OU Closes Out BG MBB

Falcons MBB lost a tough one last night...they played hard and competitively and it was an entertaining game, but when the end came, yet again, the better team made all the plays and won the game.  BG falls to 3-8 in the MAC.  There are three teams at 4-7 and BG would need to beat two of them to get into 8th place.

There were 9 times and 7 lead changes and OU led for almost 20 minutes while BG led for 16.

That includes getting out to a 12-4 start before OU reeled them in and took a 15-13 lead.  OU got the lead as high as 6 with 8 minutes to go, but BG took a 1-point lead with 1:30 left.  They were down 1 when Marcus Johnson nailed a wild, falling out of bounds 3 to put BG up 2 at the break.

BG came out of the locker room fast, and with 15:29 left had a 10-point lead.  The game's turning point came next...Da'Jion Humprey drew his 3rd and 4th foul in rapid succession and was forced to the bench. BG already had foul trouble with Thomas and Campbell.  '

By 10:40 the lead was down to 3 and by 9:21 OU was in the lead.  BG would not lead again, but the game remained very tightly fought. The game was tied 5 times in the following minutes, the last time with 2:14 left, at 74.

OU scored the next 7 points to lead by 7 with :43 left, and the game was over.

I mention about Humphrey and it might seem like an overstatement.  But consider this.  BG 's two best performing sets were Humphrey-Thomas-Johnson-Felt-Campell (+6) and Humphrey-Thomas-Johnson-Felt-Campell (+7).  For the game, Humphrey was +14 in 26 minutes.  By definition, without him BG was -19 for the remaining 14 minutes.

Coach Simon said he had "no explanation" for the second half refereeing, in which BG was called for 19 fouls to OU's 13.  It often appeared to be full-contact defense when OU was defending, and breathing fouls on our end. They were 22-26 at the line IN THE SECOND HALF.  Some was garbage time, but it was bad before that.

At 77 possessions, it was the fastest game of the year in MAC play for BG. The Falcons had 1.06 points per possession,  which is a little above national average.  But, BG gave up 1.12.

That free throw rate is the most since UC shot 55 free throws against us at Thanksgiving 2019. BG's shooting was not terrible, with 50% from 2FG and 39% from 3FG.  OU made 59% and 33%, and 88% at the line. 

Something I keep mentioning...BG's opponents have made 80% of their FTs for the season, the highest percentage of any D1 team.

Johnson had 21 for BG, on 5 of 8 and 3 of 10 shooting.  Also, 4-4 at the line, with 5 assists and 3 turnovers. Derrick Butler had 18 off the bench on 5 of 11 and 2 of 4 shooting. He had 4 turnovers.

Campbell had 13 on 4 of 8 and 1 of 2 shooting, 2 of 4 at the line and 2 steals.

Humphrey had 11 on 2 of 3 and 2 of 3 shooting, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

And Felt double-doubled, with 10 on 3-3 2FG shooting, 4 of 6 at the line and 10 rebounds.

So BG heads to UB in a game they really need if they are going to stay in the hunt.  Right now, BG and UB are tied at 3-8.