Never said FAU was a bad team and they definitely deserved to win. No doubt about it and some of your points are absolutely valid. There is a distinction however between making the Sweet 16 (which was an achievement especially given ZZ was lost) and how we played in the moment when the stakes were highest. Similar to games against Colorado, home loss to Kentucky and away game losses to Florida and Kentucky, our level of play against FAU was just flat poor. Among the worst floor games we played this year, in my opinion. Anyone is welcome to disagree. We had a couple of wins against USC and Auburn when we played to this level too.
I've heard no one argue that we actually played well against FAU. Would be interested in hearing anyone make the argument that 33.3% FG, 26.1% 3-pt FG and 58.3% FT was a good performance. If/buts as they are....if we had made the 8+ bunnies we missed right at the rim, it could have been a different outcome. Much like if FAU had hit more 3's they would have embarrassed us. Heck if we had just shot our normal % from the field and free throw line we should have won, but we can't shoot straight. When normal shots weren't falling, literally no one other than Mashack and Aidoo (both sophomores) had a life in the 2nd half. That was disappointing too.....our seniors, all of them played miserable. FAU played a poor first half but showed grit and made a strong comeback. UT blew numerous opportunities to extend the lead in the 1st half and when adversity hit us, we just wilted and shrunk from it. We didn't have to play at an extraordinary level to win that game. FAU put 62 pts on the board (16-17 pts below their average) and won. They weren't spectacular in beating us. It was there for the taking but we played bad, very bad from all objective accounts particularly (again) on the offensive end. Given the magnitude of the game, I would rather lose while playing well vs what actually occurred, which was the point I was trying to make. Doesn't diminish this squad's achievements, nor should it have been surprising I suppose given the inconsistency we witnessed throughout the year.
Tired and hobbled? I don't know. Were we tired and hobbled after less than 2-day turnaround from Louisiana to Duke? Why would we be so tired 5 days post our last game? Jet lag? Did Barnes make them run goat trails around MSG before the game? I don't buy that excuse. I don't dismiss that losing ZZ clearly was problematic in this matchup, but his absence wasn't the primary reason we played as bad as we did. It wasn't as if we turned the ball over alot due to missing our primary ballhandler. We only had 6 turnovers the entire game, which makes it more confusing. We had enough talent to beat FAU even without ZZ, "IF" we played reasonably well....but we didn't. On the biggest stage, potentially program changing game, we responded poorly.
Perhaps it was simply as JJJ stated, "FAU wanted it more than us". His words, not mine. If true, he essentially stated FAU's players "cared" more and were more competitive. Revealing to say the least. I'll take his word for it and will move onto next year. I'm happy with what Barnes has done with the program and want him to retire here, but it is also an honest assessment to state that we are earning a reputation of underachieving. Maybe he just needs to recruit different types of players who have intangible attributes beyond their athletic ability, size and skillset. And I hope he never again has a player (much less a senior leader) ever state in a post-game interview, "that the other team wanted it more than us".
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