The day after. WKU over Illini 76-72

I really don't want to write this today. This season was too fun for it to end like this. But what can you do?

The Illini were soundly beat at both ends of the court for the first 33 minutes of last nights game, only to come to life in the closing minutes and mount a comeback that was in the end, too much for so little time.

As much as I dislike it, you have to give the credit to the Hilltoppers, they worked the Illini defense over with transition offense and a murderous three point shot. The transition offense seemed to come from the fact that the Illini were not getting back on defense with nearly the speed they needed. For whatever reason our team defense, which yes has been amazing over the course of the year, left a wide open shooter on the perimeter constantly.

Mike Davis and Trent Meacham had great outings as far as scoring was concerned, unfortunately the team had a difficult time finding either of them for an open shot. Trent struggled early on to find his rhythm and had trouble running the offense. Even though DMAC may be listed as the point guard for last night, it was clear that Trent was calling the shots on offense. This is unfortunate, because he plays his best as a pass and pop shooter.

Davis was very good in the middle, unfortunately he was slowed by fouls (some of which I think were questionable at best) a problem that plagued all of the Illini big men last night, and has plagued us for as long as I have been watching the tournament.  Dominique Keller fouled out, earning his 4th and 5th on back to back plays, with an offensive foul and a defensive foul on the other end of the court. The worst of course came from Tisdale, who despite being the tallest person in the building, had zero points, 1 rebound, and 5 fouls. It was basically the worst game the sophomore has had in his career, and it was a bad night  to have it.

We were flat out outplayed for most of the game, and with the  way we played in the first half, we really had no business being as close as we were at the end. Credit goes to Trent on that, as he basically took the team on his back, making 3s and driving into the lane to get whatever he could out of every possession.

As much as it pains me to admit it, we really missed Chester last night. I wanted to think that this team was experienced enough to run the offense with out him on the floor, that it was disciplined enough to not give up the easy 3, but without Chester, we weren't.

In the early possessions it became clear that we needed him. Our offense was cluttered and disorganized, people did not move enough to get open, and Demetri and Trent didn't find the open people often enough, that is what Chet meant to the team. He knows more about how the offense works than anyone on the team, and his decision making and tenacity were what the team needed most last night. Chet would dive for the loose balls, go up and get the rebound and would suffocate the opposing ball handler.

I will do a season recap sooner or later, but for now, kudos to the Hilltoppers for flat out beating the Illini last night, they earned the win, and I am sorry I underestimated you. For now though, I hope everyone can enjoy the memory of an overall successful basketball season. A season where the team came all the way back from the depths of last year and came out to be a very successful team. Don't let the bitter taste of last night sour the whole season. Congrats to Bruce and the team for a season that we can still all be proud of.