Wrong. I post after wins too. Did I expect 10-1...nope. Do I expect a coach in his fifth year at the helm to not lose by 28 points to a Big Ten team not ranked in the top 25...I sure do. This staff had a lot of time to prepare for the marquee game on the schedule and this is what we got tonight? Brutal.

I didn't see the game, only listened. My biggest disappointment was the defensive effort and getting torched the way we did. I thought the defense seemed quite improved this year and was helping while the offensive pieces tried to fit together. I know Purdue is a tough place to play and a win wouldn't have been easy, but this was a step back. It hurts that there will be no buzz on campus when the MAC season starts. needing something to get the student body energized and this was a thud.

The key for this team in conference will be cutting down on the turnovers, taking better shots and making free throws. It comes down to focus and attention to detail. This team looks like a decent defense team. They rebound well too. This team is not a great shooting team. Dartis or Gollon returning could help that.

I watched it until I couldn't. Watched the football game again to exercise the demons from the sorry effort from the hoops squad.

No D. No shooting. No energy. No win. Once again we were another's teams get well game.

There was no surprises in this game.
Purdue was clearly the better team on both offense and defense.
We will really know more about this team after the 2nd week of the MAC schedule, where we are up against similarly talented teams.




GO BOBCATS

What's funny is that I knew I'd come to this thread and see people bitching about the blowout loss. Odds are that the same people would have complained if this game wasn't played at all, and instead Ohio was playing another MEAC school at home. Can't have it both ways folks.

Finding a positive out of this one, Murrell showed good things against a good team. Maybe he's just now fully recovered and game fit from the off season surgery.

Geeeze, I hate to say it, but Saul needs to go! This team has shown no progress the past couple of years, continues to play lousy defense and is just plain tough to watch. OU has a proud history in bball, and with embarrassing showings like last night, there does not appear to be much hope for the future under this staff. NEXT!

Really enjoyed watching the game last night although I would have preferred a much differnet outcome. It was nice to see a well-officiated game without a bunch of cheap fouls called when guys were flopping or acting 30 feet from the basket. The throw back your head on contact that the dribbler initiates which results in a defensive foul drives me nuts. Last night, the refs set the tone early and let the players play. That said, no team is going to win many games with only 11 assists and 63% free throw shooting.

1. Boilers shoot like that the rest of the year, book 'em for top half of the Big 10 and an NCAA berth.
2. Defense...defense...defense. Improved from Jamaica, but it would be difficult for it to have gotten worse.
3. Murrell showed flashes in first half, but he has a slow first step, making him easier to guard. Maybe some off season training could help.
4. I love Carter, so I was disappointed that he didn't do better on a nationally televised game.
5. We just aren't a very good road team right now, especially against good competition. If we were facing Bullfalo at their place, for example, I am guessing the results would not have been much different.
6. Never use injuries as an excuse, but we really miss Dartis and his consistent shot from behind the arc.
6.1. BVP is a very pleasant surprise.
7. Despite the outcome, I am glad we scheduled this game. I think it demonstrates to everyone how far we have to go to be able to compete against legit Top 60 programs.
8. I view the recruiting for basketball the same way I see it in volleyball. Both Saul and Webb do not seem to be recruiting the same caliber players as their predecessors. In was only 4 years ago the volleyball team beat OSU on a neutral court. This year the girls were utterly destroyed by OSU (I was there.) Just 6 yrs ago we gave UNC everything it could handle in the Sweet 16. Now this. Until we start getting better players, I don't expect things to change for either sport.

Yes, indeed, the Ohio Bobcats used to be quite a dangerous team to play and could beat anyone on any given night. No perceived fear of that now. Now that Ohio is becoming a Football school; perhaps, Saul is helping us transition successfully in basketball to either Division II or Division III. How brilliant, if true. The money that used to be spent on Basketball can now be funneled fully to the football program. Maybe, in fact, the future of Ohio basketball is to become a club sport only. Wow! I wish I had a sports management degree, so that I could understand the inner-workings of running Ohio Athletics.

Expected a loss - got a loss. On that front it was not surprising.

Wished we had at least made it competitive (see the "well let's keep it within 20" comments), but alas we couldn't. It is what it is.

We aren't in the running for an at-large bid, so the loss and the size of the loss (I believe NET ranking stops accounting for margin at 10) doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, so the sky is not falling. It counts as one L regardless. Put it in the L column and move on.

Nothing before or after yesterday changes the fact that our season hinges on one week in March in Cleveland.

What DOES matter is that it was still disheartening to see how far we still need to go. We're nowhere near where we need to be to start realistically thinking of competing for the MAC or NCAA tourney. We got some nice minutes from Murrell. TK "only" had 3 turnovers (but also had 0 assists). BVP is our best/most consistent threat from beyond the 3pt line and honestly deserves more minutes. But on the whole - this team looks like a below average MAC team.

If you're basing your basketball thoughts on the "top 25 rankings".... Well....

This Purdue team is far better than their record suggests.

Well, you're right. Just four of his five teams.

We've been ranked 12th, 2nd, 11th, 12th and 10th (so far) in team defense among MAC teams.