Game 37: Valpo vs. GWU, NIT CHAMPIONSHIP, Thursday, March 31, 2016; 6 CDT

[nkvu]

Two quick fouls on Vashil. Another slow start coming out of the half.

At least Carter is trying to play.

We're shooting the ball like San Diego State. If we don't pick it up we're gonna get blown out.

[FWalum]

 Worst I've seen us play all year. Look like we have no idea what to do.  Everything is on the outside which we can't hit and they are lighten it up from everywhere.

[oklahomamick]

GW just hit back to back ridiculous 3pt shots

[nkvu]

One of seven from 3 this half.  Pitiful.

[atkins]

GW is a far better team.  They have 3 guys who have made the Valpo defenders look terrible.  GW should've been the top seed. 

Where is Alec?  Where is the fire?  We look like we are just going through the motions at this point.  I think we lose by 20+.  Bryce obviously cannot motivate the team tonight.  It is not going to affect his attractiveness to other programs, but he was totally outcoached. 

[FWalum]

 Very bad matchup for us. Teams will be running zone against us all next year if this is the best we can do against it

[bbtds]

As long as they don't light us up from deep, I'm pretty confident.

Unfortunately good prediction.

[NativeCheesehead]

Two thoughts.

What an exciting season!
What a disappointing end.

[bbtds]

Can't see us giving up 70+ points two games in a row. BYU was a better offensive team that GW is.

Unfortunately a bad prediction.

[oklahomamick]

They are better tonight.  We are having a bad shooting night.  Our 6 losses don't add up to this deficit? 

[oklahomamick]

at least we had more dunks than they did...

[nkvu]

GW was just a much better team tonight. They played with poise we didn't. They hit the shots we didn't. To bad we didn't have a better showing in our last game on national tv. Sucks to get blown out.

Nice to see Nick hit a shot. Too bad nobody else could shoot worth a darn.

Still a great season. Best since 98. Proud of the team.

[govalpogo]

How many times has an opposing player made his 1st (and 2nd) three of the season against us!?  Embarrassing and disappointing ending...once Carter went down I figured that's how it was going to go though.  Props to GW for being sparked after that buzzer beater over Hofstra, they seemed pretty unstoppable after the first round. 

Thank you seniors, and thank you team for a 30 win season and some new memories!  See y'all next year.

[atkins]

Disappointing to be blown out in a championship game.  A fun season overall, though.  We have lots of glitches to fix before this fall.  Something tells me Alec will have to motivate and light a fire under the returning guys. 

[oklahomamick]

Alec not showing up to press conference, I hope i'm not looking too much into that.

[valpotx]

Great season guys, in spite of not playing well in the second half.  It would have been a completely different game if their jack a$$ didn't fall on Carter towards the end of the first half.  We couldn't move the ball with him at 50%.  George Washington is NOT the better team overall.  They were hitting more shots than they usually do, and we were only down 1 at the half, even though we were turning the ball over a lot.

I truly hope that Bryce and Peters are back, and that Carter gets another year, but if not, they all did us proud.  We can't fault any of them if they choose to go somewhere they don't have to win a conference tourney, in order to play on the biggest stage of college basketball.  I will miss Vashil and the improvement he showed, and the moments that Darien had when he was a solid player.  It's too bad that E Vic had so many injuries, as he was pretty good last year, and it would have been interesting to see him at full strength on this team.   

[justducky]

We were outplayed by a very good team. With GW's execution we needed our best game and it was not available.

It is a shame about Keith, we needed his best. It is a shame about Tevonn because he never completely shook off the rust from his injury. It is also a shame about EVN. He played the entire year with the hip and wrist problems limiting his effectiveness.
I wish his senior year could have been played at nearer full strength. Tonight we really could have used that boost.

Even at full health that 1-3-1 would have been a big problem. To have a chance we had to shoot well from deep but it didn't happen.

[oklahomamick]

Swoosh, Alec was at the press conference.  Bryce mentioned we are 0-2 without Carter.

[valpotx]

Alec is probably pissed, as he despises losing, but he is too professional not to show up.

[valpo64]

Can't believe AP didn't get more touches in the 2nd half.  No fire in the Crusaders tonight and as a result we got our butts kicked badly in the 2nd half.  Still, a great season overall.

[VUfan]

It was a vary good year.    Just a long twenty Minutes, GW's night 

[wh]

Unfortunately, tonight wasn't our night, but it was a nice run to the championship game and a successful season overall. I will have many fond memories of this group.

[valpotx]

Just curious, but are other coaches allowed to recruit Peters after this season, or does he have to declare himself as a graduate transfer first?  I am hoping that he actually has to declare such a thing first, so other coaches don't get in his ears all summer.

[oklahomamick]

Butler's fan forum has an Alec Peters topic with several pages

[ValpoHoops]

There have already been calls from at least one Big Ten school that I've heard about to his high school and AAU coaches regarding his status.