Ugh...here we go again

It feels like stomach-turning staple of the Barry Hinson era at Missouri State - the key, conference home loss in front of a big crowd.

This time it was Wichita State, 68-62 Sunday afternoon. The Bears were in control of the first half, leading 43-31 at the break, but scored just 19(!) points in the second half. The score was knotted at 58 with 6:41 to play when the MO State offense really went in the tank.

MO State was just 1-for-7 from the floor down the stretch, missing four(!) 3-pointers - all of them coming with MO State down by just two points. The biggest dagger, though, was the missed front end of a one-and-one with the Bears - still - just down by two. MO State turned the ball over just twice in the last six minutes.

Wichita State, meanwhile, was just 3-for-8 and turned it over once. MSU had chances, but shot selection was poor in the closing minutes.

These Bears have not shown a killer instinct. They let Southern Illinois come back from a ginormous first-half deficit, then blow a 12-point halftime lead to Wichita.

But this is the kind of loss that fans have come to expect. Wichita State did the same thing to the Bears last January, winning on a late 3-pointer in front of 8,680 fans. During the '03-'04 season it was Southern Illinois stealing a 59-58 win, sending 6,493 Bears fans home heartbroken - on Valentine's Day no less. Those darned Shockers were the dealer back in 2002-03, winning 71-65 in front of 7,972.

You get the picture.

It's bad PR to lose big games in front of the biggest crowds of the year - plus it really puts a hurtin' on conference and postseason hopes. The Bears have won some important home games - like last Thursday against SIU - and I know these are good teams they're losing to...but if the program is going to take that next step up, these are nights when they have to defend the home court.

And Barry Hinson's postgame comments didn't help that sick feeling in the stomach. I know he was trying to be funny when he said he even "wore a pink tie" to help break the streak. He went on to say "Life goes on."

Life goes on? Yes, it does, but is that an acceptable answer? I'll try it the next time I have a boss, co-worker or customer questioning my on the job performance. "Hey, life goes on." Think it'll work?