Zach Anderson And Chris Mangan

The SDSU men’s basketball team is improving; they just don’t have the confidence to win tight games down the stretch. Even head coach Scott Nagy has said that the team lacks confidence at times. It’s obvious the team has talent and has shown they can win games at home. They just need one Summit League game on the road to build confidence that has eluded them so far.

People shouldn’t give up on this team. The team lacks experience because the Jacks have faced a lot of turmoil with players leaving in the past five years, but now it seems like the athletes want to be here and that’s important. We aren’t trying to say past athletes didn’t want to be here, but it seemed like when things got rough, some left.

The team has plenty of talent, but they are just young and need more experience to be able to win the close games, especially on the road.

If the team had that experience, they might have ended their conference road losing streak this past weekend, but they still haven’t won a Summit League game on the road. This past weekend was a great opportunity for them to finally get that win. The Jacks were in both games. They had chances but just fell short when it counted most.

People may take these last two road losses as a setback, but in reality, it may help the team in the long run. We don’t know for sure; we need to see how this team bounces back from these two games.

The Jacks can learn from the losses, but that is yet to be seen. The team faced a similar situation last year but fell flat on its face.

These losses help them gain experience that they can hopefully use to get over that hump on the road. The team plays fine at home; they’ve been in every game at home, going 6-2, with their only losses coming by way of San Jose State and Oral Roberts.

The team needs to learn to go into a hostile environment and come away with a “W.” The experience the team got from the two heartbreak losses to Southern Utah and UMKC should help the team and give them more confidence.

It seems like fans are ready to give up on the team, but they shouldn’t. Every home game will help them gain experience if they feel like they can win at home. Hopefully, they can take that same confidence on the road with them and get that elusive win.

Minus games against IPFW and Northern Iowa, the Jacks have been in every game they have played on the road, including hanging with defending Summit League Champ Oakland and Drake, an NCAA Tournament team last year.

If the Jackrabbits make it to the Summit League Tournament, hopefully by then they will have enough confidence to win a game and possibly make a run for the conference title.

Right now, the experience of these tough road losses could prove valuable come tournament time. We don’t expect them to make a serious run until they can win away from Frost Arena.

Fans, don’t give up. The Jacks are close, and hopefully they will learn from this and find a way to win down the stretch.