Defense did what it was supposed to. Uncharacteristic FT woes were part of it, but they were over 12 points off their average. Holding them to 35 at the break should have been an indicator that we were in control. We spotted them 10 points in the first which obviously is a killer, but it wasn't because of the defense.
I have nothing to add to what's already been said about Milan except to point out again that our success is closely tied to how he is playing.
Unfortunately, their defensive game plan was perfect. Not in terms of being suffocating or pushing us around, but they dictated the ball movement on our end. Tight coverage on the ball handlers meant we were scrubbing off high screens at the top of the key just to get our guards the ball. How many times was Rob standing at the arc holding the ball, unguarded, waiting for someone to come get the ball? Passing the ball around the perimeter to find a favorable matchup didn't happen at all. That was the extra dimension we added in the B12 tourney and Illinois took it away. Ward was obviously in foul trouble but he and BRE both being totally silent offensively was another indication that they were in the passing lanes. At 51-49 we had 3 chances to tie or take the lead: two relatively easy plays at the rim and a good three point look. Every one of those felt like the moment we were going to blow the roof off the place. Missed them all. Shannon's poke away steals were all stabs in the chest. They had big moments, we kept hanging around waiting for ours.
Tough loss, but everyone in the Sweet 16 is there for a reason. I'm hoping we've changed our culture to where we look back at this as a team that was being built for a successful era rather than a perfect storm of things that came together to give us one great run.