Game Notes: UW-Platteville @ North Central College (11/29/16)

Final Score
UW-Platteville 57, NCC 40

Game Summary
This was a tough matchup from the outset, but the Cardinals (3-1) were able to open up a 10-5 lead in the early going. The Pioneers (5-1) clamped down on defense and got their offense rolling though, exploding for a 22-4 run over the next ten minutes to take complete control of the game. North Central recovered a little bit and got a three at the buzzer to make it 31-24 heading into the break. Coach Raridon lit into his team in the locker room, and they responded in the first couple minutes, scoring five points on their first two possessions and were able to tie the game at 35 with about 12 minutes to play. But the Pioneers answered immediately to retake the lead, then got a three point play to extend the lead to five. A North Central bucket cut it to three, and the Pioneers responded with nine straight points before an NCC three with 6:35 to play marked the last points of the night the Cardinals would muster.

Key Stats

• NCC: 16-55 FG (29.1%). The Pioneers came into this game holding opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the floor, and under 30 percent from deep. They seemed to be everywhere in their 2-3 zone last night and forced some tough shots, but the Cardinals were just as guilty for this. They had a lot of terrible possessions where they just passed the ball around the perimeter and no one tried to go create a shot until the shot clock was nearly out. They've done this for a chunk of the season to date, but it hadn't cost them until last night.
• Robert Duax (UWP): 4-8 FG (2-3 3PT), 5-7 FT; 15 pts, 9 reb (1 off), 3 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl. Duax was Platteville's best player coming in, and he sure played like it in this one. Giving up nine rebounds to an opponent is one thing, but to one of their guards? Even if he's one of their leading rebounders, this is an embarrassing total to allow.
• Alex Sorenson/Connor Raridon: 10-30 FG (2-10 3PT), 3-6 FT; 25 pts, 15 reb (3 off), 5 ast, 4 blk, 2 stl. This... is not ideal. Connor was repeatedly forced into tough fallaway shots all night, and Alex took seven threes, only hitting one. Part of that was a credit to the Pioneer defense for locking down the inside, but you need your best guys to play better than this if you want to win.

Final Thoughts
I don't know how well you'll be able to hear it on the video above, but Todd Raridon's voice was shot in the second half. He could be heard outside the locker room at halftime, he was that upset about what transpired in the first half. To the Cardinals' credit, the team responded early in the second half, but that energy only lasts so long.

All in all, this was an embarrassing loss. You're at home, you're ranked sixth in the country, and you're hosting a team you blew out by 30 at their place last year. This shouldn't happen. The thought I had right at the end last night was that this was a trap game. And the Pioneers sprung the trap perfectly.

I don't want to overreact to this loss too much; it's one game, and one game doesn't define a season. But if the Cardinals play like this against Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday, they're going to lose by at least 30. Hopefully they play sufficiently motivated and angry in that one.