Northern Kentucky 2/2/20

[Pounce Needs Pals]

Northern Kentucky 15-7 (7-3 HL)
@
Milwaukee 10-12 (5-5 HL)

When: Sunday
Time: 1:00PM
Where: UWM Panther Arena

Streaming:ESPN+
Radio: Black & Gold Network mixlr.com/mke-panthers/

Concessions Promo: $2 Hot Dogs



NKY last game out took down Green Bay, 71-62, on Friday night at the Kress Center.
STATS LEADERS

Bryson Langdon poured on 22 points partly in thanks to superb three-point shooting at a 5-of-7 (71 percent) clip from beyond the arc.
Jalen Tate put together a 17-point, 12-board effort. The junior shot 7-of-13 (54 percent) from the floor.
In his first game back from injury, Dantez Walton had a double-double performance, scoring 15 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
Trevon Faulkner rounded out the double-figures parade with 10 points to go along with his six boards.

[GoPanthersGo23]

NKU -5.5

[Pounce Needs Pals]

Around the same as it was on Friday. Must protect the home floor.

[ghostofdylan]

Are we getting into must-win territory for the 3 seed and a first-round bye? Four of our final seven games are away from the Arena.

[Pounce Needs Pals]

Feb 1, 2020 17:57:44 GMT -6 ghostofdylan said:

Are we getting into must-win territory for the 3 seed and a first-round bye? Four of our final seven games are away from the Arena.

Most likely.

[nickpanther]

Feb 1, 2020 17:57:44 GMT -6 ghostofdylan said:

Are we getting into must-win territory for the 3 seed and a first-round bye? Four of our final seven games are away from the Arena.

Yes we are. Currently we are holding down the last spot to host a tournament game- technically we are tied for 5th, but if we want to host, we're going to have to start winning. We're only 2 games out of second.

[Duct_Tape_Pounce]

Feb 1, 2020 17:57:44 GMT -6 ghostofdylan said:

Are we getting into must-win territory for the 3 seed and a first-round bye? Four of our final seven games are away from the Arena.

Do we know that Detroit Mercy will not be in the Horizon League tournament? The Horizon League's website still indicates that all 10 teams will be playing in the tournament. Could this be a case where Detroit Mercy is eligible for the Horizon League tournament, but if they win, the runner up in the tournament gets the automatic bid?

Either way, I would say that tomorrow is a must win for a legitimate shot at the #2 seed and the double bye. If the Panthers lose, they will not only fall 3 games back of Northern Kentucky, but they will also lose the tie breaker to Northern Kentucky. It would take a near miracle to recover from that.

If the league tournament includes all 10 teams, there is very little difference between the 3 and 4 seeds for all intents and purposes; they would potentially get 2 home games, and if they win those two "play in games", they would make the tournament in Indianapolis. A loss tomorrow would not ruin that. If the Panthers lose tomorrow, they will be no worse than a tie for 6th place with the two toughest teams off our schedule for the rest of the regular season and 1 game back of Youngstown State, UIC, and maybe Green Bay for 3rd place. The Panthers are 3-0 against those three teams, with two of those games coming on the road and the third coming on a day where the Panthers were shooting something like 20% through the middle of the second half. A loss tomorrow would make it much harder to get at 3 or 4 seed, but it's far from impossible.

Having said that, tomorrow will be a tough game. Save for a really bad performance against Wright State last weekend, NKU has been on a bit of a roll lately, and took care of Green Bay yesterday night. I don't think the Panthers can win with another shooting performance (at least from deep) like they have had their last few games.

[ghostofdylan]

Let's just win the damn thing, OK?!

[tonyt]

Can’t mess around today fellas this is a MUST WIN!!!!! We have come out and jump on these guys we determine our own fate. We have run today we are a better transition team than a shooting team. Rebounding is key today limit second chance shots and play as a team. No bad shots and relying on the the three so much. Did you our bigs are scoring in the paint 62% of the time I didn’t know that either shocked the hell outta me also!!!!!! So Coach is going to go to the bigs today which i hope is a positive today. We will see if that work. We need this game!!!!! Let’s Go!!!

[ghostofdylan]

I agree with all of this except for the "going to the bigs" part. HUGE game. Let's put up 100 points on these chumps!!

[Deleted]

Bigfoot? ...jk

I hope those 3's finally start dropping..

[BBFran]

Must win? No. The Horizon League now has two passably good teams in WSU and NKU, currently rated 111th and 129th. If that doesn't sound so good for the two best teams in an entire league, it gets worse. The remaining eight teams are rated between 229 (UIC) and 330 (IUPUI). The league thus has plummeted to an all-time low, ranked 24th of the 32 conferences, securely in the low major bottom third.

(By interesting contrast, in 2014 when we won the conference tournament, the league was ranked 12th, very near the top of mid-major leagues. Its two highest rated teams were 71 and 85, and only one team was outside the top 200. In 2011, when we won the regular season title, the league was even better, 10th, arguably the top mid-major league in the country. Three teams were in the top 100, 8 in the top 160.)

The point of all this is that after today's game our remaining games are against the seven dwarfs of a terrible league. (Well, technically there are eight dwarfs, but you get the picture.) (And no offense meant to little people.) So today is not a must win. But if NKU wins today, EVERY game after today SHOULD be treated as a must win. When your best win at this point of the season is against the #229 team, at home, that's where you are.

[Cactus Panther]

NKU is better than their HL record suggests now that Dantez Walton is back from injury. Hopefully he has another poor shooting performance like he did Friday in his return at Green Bay.

[Spirit of Bruce]

To have any chance of winning today, Baldwin will have to figure out how to not get torched by Sharpe.

Up to this point, he's never been able to stop him, which is a big indictment on his coaching abilities.

[Pounce Needs Pals]

Already downtown. It is packed!