ROBINSON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers were on the road Saturday afternoon, as VU traveled to Robinson, Ill. to take on Region 24 rival Lincoln Trail.
Vincennes grabbed an early lead but had trouble scoring offensively as the Trailblazers fell 65-45 to the Statesmen.
VU looked like they were going to carry over some of the momentum from Wednesday night's win at Kaskaskia into Saturday, jumping out to a quick 5-2 lead, before Lincoln Trail responded with a 13-3 scoring run.
Vincennes would bounce back to cut the deficit to two, but this would be the closest the Trailblazers would get to recapturing the lead.
Lincoln Trail built a 13 point lead before the Trailblazers were able to cut it down to nine before the halftime break. The Statesmen led 29-20 after the first 20-minutes of play.
Vincennes held strong in the second half, keeping the Lincoln Trail lead to around 10 points for most of the period, before the Statesmen rallied with a 12-4 scoring run to extend their lead to 18 points late.
The Lincoln Trail lead continued to grow as the Statesmen came away with the 65-45 win over Vincennes.
"We didn't have anybody that could function in situations that you should be able to function out here today," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "In the first half Lincoln Trail was switching some things and once we were able to collapse their defense and swing the ball we were able to get any kind of wide open jump shot we wanted because they were trying to take away the inside."
"Getting people to function to do, which it was there anytime you wanted, was very difficult," Franklin added. "Then we couldn't hit wide open jump shots. These shots weren't contested. They were wide open, even though we weren't running things as crisply as we would like, they were wide open over and over. We can't score for them. I'm not trying to take any of the blame off myself, the 'L' always goes on my head no matter what, but these were wide open."
"In the second half, we started to really get our center really involved on the ball screen and Lincoln Trail was switching on a 1-5 ball screen every time. We were able to get our point guard with a center on him in the middle of the floor with the floor spaced out of our actions and our center with a point guard guarding him at the rim. Then they would shade their forward down, so our forward was coming up on our lift action leaving him wide open. You should not, at this level, be able to win doing that."
Vincennes was led offensively by freshman Brevin Jefferson (Indianapolis, Ind.) who set a new career-high with five three pointers on his way to 15 points and a team-high five assists for VU.
Freshman Thow James Biel (Calgary, Alberta) ended his day with seven points and a team-high six rebounds.
Freshman Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) ended his day with six points, all coming in the second half, while matching James Biel's team-high total of six rebounds and adding a trio of blocks.
Freshman Ketaan Wyatt (Toledo, Ohio) came off the bench to add a pair of three's on the game, giving his six points with a pair of assists.
"With every loss, I look in the mirror and I try to make us better and I try to fix it, right now our guys have to look in the mirror," Franklin said. "Because what happened out here today should not happen to you as a college basketball player at this level. If you are meant to play at this level, that should not happen and there is no way to win if that is going to happen."
"We had two decent days of practice and we were coming off of wins coming into today," Franklin added. "We were all positive. I could not have been more positive coming into this game and then you see what happens when the game starts. We knew what we should be doing and it's my fault, it's always my fault. But I can tell you that there is nothing else strategically and what went on here today is not something that should have gone on."
"You have to tip your hat to Coach Cotten. He did it. It was working and he stayed with it. We couldn't make him pay so they did it. This is a 'look in the mirror' type of game and we've had enough of those that we shouldn't have to be doing that anymore. But today, this is not okay. We can't look for somebody else to give us an answer because I've got no more answers. I've been doing this for 25 years as a head coach and I don't have any other answers other than what we were trying today. Those should be and were for the past 24 years the answers that would have worked. But you have to tip your hat to Coach Cotten. We got out played and out-coached."
"Strategically my job is to coach these guys up to where they do better in the situation where they should, like today. I wasn't confused about what we needed to do or where we needed to be or trying to put our best guys in those positions. That wasn't where I fell short today. I fell short in somehow getting the guys who could do it or getting these guys to the level to where they are going to do the things that needed to be done. I'll continue to try to do it but we have to get to a level where that out there today can't beat us."
The Trailblazers will return home Wednesday, Feb. 2 when VU hosts Region 24 opponent Southwestern Illinois in the P.E. Complex. Tip-off time for this game is scheduled for 7 p.m. eastern.
"I want to see our guys step up," Franklin said. "There is no where else to go here. There are no more backward steps here. We were in position to make a big move in the Region standings today and we didn't do it. Well, we're going to play Wednesday and we're going to have to find a way to get to where we can attack and execute things better. We have to make open shots. We have to get open shots for others, inside of what we do. We have to hold our position better in the post and not get knocked underneath the goal."
"But if we don't have anybody that can hit an open shot. If we don't have anybody who can hit the open gap and move the ball. If we don't have anybody that is a perimeter player that can beat a center who switches out on you in the middle of the floor. If we don't have anybody that demands the ball against a point guard in the post or even if you don't get it initially can go get it off a miss because you are rebounding against a point guard. If we can't do that and beat them to the point where it is counterproductive for someone to do it against you, we've got to start taking personal ownership of it. I don't know if we will. I can't make them. If I could, I would," Franklin added.
"I don't know if you need to stay in the gym all day. But if we can't hit an open shot we're not going to do any good. What I want to see from this team is somebody who is going to grab the game by the throat, instead of looking around for somebody else to do it. It doesn't mean I will see it, but I'm not going to give a different message over the next couple of days because there is no other message to give. We were in a position today to win a big game on the road and make a move in the standings. We've practiced to get to this point. We've tried to turn things around to get to this point and we're here."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (45): Thow James Biel 2-10 2-6 7, Trenton Johnson 2-12 0-0 4, Brevin Jefferson 5-16 0-0 15, Darrius Davis 2-5 0-0 5, Shilo Jackson 3-4 0-1 6, Ketaan Wyatt 2-4 0-0 6, Grant Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Deatrick Pashell 1-1 0-0 2, Team 17-52 2-7 45.
VU (8-14, 5-6) – 20 25 – 45
Lincoln Trail – 29 36 – 65
Three-point goals: VU 9 (Jefferson 5, Wyatt 2, James Biel, Davis). Rebounds: VU 24 (Jackson 6, James Biel 6). Assists: VU 10 (Jefferson 5). Steals: VU 2 (James Biel, Jackson). Blocked shots: VU 3 (Jackson 3). Turnovers: VU 9. Personal Fouls: VU 9. Fouled out: None.