MBB Home Opener Preview

BG hits their second game and home opener on Friday.  The opponent is the Davidson Wildcats. They are a legit all-time program. They have made 15 Big Dance appearances, making the Elite 8 in 68 and 69.  Of course, you know who else was in that 68 tourney. Those teams were coached by Lefty Driesell. They have been in 3 times in the last 10 years.

Their head coach is Matt McKillop who is in his third year, replacing his legendary father Bob.  He is 31-33 in that time.

They play in the Atlantic-10, where they were picked 12th in the A10 poll, 11th in Blue Ribbon.  Here's the thing.  The A-10 is the 7th ranked conference in kenpom.  Based on the kenpom rankings, 10 teams in the A-10 would be ranked ahead of the best team in the MAC.  That includes Davidson---and UMASS, in the MAC next year.

They beat a non-D1 opponent in their opener.

Return 4 starters.  Interestingly, there is no graduate school at Davidson, so grad transfers, or even your own guys using their grad year, cannot happen.

They have played BG twice.  There was a home-home in 86-87, with each team winning on their home floor.  Davidson is 9-9 vs. teams currently in the MAC. 

Looking at a few players, Reed Bailey was third-team All-A10 in the preseason. He scored 12.7 PPG and added 5.8 RPG as a sophomore last year.  He's 6'10.

They also have Sean Logan, another 6'10" player.  Didn't put up big numbers last year, but he did block 58 shots, bad news given BG was blocked 10 times last game.

That's not all...they also have Joe Hurlbert, a Colorado transfer.  He is also 6'10". Played only 26 minutes in Colorado, but they had some NBA big men ahead of him.

Connon Kochera is a 6'5 G who transferred two years ago from William & Mary,  He scored 13 PPG last year and made 36% from 3FG.

Bobby Durkin is a sophomore G who drained a game-winning 3FG to beat Maryland last year.  Zach Laput is a DII transfer who is a 6'4" G and was in double figures in their opener.

This is an outstanding test for BG.  Davidson is a 4.5 point road favorite.