I'll begin by saying, I was as frustrated watching this game as anyone and my dogs were probably confused as to who I was yelling at alone watching the game. With that said, these first round games aside from the 1 vs 16 are much more difficult for the higher seeded team especially in the 3 to 5 seed. The expectation is it's a penciled in win. Your opponent is generally a smaller conference team that has had it's own success this year. If the game stays close at the end the lower seed tends to play loose while the higher seed team tightens and plays not to lose. Iowa St just lost as a 3 seed and Baylor is up only 3 at half.
ND twice got the game to double digits and did it by going to the rack and getting points in the paint. Once the lead was stretched we got away from that, pulled the ball out, went deep into a shot clock took tough shots or resorted to a three pointer because that has been the identity all year. Sometimes you have to get away from what you did all year and stick to what's working at the time. NE had some length that seemed to give our shooters trouble getting clean looks, but athletically we could get to the rim. Didn't always finish but that's a story for another time.
I would expect a totally different team next game with one under our belt. We do need to work better on the defensive boards and finish when we get to the rim. It's not a beauty contest, it's a win and advance.
GO IRISH
ND twice got the game to double digits and did it by going to the rack and getting points in the paint. Once the lead was stretched we got away from that, pulled the ball out, went deep into a shot clock took tough shots or resorted to a three pointer because that has been the identity all year. Sometimes you have to get away from what you did all year and stick to what's working at the time. NE had some length that seemed to give our shooters trouble getting clean looks, but athletically we could get to the rim. Didn't always finish but that's a story for another time.
I would expect a totally different team next game with one under our belt. We do need to work better on the defensive boards and finish when we get to the rim. It's not a beauty contest, it's a win and advance.
GO IRISH
