I recall a game when Buzz first took over for Crean in the '08-'09 season. It might have been our second or third conference game, and, if memory serves, we were playing Rutgers at Rutgers. We had a double-digit lead (maybe 12-13 points) with just a couple of minutes to go, and Buzz pulled some of his starters and put in three or four subs (maybe Acker, Cubillan, and one or two others) thinking the game was over.
But Rutgers (if it was Rutgers) made a furious comeback to cut the lead. making it a one-possession or two-possession game, so Buzz pulled all the subs he'd put in and brought back Jerel, DJ, Wesley, etc., and we held on to win.
But for the rest of that season, Buzz became very, very cautious about going to his bench, and Acker, Cubillan, and others saw their minutes dwindle, and when they did play, they got a quick hook if they did anything wrong.
I have a suspicion that that game against Rutgers is still playing a significant role in the way Buzz approaches his personnel during games. For the rest of that '08-'09 season Buzz didn't seem to trust Mo, Cubi, and a couple of other reserves. That's one of the reasons I think we don't see Dawson get much playing time. He trusts Derrick but not Dawson. I think it's also why he has a quick hook for Deonte and JaJuan. The latter two seem to have earned a degree of Buzz's "trust," more so than earlier in the year, but not at the level of trust he has in Derrick, Jake, or even Juan.
I would love to see the freshmen get more minutes - for a variety of reasons. But I don't expect much of a change in playing time for any of them in the foreseeable future. I think that Rutgers game is still very much alive and present in Buzz's psyche, and I have a feeling it will be there for years to come.
Again, this is all speculation on my part, but I think that game had an enormous impact on Buzz's coaching.