Sheldon does a handful of things well enough. But he's only a 30+ minute guy because Boals hasn't been able to build rosters with enough depth to rely on the bench in a meaningful way.

Our senior captain is the lead head case. Nobody faces consequences for anything on court. It's chaos top to bottom.

Frankly, it's too late to expect change.

Those that were near the situation claim Northern Illinois heard one thing (a big one), but nobody else in the section (or around the section) said they heard that.

Really hope it wasn't said.

I do think Northern Illinois coach at the end showed a lack of maturity by engaging with the band as he exited the court. No matter what, as a coach, you have to set the tone and lead by example. If something is said, by all means have that person ejected, but to escalate the situation is not the right thing to do.

Mind boggling stats here MDWST. Great research.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Statement from the 110:

“Long story short a player said a band member said something (that they most definitely DID NOT say) and their coaches had a member escorted out.”


I also heard from a mother of a 110 member the same thing. The band member was very confused on why the player went off and what he thought he heard.

Connors 3 triples were the difference in the game.

Without them, this becomes a really bad home loss.

That was a bad win. Part of it was NIU just continuing to hit 3s enough to claw back into it, but a lot of it was dumb turnovers and just not finishing out enough possessions. Thought we passed up a lot of good chances last night, one time even unnecessarily passing our way into a shot clock violation. Tough night for Jalen, some rough calls against him.

We need to run more thru JJ. I won't dispute Pavs is our leader but JJ makes things happen. I have heard the concerns over his defense and tried to key in on him and judge that...maybe I am blinded by my man crush but I don't see it. He may over-pursue and chase a little too much at times but he has a lot of energy and effort, his instincts will improve but I think he is already average and not a liability. In summary, JJ Kelly is awesome.

I think we have no choice but to play Conners more and get him more shots. He is the only guy you feel good about making a 3 when he gets open. He doesn't hurt us in other areas of the game. Everyone dumped on this kid and gave up on him way too early.

Hadaway got mouthy on the bench at one point, I think he said "ballsy" a few times I think regarding who was on the floor when he was not. I couldn't quite make sense of what his gripe was but I enjoy trying to decode these interactions from behind the bench. I also love watching the handshake line because you never know what might happen, and it was a weird one last night. #23 Jalen Wharton, who is in his first year of D1 basketball after 2 years of JUCO, and played only 4 minutes, got mouthy with Javan Simmons, who of course did not even play. Zay Mosley (or maybe it was Carter Reese?) happened to be right next to Simmons and got pretty fiery with Wharton. It escalated quickly as others separated them. Simmons stayed calm and a peacekeeper. I can't even remotely imagine what that interaction was about.

Anyway, we survived but it was another disappointing performance following the real shitty Ball State game and underwhelming Toledo game. Things have taken a turn for the worse, we need to right the ship Friday.

In defense of the NIU coach and team, they aren’t used to playing in front of a crowd.

Believe the Ref had the guy ejected for inappropriate remarks made directly to the ref during/following the set-to in front of the band.

Remember when the late, great Bobcat Dragon got kicked out of a game? I know JSF is still among the quick, but his alter ego is now just a memory. In a way that's sad, as it was a great act!