The Dance is over!

Well, all I can say is that the Dawgs had a good run. It started a week ago today and it continued through the first half of the game today. Georgia was winning at half time by 9 points but Xavier proved why they were a #3 seed by not getting flustered and come back with a solid 2nd half. I feel like the Dawgs just ran out of gas in the second. They seemed a step behind and were making some bad decisions. They were trying to force the ball into spaces making some bad passes the ended up being turnovers (13) and they were trying to force bad shots. Meanwhile, the Musketeers were taking advantage and started knocking down their shots. In the first half the Dawgs shot 51% while in the second they only shot 37%. Also, another thing stacked against them was the free throws. Xavier took 33 shots from the line while Georgia only had 5! I am not saying the refs weren’t fair, but they didn’t do us any favors. You have to wonder about the difference in fouls called? There were a couple of instances where there were clearly fouls on Xavier but were called jump balls. Those same types of plays were called fouls on Georgia. There were also two clear blocks one by Bliss and the other by Jackson that were called fouls. Those were high emotion plays and if those are not called fouls the momentum shifts back to Georgia and it’s a new ball game.

I am realistic and didn’t think Georgia was going to go deep into the tournament, but I did feel like they had a good shot at winning today. The way they jumped out to a lead in the first half proves they could play with these guys. But we just didn’t have the depth, again we only have 8 scholarship players and most teams have 13, and the refs called a one sided game. Even though the Dawgs lost 73-61, the still put a scare into the Musketeers. They had their chances and they hung with a team that was much better and much deeper. I hate to see the incredible run end so soon. But making it to the tournament and losing is better than not making it at all.

Nice job Dawgs!