Patriots come up short

The scoreboard might have said it was a two point victory for the Creighton Blue Jays but it really wasn't that close as it would seem. The Patriots forced three quick turnovers in the final two minutes to narrow the gap but came up short in the closing seconds. The Patriots were 6-22 from the 3-point line, ok I can deal with that. They also attempted 7 foul shots. I can't understand this. Folarin Campbell drove the lane twice and was fouled twice; so why do you stop doing it? And why did the Patriots keep forcing up 3-pointers? I really like our mid-range shooting against other teams but I rarely see it. The game was frustrating to watch mostly because Creighton's best player, Nate Funk, was kept in the check and the blue jays still lit it up from behind the arc. The Patriots again failed to defend the perimeter and Creighton made them pay for it by shooting 43% from three point land. We saw this happen against Cleveland State and Wichita State, guys were left open behind that line and drained shots all day. When are these guys going to learn?

I also can't understand why Will Thomas is not getting more touches. I believe this the reason we lost to Wichita State and the reason we lost this game. At the end of this game every time he got the ball in the low post he scored. Thomas should be touching the ball more than anyone else on the team. The offense should go through him, because Campbell is taking a lot of dumb shots and turning over the ball too much. He had five turnovers this game and only four assists, everyone is expecting more from this guy. Monroe is starting to annoy me as well. The guy looked real promising against Cleveland State and now hes not even starting and just picking up dumb fouls. I won't give up on him yet though I believe he will start to contribute more once conference play starts.

I'll end this on a positive note. Jesus Urbina had a great game defensively and pulled down 10 rebounds. Thats exactly what we need for him. He deserves to be in the starting lineup right now and I think he will only get better as the season goes on. Another positive thing to add is that John Vaughan continues to be a consistent scoring threat. He is definitely the best perimeter shooter the Patriots have and quickly becoming the go to guy. But he can't do it all himself and needs to get more consistency from his teammates.