Unfortunately, Stockard, Griffin and Welch missed a combined 25 games early in the season, leading to a 4-10 start. Fortunately, that meant Lofton and Osunniyi and some of the other younger players got thrown into the fire and gained valuable experience. Schmidt has said that Lofton had to become more than just a distributor, because the team needed him to score. The benefits of the additional freshmen playing time are now paying dividends.