West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Dirtybird]

I said buzz not hoopla and I am agreeing with you. I also said that I am sure they are much better than what I saw in just one half. Also believe that it will play itself out in all likelihood at IUP.

[Scrub]

It's not hoopla. All you can judge is a resume. Not what 8 dorks on a message board talk about. IUP has two losses. Both will be regionally ranked. They also have wins against just about every good team in the region. Only thing for sure is it plays itself out.

Funny thing is that the SIDs just voted to flip-flop IUP and WLU in the rankings. I happen to agree with you (and disagree with the SIDs) that IUP is still the team to beat in the region with a slightly stronger resume. But, heck, I'm just one of those 8 message board jockeys you were referencing. What do I know?!

[boatcapt]

Right so at the same time every time Kutztown keeps losing it isn't doing WL any favors. Shoulda played Penn State-Fayette instead like you wanted to. Or have we forgot crying a river because they played a real team and lost to start the season? One that likely finishes 5th in the PSAC East.

Mercyhurst likely runs the table and gets the 4 seed.

If WLU had played Penn State-Fayette, we would be in better shape right now. Our PI would be higher and so would our SOS. As a D3, Fayette wouldn't count for or against WLU's record so we would be sitting at 17-1 with a higher PI.

Apparently the D2SIDA's think WLU is the best team in SR1 as they just elevated WLU to #1 over now #2 IUP.

[IUPalum]

If WLU had played Penn State-Fayette, we would be in better shape right now. Our PI would be higher and so would our SOS. As a D3, Fayette wouldn't count for or against WLU's record so we would be sitting at 17-1 with a higher PI.

Apparently the D2SIDA's think WLU is the best team in SR1 as they just elevated WLU to #1 over now #2 IUP.

Most SID's only pay attention to their team. They look at records and if you lost most recently, they drop you. Dumb!

[boatcapt]

Most SID's only pay attention to their team. They look at records and if you lost most recently, they drop you. Dumb!

I agree. All these in season polls are not worth the electrons used to post them. Buuuuutttttt...I do recall a rather lengthy discussion of the SIDA poll several weeks ago (month?) when IUP was #1.

[IUPalum]

I agree. All these in season polls are not worth the electrons used to post them. Buuuuutttttt...I do recall a rather lengthy discussion of the SIDA poll several weeks ago (month?) when IUP was #1.

Not by this guy...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Have to be about due for the actual regional rankings, right? Next week? That's when the real fun bantering starts.

[IUPalum]

Have to be about due for the actual regional rankings, right? Next week? That's when the real fun bantering starts.

Is it next Monday or 2 weeks from now?

[boatcapt]

71 points in the second half tonight...WOW!! Bolon goes over 30 for the fourth straight game. There are a number of SR1 teams that struggle to score 71 points in an entire game!

Bolon has to be a First Team All-American on the "one eyed player" team! Can anyone recall a player with an eye patch doing what he is doing??

[boatcapt]

Talk about taking lemons and making lemon aid! Very few players can do what Bolon has done with TWO good eyes!!

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball...berty-dii-mens

[timbertopper]

Talk about taking lemons and making lemon aid! Very few players can do what Bolon has done with TWO good eyes!!

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball...berty-dii-mens

From today's West Liberty/Charleston game notes....

Bolon has scored 125 points in 119 minutes (31.3 ppg.) in February while shooting 69% (38-55) from the floor and 73% (22-30) from the 3-point arc

[Scrub]

I'll be interested to hear from anyone who had a chance to watch the game today what was the game's narrative. I was unable to watch, but I admit I wasn't totally surprised to hear the result. Charleston has had their number at times in the past, and WLU is often guilty of at least one inexplicable late-season loss, so this one felt like a possibility. But I'll be interested to hear some analysis from those of you who got to see it.

[timbertopper]

I'll be interested to hear from anyone who had a chance to watch the game today what was the game's narrative. I was unable to watch, but I admit I wasn't totally surprised to hear the result. Charleston has had their number at times in the past, and WLU is often guilty of at least one inexplicable late-season loss, so this one felt like a possibility. But I'll be interested to hear some analysis from those of you who got to see it.

Charleston is always a tough match-up for West Liberty. They threw an absolute blanket over Bolon and it looked like WLU - which still has two freshmen and two sophomores getting the bulk of the minutes - panicked a little bit when the shots they normally make weren't falling. Very little ball movement and way too much dribble-drive. UC had a 14-0 run early in the second half and West Liberty spent a lot of energy battling back. Went up 75-70 in the last minute but some bad shot selection left the door open and UC ran a great set to get an open look for their shooter to tie it with 15 seconds left in regulation. Charleston simply outplayed West Liberty in overtime. With the Hilltoppers down by 2, they got a big defensive stop with 10 seconds left but a horrible turnover gave it right back to UC. Two free throws made it a 4-point game and WLU hit a 3 at the buzzer for the final score. They've had issues closing out games with their youth all year and it finally came back to bite them. At least they got a good teaching tape out of it.

[Scrub]

Charleston is always a tough match-up for West Liberty. They threw an absolute blanket over Bolon and it looked like WLU - which still has two freshmen and two sophomores getting the bulk of the minutes - panicked a little bit when the shots they normally make weren't falling. Very little ball movement and way too much dribble-drive. UC had a 14-0 run early in the second half and West Liberty spent a lot of energy battling back. Went up 75-70 in the last minute but some bad shot selection left the door open and UC ran a great set to get an open look for their shooter to tie it with 15 seconds left in regulation. Charleston simply outplayed West Liberty in overtime. With the Hilltoppers down by 2, they got a big defensive stop with 10 seconds left but a horrible turnover gave it right back to UC. Two free throws made it a 4-point game and WLU hit a 3 at the buzzer for the final score. They've had issues closing out games with their youth all year and it finally came back to bite them. At least they got a good teaching tape out of it.

Thanks, timber. I'm with you that they seem to have had a bit of trouble closing it out throughout the year (i.e., recalling how they let Shepherd hang around way too long at home, gave up an easy layup to Bolte at the regulation buzzer, among others). So, the law of averages suggests they wouldn't always manage to escape. And I hope you're right that they use this one as a learning experience for the young guys moving forward.

But learning or not, they now have an almost guaranteed trip to Indiana coming up in March, and I gotta believe IUP will be a real tough customer in their building (well, anywhere, but especially in their building).

[Dirtybird]

Yeah the youth showed a little yesterday. Late in games there are possessions that they need to be a little more patient and run the shot clock down. It's tempting for competitive confident kids to want to hit the shot that is the dagger but when it doesn't fall it opens the door also. These young kids are getting the experience that you can only get in games like this. Yeah you wanna win them all but it doesnt work like that.
WL will make their run in the post season and who knows how far that could be but also let these youngsters get a year under their belt and then add who they are redshirtting and a couple key recruits and they will be in a good place.

[boatcapt]

I'm not terribly surprised that they lost to UC...disappointed, but not surprised. For all this years Topper team has done, we tend to forget how young they are. As pointed out, probably for the first time this year, that youth really showed through. Hopefully this loss will refocus the team and drive home that everyone they play is going to bring their A game and they need to respond in kind.

Seems like every year we have a "lose" game were nothing goes right for us and the other team plays over their heads. Until proven otherwise, I'll chalk this loss up to that.