Look, we're 4 games in, but thought it would be fun to list some stats that caught my eye from Incarnate Word:
-Currently an 8% chance to make March Madness (basically, to win their conference tournament)
-Projected W/L of 17-13 (12-10)
-Currently have the 5th best player in all of college basketball 4 games into the season in Junior guard Tahj Staveskie by Barttorvik metrics
-9th best team in the country at limiting turnovers on offense
Weird game where we should have won by a lot more and shooting 20% from 3 certainly helps no one, but Incarnate Word is not bad per se (all stats per barttorvik).
to me, this is what it looks like if they're not hitting shots.
but even though they weren't hitting shots, the offense on the weak side seemed super stagnant and they were missing free throws, iu was still up 19 with 12:47 left to play after 2 tucker devries free throws.
they were picked by the metrics to win by ~23 and favored by 29.5 by vegas. they were on pace to beat that for most of the game until they seemed to take their foot off the gas, especially on defense.
that 7 point 2 possession swing by incarnate word changed the game.
i also thought incarnate word hit a couple really tough midrange shots that are exactly what iu wants you taking (see the 2nd half shot chart; incarnate word in black).
very happy they won though. they held a team that was averaging 92.3 ppg to just 61 (even with the 42 in the 2nd half). this is a big learning experience and valuable in the long run.
to me, this is what it looks like if they're not hitting shots.
but even though they weren't hitting shots, the offense on the weak side seemed super stagnant and they were missing free throws, iu was still up 19 with 12:47 left to play after 2 tucker devries free throws.
they were picked by the metrics to win by ~23 and favored by 29.5 by vegas. they were on pace to beat that for most of the game until they seemed to take their foot off the gas, especially on defense.
that 7 point 2 possession swing by incarnate word changed the game.
i also thought incarnate word hit a couple really tough midrange shots that are exactly what iu wants you taking (see the 2nd half shot chart; incarnate word in black).
very happy they won though. they held a team that was averaging 92.3 ppg to just 61 (even with the 42 in the 2nd half). this is a big learning experience and valuable in the long run.
