Apologies if any of this has already been said, but I have been working and haven't had time to read the board after today's gut wrenching loss.
We have now played 7 games that were decided by 3 points or fewer, and in those games we are now 3-4.
The three wins were Lehigh (73-70), Purdue (70-68), and Iowa (48-46) -- all of which were at home.
The four losses were DePaul (70-73), Lafayette (51-53), UMass (83-85), and Minnesota (65-68) -- three of which were on the road and one of which was at home, and these four losses were all to teams that I would consider to be inferior to Rutgers (in Minny's case, I think they're about even with us all other things being equal, but TODAY I considered them the inferior opponent since they were missing their leading and third-leading scorers).
The margin for error with this team is razor thin, and -- the Lafayette debacle aside -- the difference often comes down to being at home vs. being on the road. We have average talent, and we get a HUGE boost from our home environment that we don't get on the road.
Not an "excuse" but just an explanation. But, yeah, we just can't lose to a Minnesota team that was without two of its top scorers and that basically played five guys the entire game (the two reserves only played 3 minutes apiece). This was a HUMONGOUS missed opportunity for a road win.
We have now played 7 games that were decided by 3 points or fewer, and in those games we are now 3-4.
The three wins were Lehigh (73-70), Purdue (70-68), and Iowa (48-46) -- all of which were at home.
The four losses were DePaul (70-73), Lafayette (51-53), UMass (83-85), and Minnesota (65-68) -- three of which were on the road and one of which was at home, and these four losses were all to teams that I would consider to be inferior to Rutgers (in Minny's case, I think they're about even with us all other things being equal, but TODAY I considered them the inferior opponent since they were missing their leading and third-leading scorers).
The margin for error with this team is razor thin, and -- the Lafayette debacle aside -- the difference often comes down to being at home vs. being on the road. We have average talent, and we get a HUGE boost from our home environment that we don't get on the road.
Not an "excuse" but just an explanation. But, yeah, we just can't lose to a Minnesota team that was without two of its top scorers and that basically played five guys the entire game (the two reserves only played 3 minutes apiece). This was a HUMONGOUS missed opportunity for a road win.
