[NU Sports] NU hammered

[Tom Maycock]

I think two things killed the Cats in the first half: absolutely horrible shooting efforts from Shurna and Crawford, and way too many offensive rebounds given up. 

In the first stanza, Shurna and Crawford were a combined 4 of 18, including 1 of 6 from 3 point range. They also had a measly two rebounds between them in that half, no assists, and a couple of turnovers. Brutal. Throw in nine (!) offensive rebounds for OSU in that first half, and it's a recipe for disaster. 

The other big problem is that no one is filling Juice Thompson's scoring role at this point, so when Shurna and Crawford are both off, the Cats are in deep trouble. It also means teams can focus on shutting down the big two. 

I had hoped that between Cobb and Marcotullio, we would have that third (and maybe fourth) reliable scorer but it's not happening right now, so no one picking up the slack when Crawford and Shurna are struggling. 

I still think we may be OK if Cobb and Marcotullio can both get healthy, but whether that will happen soon enough is a big question.

Tom