By now, most every sports fan knows that last week, Northern Illinois' mens' basketball team scored just four points in the first half of their game against MAC foe Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti. Yep, that's a bit embarrassing. Talk about shooting futility!!
But, I've seen Duke and North Carolina and other powerhouses go eight to ten minutes with no scoring or maybe a couple, two, three points.
However, what is overlooked is that Eastern Michigan only has an 18-4 lead at the end of the half. That means the Huskies had some great defense. And, the final score was 42-25. Again, defense. That is what second-year Northern coach Mark Montgomery stresses.
Montgomery's words at the end of the game was that the goal for the next game was five or more points in the first half. He was impressed when his team showed up for an unscheduled shooting practice on their own initiative te next day.
And, the next game against Kent State, they not only scored the first 9 points, but went on to win at the buzzer and now have a 5-15 record, not good, but a big improvement over last year.
As the headline in Joel Feinstein's Washington Post column read, "After historic debacle Northern Illinois' Mark Montgomery finds positives."
It Can't Get Much Worse. --RoadDog
Being an account of some things I'm interested in, what I'm doing, and reflections on my past, especially music.
Listen to this man. Seven years of college, you know. Trying to reason with 2020 and, now, 2022.
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