Can you prove this?

Still playing without Preston and Boals gave some run to some guys who normally do not play so I am not too concerned. Our guys looked tired though at the end. Bench depth is killing us. And BVP needs a 20 point game quick to get his confidence up.

Glad to get out of there with the W. NIU was shooting like Pleasantville HS in the second half. Beane was putting up shots even he didn't think were going down (watch him chase his shot) that somehow rattled in on line drives. Kueth seemingly couldn't miss. Hankerson banks in a straight on three. It was feeling like one of those "just ain't your day to win" days for a while.

Depth is starting to feel concerning to me. We're not playing many guys. And when some of those bench guys get in (Miguel, McMurray) we're not getting production. I think the BSU game we got 2 bench points, yesterday we got 6, and all 8 of those combined points were Brown's. I know JP is out, but that's one guy. If Towns, Miguel, and McMurray can't give us anything off the bench, I think it's going to cost us down the road. And what's up with Foster? Is he hurt? Didn't look like he was dressed yesterday.

Win.

Glad that Sears looks good. That’s a great sign moving forward that we’ve got a quality PG off the bench when Preston is healthy (and maybe we even try them both on the floor together for certain matchups)

Also happy the Dwight Wilson is playing so well. He’s the perfect “MAC” big-man. I think he continues to put up big numbers in conference. I agree with others that we need one more big to step up. Rifen has the potential, he just needs to put it all together. Where is Foster?

NIU has an experienced squad. As Yogi would say, they have deep depth. They played eight juniors and seniors last night plus a sophomore. That means they could play a nine-man rotation. All their bench players had at least 13 minutes. They needed to do that, with Scott getting only four minutes and Makoui in foul trouble -- pretty typical for both of them.

Kueth (there is no Dana on the roster, only Zool) had his most minutes and best production -- by far -- of the season. His previous high was seven pts at Iowa. Once again, we find a player who has their best night against us.

We had a young bench and it showed. Four freshmen and a sophomore combined for six pts, three turnovers and nine fouls in 29 total minutes. It's a Catch 22 -- they need PT to improve but won't get it unless they show improvement.

BVP may be having his problems shooting but he's making up for it by dishing dimes. Seven assists last night. My favorite play is becoming where he works the low post then passes to Wilson underneath for an easy put in. They worked that two or three times last night.

With no fans or band home court advantage ain't gonna be what it usually is this season.

Russ said during the broadcast that Foster was out for the game due to injury.

[/QUOTE]The only thing I'm finding troubling is the defense right now. It's simply not consistent for 40 minutes. Without taking away from NIU's second half effort, there were moments of bad defense that contributed to it. And as great as Wilson is on the offensive end, he's average on the defensive end. Fully agree that someone has to emerge and contribute that can give him a breather with the fall off being so noticeable.
[/QUOTE]
Our best defensive player last night was Myles Brown. The kid works hard every possession.

When JP comes back, having Sears and Brown come off the bench will be a boost. There just really needs to be SOMETHING off the bench from another forward or big. We've yet to see it.

Zool goes 0 for 4 from from behind the arc in NIU's loss to Miami today after hitting 6 of 9 at Ohio Tuesday night. He is now 1 of 19 from deep v. all opponents not named Bobcats.