Over the past few seasons I've often mentioned "arena magic" on this blog. Tonight vs UNI, I realized there's no such thing as magic.
The truth is the Saluki teams over the past few seasons won home games because they played outstanding defense and finished off opponents with authority. This Saluki squad hasn't shown the ability to consistently accomplish either of those tasks, and that's why they're losing games.
Here are some notes as the Salukis fall to 0-2 in MVC play.
-Kevin Dillard was the lone bright spot vs UNI. 16 points, and 5 assists. The kid can flat out play.
-Carlton Fay had 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting. That's not a bad night, but I'd still like to see Fay take a bigger role in the offense. He has the potential to be a scoring machine.
-The Salukis beat the Panthers into bonus in the second half, then failed to get to the foul line and capitalize. Taking the ball to the basket and getting to the foul line would have given the team a great chance to win.
-UNI is not a great team, and they shot 48% vs the Salukis. This was a direct result of the Salukis not closing out the shooters on defense. The defensive rotations were slow and the Panthers got lots of good looks as a result.
-This was a game that the Salukis should have won. Improvements must be made if the Dawgs are to avoid playing a Thursday night game in the MVC Tournament.
