big shot to get them over the hump. It's a shame, because this would have been a real nice one to have come March.