In our 15 games so far, our opponents have only outscored us 3 times in the second half of games (one of which was our collapse vs Oregon where they outscored us by 13 in the second half... that one hurts)

We are a combined +118 in point differential in the second half which averages out to +7.9 point differential in the second half per game. If you remove the Oregon anomaly, that average goes up to a +9.3.

Oh by the way, that stat is improving with time, as our last 4 games we have outscored opponents by 11, 20, 19 and 20 points respectively.

The moral of the story... if we're losing at half... CHILL TF OUT!

Good info! Vs. the Ducks, Solo was hurt and did not play after the first 6 min.

cs69ag said:

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Good info! Vs. the Ducks, Solo was hurt and did not play after the first 6 min.

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Correct, that's why I called it an anomaly

Admitted basketball novice here - but clearly the way this team plays requires lots of depth and lots of conditioning. When you get the right players bought into that kind of system, it appears you can just grind down most teams although it isn't very pretty. We look like the kind of team you don't want to play in the tournament. But it takes a pretty special group to pull it off, and I guess this is what Buzz has been working toward - lots of depth and lots of intense effort. I bet it's hard to recruit to that kind of philosophy these days but I love watching this team.

3 - 0 being down in the 1st half. Worthless stat, yeah I know. (After yesterday's game BTW)

We will likely need to get off to better starts vs bama and at UK to keep our winning streak,
but our team and fans know we have the ability to come from behind and out grit an oppenet to end games!

I think this is a direct result of our improved defense and depth this year. Our defense just flat wears people out as games go on, especially against teams that have little depth and a tight personnel rotation.

fightintxag13 said:

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I think this is a direct result of our improved defense and depth this year. Our defense just flat wears people out as games go on, especially against teams that have little depth and a tight personnel rotation.

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This.

While I'd like to play two consistently really good halves, I'd much rather be the team that is able to battle back in the second half rather than be the team that consistently has big leads in the first half and then struggles to hold on through the second half. I think momentum in college ball is huge.

Beat40 said:

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While I'd like to play two consistently really good halves, I'd much rather be the team that is able to battle back in the second half rather than be the team that consistently has big leads in the first half and then struggles to hold on through the second half. I think momentum in college ball is huge.

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Yep don't remind of football season.

We also had a lot more players contributing good plays on both sides of the court

It just hit me.....I think we encourage the other team to shoot a lot of 3 balls
in the first half to get their legs tired.....and combined with our depth and stamina,
the second half is ours and the game too! Seems to be working!!

fightintxag13 said:

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I think this is a direct result of our improved defense and depth this year. Our defense just flat wears people out as games go on, especially against teams that have little depth and a tight personnel rotation.

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We also make teams defend for extended periods of time .

cs69ag said:

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It just hit me.....I think we encourage the other team to shoot a lot of 3 balls
in the first half to get their legs tired.....and combined with our depth and stamina,
the second half is ours and the game too! Seems to be working!!

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It's the old Rocky Balboa strategy. Wear your opponent out by letting him punch you in the face. Then in the final minutes, counter strike!!

jeremy said:

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cs69ag said:

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It just hit me.....I think we encourage the other team to shoot a lot of 3 balls
in the first half to get their legs tired.....and combined with our depth and stamina,
the second half is ours and the game too! Seems to be working!!

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It's the old Rocky Balboa strategy. Wear your opponent out by letting him punch you in the face. Then in the final minutes, counter strike!!

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Yes!!!

It works perfectly until you get cauliflower brain!

Being 10 deep in the rotation definitely helps with that. I remember thinking earlier this year that we'd see the rotation shrink, but now I don't think so because of the fresh legs on D and on O Buzz rotates in and sees who has the hot hand and goes with it.