First time in a while I'm not thinking big game/must in.
This is the first true "house money" game for this program since @Marq in 2011. We had just won 4 of 5 to get to 15-9 (7-5), including wins v. Duke, UConn, and @Cincy. It was a crazy schedule not that unlike this one - played UConn home Thursday, @Cincy Sunday, and then had to turn around for @Marq Tuesday. When we beat Cincy, Marq became total gravy before regrouping for Pitt at the Garden the following Saturday.
The rest is history. The Marq win triggered a series of rollover house money games as we kept on winning, closing the regular season 10-2.
Hoping we start a similar domino effect tonight. That building has been an absolute house of horrors for us, we are due to get one. Agree with others on this thread, game plan is similar to X, you can do whatever you want defensively in the half court but nothing will be as impactful in taking their bigs out of the game as running.
I'm frankly more concerned with Smith-Rivera. We've struggled more containing dominant lead guards (even in wins) than anything else defensively, and he's just about as polished and well-rounded as they come. Mitigating him is our best chance to be in position to steal one tonight.
