Appalachian State 79, Mocs 70

FOUR FACTORS (plus two)

eFG%
Mocs- 37.7%
Appalachian State- 52.5%
Advantage- Appalachian State

TO%
Mocs- 13.7%
Appalachian State- 16.8%
Advantage- Mocs

OR%
Mocs- 44.9%
Appalachian State- 38.5%
Advantage- Mocs

FTRate
Mocs- 33.3%
Appalachian State- 45.8%
Advantage- Appalachian State

FT%
Mocs- 78.3%
Appalachian State- 63.0%
Advantage- Mocs

3PtRate
Mocs- 36.2%
Appalachian State- 35.6%

PLAYER RATER

Overall
1) Dontay Hampton 30.3
2) Drazen Zlovaric 24.4
3) Jared Bryant 17.5
4) Rico White 17.1
5) Drew Baker 9.1
6) Omar Wattad 6.0
7) Martynas Bareika 5.2
8) Jahmal Burroughs 5.1
9) Lance Stokes 2.4
10) Keegan Bell 0.5
11) Ricky Taylor -1.4

Per 40
1) Drazen Zlovaric 48.8
2) Dontay Hampton 41.7
3) Jared Bryant 34.9
4) Drew Baker 32.9
5) Rico White 26.3
6) Lance Stokes 13.7
7) Martynas Bareika 13.0
8) Omar Wattad 12.6
9) Jahmal Burroughs 11.9
10) Keegan Bell 1.0
11) Ricky Taylor -4.0

ANALYSIS

What a strange game for the Mocs. It was a blowout 22 point game early in the second half for the Mocs. They were getting manhandled.

Coach Shulman pulled the starters and began playing a six man rotation consisting of Jared Bryant, Drew Baker, Lance Stokes, Rico White, Dontay Hampton, and Martynas Bareika. I was fine with this for a while. Then with about ten minutes left, I started to wonder when the starters would be back.

They weren't.

They never came back. The lineup in the game did not have the firepower to complete a comeback of that magnitude, though they laid it all on the line. They cut the final lead to nine, which was how close the game was during much of the last few minutes.

I am confused as to why Drazen Zlovaric was not allowed back into the game late in the game. It was clear that the weakness in the lineup was Baker and Stokes (and I love Stokes as much as anyone, but he did not have his best game). Even if you wanted to leave Stokes in the game, Bareika could have come out. So how would a lineup with Bryant and Zlovaric combined with Hampton and White and either Stokes or Bareika have done? I'm very curious. I think that lineup may have been able to complete a comeback because Zlovaric would have been another major inside presence. I think things could have gotten interesting with that lineup.

So what does this team have left? They've continued to respond well. They kept their heads up in this one, even when down 22. The loss was terrible and pretty much guarantee that the Mocs will get either fifth or sixth in the North.

That being said, the future looks fairly bright. The Mocs played well when they had the players in that will be around next year. There is some hope that the future will go well for the Mocs, and quite possibly better than anticipated.

Things are bleak right now though. The Mocs are not good at the moment, and hope is running dry on this season. Saturday night presents a very winnable game, as do the last two games next week. The Mocs need to get on a winning streak to have a shot in Asheville. It doesn't look good, despite the fact that so many of the stats look good- including TO% and OR%. The real problem was the shooting tonight, to go along with the hot shooting of Appalachian State. Isaac Butts came up with 16 rebounds and played 23 minutes- clearly his best game since returning from suspension. Omar Carter only scored six points. Mike Neal poured in a career high 23 points.

Things have to get better, right?

GO MOCS!