As he evaluated his team's loss to Notre Dame on Thursday night at the Civic Center, the disappointment University of Charleston men's basketball coach Dwaine Osborne felt did not simply come from his team making just one basket in almost the first six minutes of the game. It didn't just come from the 13 3-pointers the Golden Eagles watched the Falcons shoot.
The X's and O's weren't what vexed Osborne in the aftermath of UC's 85-68 setback, the Golden Eagles' third straight.
"We just weren't ready to play," Osborne said. "We have no leadership. I thought our focus was very poor. We practiced one out of the three days we had to prep."
Now the Golden Eagles (11-10, 8-7 Mountain East Conference) will go back to the drawing board so Osborne might draw some of those intangibles out of his roster before UC hosts Urbana at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Tyree Gaiter, Kyauta Taylor and Will Vorhees combined to score 64 of Notre Dame's 85 points and hit nine of the Falcons' 13 3-pointers. Alexander Kesic (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Justin Coleman (11 points, 10 rebounds) both had double-doubles for Charleston, but the Golden Eagles allowed the Falcons to take 13 more shots from the floor, gave away 18 turnovers and attempted just 11 free throws.
In the day of preparation UC will have between facing the Falcons and the Blue Knights, Osborne said he'll be looking for renewed senses of energy and focus from his group.
"It goes back to one of the main things we talk about in our program, the principle of obedience," Osborne said. "In life, when you are obedient to the people who are in authority over you, it's amazing how many times things work out for you."
UC's frigid start plunged the Golden Eagles into a hole from which they couldn't climb out. Charleston made just 1 of its first 10 shots from the floor and trudged into the first timeout down 15-2, thanks mostly to Notre Dame's 3-of-4 start from the 3-point line.
The Falcons' long-distance shooting would be its saving grace for the first half. It allowed Notre Dame to weather the Golden Eagles' cutting the lead to three points with 7:06 left in the first half. Justin Coleman hit a 3-pointer to pull UC to 28-25.
Notre Dame (15-6, 9-6 MEC) heated back up down the home stretch of the first half, ending that period with nine 3-pointers and leading by as many as 19 before taking a 47-31 advantage into the halftime break.
"We wanted to get the ball moving and reversed," Notre Dame coach Tim Koenig said. "[UC is] really good on defense. If the guys hold the ball and pound the ball and they can have their set defense, it's hard to score. We really worked on getting the ball moving, getting the ball reversed and attacking from there."
The Falcons needed those 3s. They went 9 for 16 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, but just 8 for 21 from everywhere else. The Golden Eagles were effective in altering shots in the post and finished the first half with five blocks. But UC also finished the first half with 11 turnovers the Falcons were able to convert into 16 points, and the Golden Eagles hit just 3 of 10 3-pointers.
Notre Dame opened the second half with another 3-pointer, this time from Gaiter, who led all scorers with 22 points. The Falcons' lead grew to as many as 23, when Taylor's layup made it 77-54 with 8:03 left in the game.
Charleston finished the game 27 of 59 from the floor (45.8 percent). Notre Dame made its 13 3s in 25 attempts (52 percent) and went 31 of 72 overall from the floor (43.1 percent). Taylor finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for Notre Dame, with Vorhees adding 19 points and eight rebounds. Tino diTrapano scored 10 points for Charleston.
Time is limited for Osborne to find the enthusiasm, focus and leadership he wants from his players, but he said his players will know the quest is on.
"We're going to get it one way or another," Osborne said. "We're going to get after it at practice. And if we don't get after it like we need to, we'll maybe have some ways to get their attention, where they can understand how they need to do it."