Considering how poorly SU (ahem, MCW, BT and Southerland) played, and the fact that they were right in the game until the end, that was an incredibly tough way to lose. I thought that the charge calls against MCW and BT late in the game were garbage, but that paled in comparison to the "block" call on MCW. Sure didn't seem like we got any of those 50/50 calls down the stretch.
I did think that UM scored a number of easy baskets, either the result of good ball movement, or 2nd (and in some cases, 3rd and 4th) chances. To me, it just seemed like on D, SU lacked energy. I noticed that on a number of possessions, they had their hands down, and their feet weren't moving. Perhaps some of UM's deep 3s discouraged them?
Once again, the alumni support was incredible. I saw the following at the game, in the SU section: DC (of course), John Wallace, Moten/Bubbles, Hak Warrick, Matt Gorman, Danny Schayes, Dion Waiters, Dave Bing (very cool of the Mayor of Detroit to rock the Orange against UM), Allen Griffin, Uber tool Brandon Reese, Sean McDonough, Howard Triche, Damone Brown...I'm sure that I'm missing a few names. Rob Murphy was also there, although he is technically not alumni. I also saw former Canisius HC Mike MacDonald, Mike Lupica and the Papa John's guy roaming around the aisles in our section.
Also ran into Eric Wood, sporting UL garb, during halftime of the Louisville game. I saw him (obviously, the guy is pretty recognizable) and said "Go Bills!". He looked at me, kind of surprised, and said "Yeah, man!". I asked about his knee, he said that he was doing fine, and I wished him good luck for the upcoming season. As I was walking away, I said "Go Cuse!", and he chuckled. Seemed like a cool dude.
What a rollercoaster season this was. The last 3 weeks were pretty damn awesome.