(13) Valpo vs. (4) Maryland NCAA 'Second' Rd Fri 3/20 4:40 PM EDT TNT

[LaPorteAveApostle]

This was our Boston College game.

Next year is the Ole Miss / FSU / URI tournament.

[a3uge]

We were really physical. Barkley at the half made some idiotic comment that Maryland was stronger and more athletic. I thought if anything we were probably over aggressive. Those fouls on rebounds are rarely called in the Horizon and we found refs that like to call it close. There's no prizes for losing. It sucks, but not too down because I know we'll be back. We need to schedule smart next year to set us up for a decent seed. Maryland was a good tough team and hopefully we can work our way up to a more vulnerable opponent in the first round.

[FWalum]

One wrong call and one no call really hurt us at the end. Ball was definitely out off of Dodd and not Vashil on the out of bounds where they went to the monitor. Even good old Doug Gottlieb couldn't figure out how they came up with that one.  As my wife always says "referees should have to take a physics class". The last play Keith got his arm raked, there was no ball contact, but it should have never come down to that play anyway.  Think the boys will be practising free throws this summer???

[Chairback]

Skara was wide open in the corner and we dribble into the other corner.

Missed some bunnies under the basket and if we hit our free throws the game would be different.

You can't blame the refs.

Hopefully we can get the Goshen's, IUSB's, Trinity Int, & IPFW's off our schedule next year.  No doubt in my mind that we will be back into the tourney next year.

[govalpogo]

Just wanted to see a final shot...ugh...very entertaining game of basketball.  Proud of the way this team battled especially after being down 11-2 with nothing going down.  They hit their FT's down the stretch...and for Valpo...our chronic FT bug may have finally caught up to us. 

I LOVE that this group almost entirely returns for next year so that they can feed off of this loss.  This is a team that seems to play with a lot of heart and will definitely have a chip on their shoulder next year.  Against MSU two years ago we looked lost, this year...not so much.  Great season! Looking forward to a healthy and prosperous 15-16. 

[FWalum]

Love this one from the CBS recap...Keith Carter went up for one in the corner, but Ram reached in and swiped the ball away - maybe getting some of Carter's arm in the process. Once again physics comes into play, if you are swiping down and hit the ball the ball does not go straight up into the air as is what happened in this case.

[gamelord]

Even tho we lost, I am very happy with the outcome. The boys played an excellent, tight game. I honestly thought we would lose by around 10 pts.

[Valpower]

This was our Boston College game.

Next year is the Ole Miss / FSU / URI tournament.

I was thinking the same thing before the outcome. But, I have to admit that I was expecting a different result this time.

[vu72]

Getting really tired of the condescending broadcasting. My irritation started with the Buffalo/WV contest (somehow hanging on, sawed-off big man, good rebounding, but not the same as rebounding against Big 12 competition). Continues with Valpo.

If you were just listening to them you would think Maryland was winning easily. And just about every highlight was of Maryland.  We are not going to get any respect from the national media until we actually win one of these games against a big name school.

Doug Gottlieb just lost all respect.  What B might want to know.  His "do everything, McDonald's All American" Milo Trimble, had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 2 turnovers.  Our "other kid" freshman, Tevonn Walker, had 14 points, 5 rebounds and only 1 turnover.  On to their second best scorer, Layman. Layman averages 13.1 ppg and 5.9 rebounds (against Big Ten opponents! ) Agains the crummy Horizon competition, he got 4 points and 6 rebounds, while his matchup, Alec Peters, ate his lunch.

I need to take a deep breath...

[Valpower]

Even tho we lost, I am very happy with the outcome. The boys played an excellent, tight game. I honestly thought we would lose by around 10 pts.

I'm going to tell you that I'm not happy with the outcome. Valpo should have won and Maryland wasn't that good. There. I said it. And God damn it, I mean it.

[Chairback]

Doug Gottlieb just lost all respect.

Yeap.  I had to put it on mute because of him.  he's the type of guy you'd just like to kick the crap out of because he gets on your nerves. 

Anyone else hear the cheap shot comments from the Maryland coach at the half? Arrogant ass. My least favorite coach now in the NCAA's.  Wardle #2.

[nkvu]

Doug Gottlieb just lost all respect.

Yeap.  I had to put it on mute because of him.  he's the type of guy you'd just like to kick the crap out of because he gets on your nerves. 

Anyone else hear the cheap shot comments from the Maryland coach at the half? Arrogant ass. My least favorite coach now in the NCAA's.  Wardle #2.

Yah I can just hear him in the post game interview..."we just played really poorly to allow a clearly inferior team from a crappy conference to luck in a few bogus threes and play way over their heads to make it somewhat close. 

[Valpower]

NOT, NOT, NOT impressed with Maryland, except that they beat Valpo. There. I said it.

[vu84v2]

While I am definitely dissapointed in the loss, I thought that Valpo's effort was tremendous. Regardless of what commentators said, etc., Valpo has good players that came to play. How many times did they get down 6 or 7 and then come back to tie it or cut it to one? This is one of the better Big Ten teams and Valpo never flinched. Trimble was an incredible point guard and Carter had trouble with him, but played pretty well. Wells was shut down mostly after dominating. Multiple Valpo players stepped up and made big shots.

Not sure if this compares to the Boston College game, but with everyone (plus Williams and Smits, but minus Vashil) back, next year certainly looks promising.

[Smj]

Super pleased with the team.    However,  not getting a shot off in the last 20+ seconds was disappointing because I think we would have taken them in the overtime

[vu72]

What I found interesting is that they apparently didn't watch any of our recent games or chose to ignore what they saw. Both CSU and GB put a lock down and Alec and let the rest of the guys go.  Not so in this game. If they tried to lock Alec down they failed miserably.  Leading scorer at 18.

[Smj]

wow. ..  They just did a game recap and I can not believe how bad they butchered the players names. ...   

[Valpower]

Not sure if this compares to the Boston College game, but with everyone (plus Williams and Smits, but minus Vashil) back, next year certainly looks promising.

Very favorably, I'd say. The Boston College game was the "we belong" game that auto-bid teams from time to time need.

[crusadermoe]

i can honestly say that if we played them 10 times we could win 4-7 of them.      Never felt that way after an NCAA game since the Sweet 16.    The 2002 team had a lot of weapons but Kentucky and Teshaun Prince and their bigs just made it seem out of reach after 10 minutes or so. 

We shot FTs poorly and missed a lot of tip ins, but we measured up on defense and rebounds vs. a Top 20 team.  TeVonn and E. Victor can be special as well as Alec.  I will travel a long way to watch a good non-conf. game next year.   Next year we take down some high majors

[LaPorteAveApostle]

i can honestly say that if we played them 10 times we could win 4-7 of them.      Never felt that way after an NCAA game since the Sweet 16.   

Totally agree. Glad I fast forwarded through Turgeon at the half--almost afraid to ask what he said. 

Eff him, though, they're going down in the next round anyway.

Frickin' Smotrycz too...should've stayed at UM, then he'd have gotten to play in the final four instead of just the 'third round'.

I'm guessing Maryland fans don't think they were under seeded after all.

[valpopal]

As others have stated, I hate to see the season end on a blatantly bad no-call, though these were the same officials that reviewed a replay and were the only ones in America not to see the ball was out of bounds off the Maryland player. Even though I don't think the outcome would have been much different because I doubt Keith makes all three free throws, especially given the poor night at the foul line by the team, wouldn't it have been highly dramatic to watch him try?


Having said that, what a surprisingly excellent season by this team: overcoming injuries that just about everyone thought would end their chances for a Horizon League regular season, winning the tournament championship with non-starters on the court much of the game (and one of the freshmen off the bench as the ESPN Player of the Game), and then taking a top-10 team to the buzzer in the NCAA tourney! Indeed, Valpo came within a shot of winning each of their three conferences losses, and could easily have been the first Crusader team to log 30 wins in a season, not that their record-breaking 28 isn't something to view with pride.


On top of all this success, which wasn't expected until next year or the one after, if all on this team we saw on the court tonight (except Vashil) return—and add a healthy Lexus, Shane, Smits, and Relvao—they easily should be favorites to repeat as Horizon League champions and even be seen as a possible top-25 team. Pleasantly surprised by this season and cautiously optimistic about the future!   

[usc4valpo]

I was bummed at the result as I am sure many of you feel right now. Valpo played well; I just wish those damn free throws would go in! The rebounding was good, the overall defense was great. Alec Peters was awesome. I am feeling really good about the future of this program. They did not pull an Iowa State in this game.

[a3uge]

Oh, they had "Valpraiso" on the scoreboard in pre-game warmups

[nkvu]

wow. ..  They just did a game recap and I can not believe how bad they butchered the players names. ...   

Like I said. No respect from national media until we win. At least they mostly  said ValparAso instead of ValparEYEso.

[Valpower]

i can honestly say that if we played them 10 times we could win 4-7 of them.      Never felt that way after an NCAA game since the Sweet 16.    The 2002 team had a lot of weapons but Kentucky and Teshaun Prince and their bigs just made it seem out of reach after 10 minutes or so. 

We shot FTs poorly and missed a lot of tip ins, but we measured up on defense and rebounds vs. a Top 20 team.  TeVonn and E. Victor can be special as well as Alec.  I will travel a long way to watch a good non-conf. game next year.   Next year we take down some high majors

Am I the only one who thinks the emperor has no clothes? I don't agree. I think that we win 5 out of 10 times, if not more. The mystique, once dispelled (by playing them and eventually realizing that the major-broadcasting shills are full of  ) is easy to overcome.