SIU

Short post this morning. Saturday was a back breaker of a loss, as far as I'm concerned. I haven't worked through the math yet, but it seems quite likely that we have sealed our doom in the play in round.

With how the standings fall, there is a distinct possibility that we could be watching the #8/#9 matchup that ultimately gets played in the MVC tournament. Obviously, with three games left (and a significant bunchup of teams) that can certainly change. But if the season ended today, this game would be to play UNI.

Our defense has really slipped these past few losses. Looking back to our win against Creighton (which was really won because the offense stepped up and shot 59.4% EFG), our defensive efficiency has gone (measured in points/100 posessions):

• 106.3
• 107.6
• 118.8
• 131.0

The last two were the UNI game and then Saturday's game at Indiana State. Fortunately, we've been a strong enough offensive team that when we are shooting well we can keep it close. Take the first two games above (@Bradley and @Illinois State). Those two were decided by a total of four points - mainly because we have a pretty efficient offense.

The trend is certainly moving the wrong direction, and is the reason we've been on the short end of the stick against UNI and Indiana State. Whether its due to allowing offensive rebounds (UNI) or allowing way too high of a field goal % (Indiana State), the defense has to shore up if we are going to think about winning tonight and in the next few games. For tonight's game, we HAVE to improve the defense and keep SIU from too many easy baskets, or the drought will likely continue.