BG MBB With At Least One More Game

So, the Falcons get one more home game, at least.  Who knows what happens after the first round.  Having said that, this opponent is what we used to know as IPFW, Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne.  The Mastadons. They are now just Purdue Fort Wayne.

We have played them four times, but not in 10 years.  They are, after all, a D1 program that we can easily travel to.  The 'Dons have won 3 of 4, including 1-1 at BG.

They had a similar season to BG, actually.  They ended 2023 at 13-2 and 4-0.  They played 2 non-D1 games and played the #358 non-conference schedule in the country, among the 4 worst.  BG's, which was not tough, was #324.

And they had more problems in the conference schedule.  They ended up 7-9 in 2024, finished 11-9 and lost to Oakland in the Horizon Tournament.

The Horizon is the #20 ranked conference and the MAC is #25.

They are an efficient offensive team.  They play at a high pace and shoot a lot of 3FGs. They make 37% from 3FG and 54% from 2FG, both of which are really good.  They also take excellent care of the ball.  They are poor on the offensive boards and average at getting to the line, along with #10 in their league at making FTs.

They are also an efficient defensive team.  They are average at everything except forcing turnovers, which they are really good at.  That's going to be a test for BG's ballhandlers.

Their leading scorer is Jalen Jackson, #10 in the Horizon at 16 PPG.  He makes 53% from 2FG and 41% from 3FG, which is really good.  He was third-team all-conference.

Also, third-team All-Conference was Rasheed Bello. He scores 14.9 PPG on 49% and 34% shooting. He also leads the team with 4 assists per game. Quinton Morton-Robinson and Anthony Roberts also score 13 PPG---remember that there are a lot of possessions here.

Eric Mulder leads them with 7.2 RPG. 

Kenpom gives them a 54% chance of winning the game.  I will be there.  It has the potential to be a nice game.