keith

Yes, on the student side.

As is often the difference between a win and a loss, as a team we were solid from the charity stripe last night (20-25 - 80%).

Two consecutive 5K+ attended games makes it feel like we may have finally turned a corner on the attendance front. Disappointing game and as others have pointed out we should have called a TO after crossing mid-court to take a breather and set something up. I don't recall which one it was, but we left a TO on the board during our last possession in least one other game we lost. Coaches and players need to have some situational awareness in crunch time, but mostly coaches. Apparently we can build a lead, we just can't hold on to a lead late in games. Need to get some confidence back these next 4 games and make some noise in the tournament to save the season.

Maybe that's why...it will be like a rest. Hahahaha. Can't take anything for granted anymore. Need a win.

All tied up.

5,689 is a nice turnout and honestly something we should be able to do every home game. Our fans were treated to a fun game and it was great to be able to send them home happy and Memphis home licking their wounds. Proud of the way this team has battled through the season. Three more home games this season. Let's do this!

I did notice that and also wondered why we didn't just replace the rim. Also, I think it was the UAB game, but the color guy (former coach I think who never stopped talking, but I can't recall his name) mentioned that the rim on the student side of the court was a soft/forgiving rim. He's been around basketball and this was something he noticed and thought it was important enough to mention it during the game.

So it took losing a starter who slipped on a sweaty floor before we upgraded from towels to mops? It was bound to happen eventually, I guess. Injuries happen, I get it, but this? Who knows, maybe mops would not have made a difference in this case, but come on. Anyhow, a nice bounce back on the attendance front with 4,316. FTs hurt, but neither team lit it up from the charity stripe. Our team lives outside the arc and 1-9 (11.11%) in the second half is what did us in. We still have 4 more home games (1 more regular season home game than the previous seasons) to get our Super Pit mo-jo back and finish strong.

First of all, that game was a kick in the nether regions. We let that one get away and may bite us come conference tourney time. Second, this was a let down attendance-wise. I was hoping that this stretch of home games would build off the SMU game and see us with attendance solidly in the 4K range (4500+) , but we back slid into our typical home crowd. Disappointed. I think the team could have used some home crowd energy late in the game.

Kinda weird stat line that we only shot 4 free throws...make that Robert Allen only shot the 4 free throws for the entire team. On the bright side, as a "team," we were 75% from the charity stripe.

With 6 home games left, we need to average 4,300 each of the remaining games to hit the 4,000 average attendance mark for the regular season.

7,239 for the Ponies is the largest since the 8,522 for the LaTech game in 2022. It's a great atmosphere for college basketball when we get a good crowd in the Pit.

Hahaha...I thought it was a headlight! No idea why he would need a headlight, but that's the first thing that entered my mind.

South Florida wins 74-73 on the road.

This was a fun hypothetical to think through. Regardless of the current makeup (or any makeup for that matter), adding any one of these players would make a team stronger. Since many games are won at the charity strip or come down to the wire with a last possession shot, I looked for someone who's hands you wanted the ball in at the end of the game (and who wanted the ball) and had top-notch FT stats. For these two reasons, I first narrowed my choice down to Hamlet or Perry. Both are just rock solid from the free throw line and both won multiple games for us with last second heroics. Once down to those two and for none other than a recency bias, I chose Perry.

With 3.1 left ya really have to burn some more time off the clock and not give them that last shot…..hahahaha. I kid, I kid. What a finish! Way to stay in it until the end and come out of there with a highlight win!!

This team has come so far, so fast it really is amazing when you think about it. The comeback on Sunday was fantastic and speaks to the character of this team and staff. We were definitely off our game most of the contest and it seemed like Wichita State was making shots they didn't have a right to, but, they didn't get down on themselves and never gave up and were able to walk off the court with a win. Just outstanding.

For the first time this season we have fallen below our average attendance (-20 or -0.59%) when compared against the same number of home games last season. Last year, our 8th home game was against Rice on 1/19, a Thursday night after students returned from the winter break. With 4,015 in attendance for Rice, we cracked the 4K attendance barrier for the first time of the season. Contrast that to the 3,310 for Saturday's Temple game. The -705 in attendance makes it the biggest drop-off in game-over-game attendance. Scheduling quirks from one year to the next renders some of this analysis suspect, but it's better than nothing, I guess.

In all fairness, Ms. Hancock attended UNC and has only been at the DMN since 2005. She probably isn't aware of UNT. 🤪

This statement about the new ideal college football fan is sad: "It's instead a bored, distracted, unaffiliated gambling aficionado who doesn’t really care about college football but will look up from his phone when the television is showing a game with a brand-name team he recognizes." Unfortunately it's true and I know many that fit this description. They are betting on everything, every day.

We are up slightly +78 average or 2.36% compared to the first 7 home games of the '22-23 season. We have a strong slate of home contests coming up headlined by SMU, Memphis and the season finale against FAU. Not withstanding some horrible weather conditions there really is no excuse not to be in the mid-to-upper 4K and 5K+ range the rest of the way.

You could say that what Liberty got in return was a 13-0 regular season, top-25 ranking and the opportunity to play in a new year's bowl. Not bad for giving a kid a chance. Obviously things didn't work out in the bowl game, but they never were going to work out. The selection committee knew it too. They will now be able to say, "look, we gave a 13-0 G5 team a chance and this is what happens against a superior P5 team. There's really no argument going forward that a 13-0 or 12-1 G5 team should be in the playoff over a 9-3 Kentucky or 10-3 Penn State or any 9 or 10 win P5 team for that matter."

We improved over the 12/31 FIU game last year by +157. Through first 6 home games we are +134 or +4.12%.

It's going to be harder and harder for programs like ours (and the rest of the G5 for that matter) to survive on the football side of things. In this age, our path to success will mean hitting on most if not all our transfers. They need to come in as starters or be on the 2-deep with considerable playing time. High school recruiting will need to focus on players ready to play as freshmen. We cannot sustain the expense of developing players in a large redshirt season class year after year.

Fifth home game last season was against FAU on 12/29 with 3,808 in attendance. We closed out 2022 with 2,934 on 12/31 against FIU. This year it will be LSU Shreveport on 12/30. Will we eclipse the FIU total?