Some of this loss is on us, the fans

[mufansince72]

Maybe they should pump up the crowd before the second half then with some more thunderstruck or something. I personally feel no urgency to get back to my seat, as I know there is a media timeout at the 16 minute mark.

[IWB]

16:00 media timeout? So you don't mind missing 20% of the 2nd half?

[Nukem2]

Maybe they should pump up the crowd before the second half then with some more thunderstruck or something. I personally feel no urgency to get back to my seat, as I know there is a media timeout at the 16 minute mark.

So, you are happy with missing 10% of the game...?

[mufansince72]

16:00 media timeout? So you don't mind missing 20% of the 2nd half?

Don't miss it at all, watch on the monitor or look down the ramp. Like I said, I bet you the next arena will have much less seating and more general admission open areas. If it makes you feel better, I only buy aisle seats.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

IWB brings up one issue I had yesterday. I'm still upstairs, but at the front of the first rows up the stairs. After halftime, I felt like I missed the first 4 minutes too because there was a never-ending string of late returners. If you're fine with missing the first 4 minutes, whatever, I can live with that. But then actually miss those 4 minutes, don't obstruct my view the entire time because you couldn't be arsed to pay attention to when the teams were coming back out.

[MulliganMusings]

Have to say that Gato might have a point. I couldn't help but notice, watching on TV from Atlanta, how many empty seats there were as the second half tipped.

[mutpm]

MU was outscored 12-4 in the first segment of the 2nd half. Yes, that sucks, but the game was still within reach. I went back and looked at the winning streak. During the streak, there 6 games against quality opponents where the score was within 5 points at halftime. In those 6 games, the worst MU did in the first segment of the 2nd half was lose 9-8 to Syracuse last season. In the other 5 games, MU either played even or won the segment.

1/1/12 Villanova, MU led 40-37 at the half and won the first segment of the 2nd half 11-5
1/14/12 Pittsburgh, MU trailed 29-24 at the half and won the first segment of the 2nd half 11-6
1/16/12 Louisville, MU led 34-30 at the half and won the first segment of the 2nd half 8-6
1/1/13 UCONN, MU led 30-27 at the half and won the first segment of the 2nd half 9-7
1/5/13 Georgetown, MU led 20-19 at the half and tied the first segment of the 2nd half 8-8
2/25/13 Syracuse, MU trailed 32-29 at the half and lost the first segment of the 2nd half 9-8

The data does not prove the theory. The last 6 times MU had a close game at the half against a quality opponent, they outscored their opponents 56-42 before the first media timeout. I'm pretty sure we've had this issue with a late returning crowd from halftime for a couple of seasons. Using that assumption, why was Saturday the first time it was a problem for the team?