BG Notches Win Over Buffalo

BG notched a home win over UB last night.  I always love walking out of the arena with a win. These winnable home games are key to the team.  The narrative right now is we keep it together, hit .500 in the MAC, get to Cleveland, hopefully get some guys back and then make a run at a conference that lacks anything close to a dominant team.  That's not a prediction, it's a path.

The first half was pretty tough to watch.  BG led 32-28, but both teams shot 32% overall and were collectively 2-25 from 3FG.  Of the 60 points scored, 25 came at the line.

BG came out of the locker room and got things going...as Marcus Johnson and Trey Thomas rallied to change the game.  BG scored the first 7 points of the half to take an 11-point lead and force a UB timeout less than 2 minutes in.   The lead stayed over 10 for the last 14 minutes of the game. It got as high as 19 and BG won 79-61.

The game came off at 70 possessions, which is pretty fast.  Coach has been emphasizing defense, and the Falcons held UB to .88 points per possession, which is below their season average.  BG scored 1.14 points per possession, which is a winning number.

BG did not have a great shooting night--a strong second half got them to 48% on 2FG and 33% on 3FG. That was still better than UB's 46% and 21% with 56% of their attempts on 3FG.  Turnovers and rebounds were relatively even, and there was a huge difference at the line.  UB came in with their only real defensive strength being keeping teams off the line...didn't happen last night, as BG was 27 of 36 while UB was 16-19.

It is our highest FT rate since the Morgan State game of Huger's last year.

BG was carried by Trey Thomas and Marcus Johnson.  Johnson had 21 on 3 of 5 and 3 of 7 shooting, 6-6 at the line, 9 rebounds and 3 assists.  Thomas had 22, 18 in the second half, on 5 of 10 and 3 of 8 shooting and 3-4 at the line,  Butler had 13 on 10 of 13 shooting. Jamai Felt had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in 25 minutes.

BG essentially played only 7 men.  Squire played only 3 minutes, collecting 2 fouls.  In addition, Campbell is playing with his fingers taped together, significantly impacting his ball handling.  It remains a difficult situation.

BG has EMU on Saturday, certainly another winnable game.  That would get them to 3-2 before hitting Miami and UT the following week, which are two of the top teams in the MAC.

BG Announces 13 Players to Transfer to BG...

The Spring Semester is underway and BG has 13 football players sitting in a BG classroom for the first time and getting ready for spring practice.  Any other transfers will have to join the program for fall practice.  There is another window after Spring practice....we could lose additional guys or pick additional guys up.

Short snippets are below.  Full bios are here.

A few thoughts:

• Most of these guys have been listed on the blog.  The newest ones that I hadn't gotten to yet are Saipaia, Johnson, Lamson and McMillan.
• Lamson is a QB and was just announced last night.  Highly recruited, went to Syracuse and Stanford.  Appears to be a dual-threat QB, which would make BG's 2 most experienced QBs both in a dual-threat profile.
• BG picked up 7 players on defense, where help is badly needed.  One is a DL from Akron and there are 2 highly productive DII linebackers.  I'd think we get immediate help there. Also, Acheampong was very highly recruited.
• Speaking of positions of need, 2 WRs were added and Allen Middleton is someone to keep a special eye on, from what I have heard.
• Also, 2 were dbacks.
• They join (by my count) 10 of the FR class who have enrolled early.
• I haven't analyzed closely, but there are a lot of 1-year eligible guys, I believe reflecting our philosophy that we only need one year to get back on track with the high school pipeline.

Acheampong (Cape Coast, Ghana) spent the 2024 season at UCLA and the 2023 season at Miami without playing in any games. Was a consensus four-star recruit out of Santa Margarita Catholic in Southern California. He has three years of eligibility.

Bostic (Cincinnati, Ohio) spent the 2024 season at Toledo, but didn't appear in any games. He is a two-time All-Ohio pick out of Robert A. Taft High School in Cincinnati where he played cornerback, safety, and wide receiver.

Doggan (Bloomington, Ill.) spent the last three seasons at Northwest Missouri State where he appeared in 23 career games over the last two seasons. Doggan had career highs in tackles (24), passes defended (5), forced fumbles (1), and interceptions (1) in 2024.

Dunbar (Tarrytown, N.Y.) spent the 2024 season at Kansas State where he appeared in eight games. Prior to his season at Kansas State, Dunbar was an All-C-USA performer at Rice where he spent the 2020-23 seasons.

Johnson (Gonzales, La.) appeared in 34 career games over five seasons at Texas Southern. Caught 104 passes for 1,224 yards and seven touchdowns during his career at Texas Southern. Johnson was named All-SWAC in 2021 after making 32 catches for 467 yards and three scores.

Kilfoyl (Tampa, Fla.) spent four seasons at South Florida and appeared in 28 career games with 13 starts. All his starts came at left guard, and he saw 1,018 career snaps on the offensive line for the Bulls with most time at left guard. Also saw time at right guard and left tackle.

Lampron (LaGrange, Ohio) was an FCS All-American in 2024 at Dayton after notching 99 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks in 2024, while also blocking two kicks, forcing two fumbles, and recovering two more. His 6.5 sacks were tied for No. 5 in all of FCS among linebackers in 2024. Appeared in 24 career games for Dayton from 2022-24 and posted 150 tackles, 27.5 TFLs, and 7.5 sacks for his career.

Lamson (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Stanford. Part of a two-quarterback system, he appeared in 24 games with four starts. In two years, Lamson passed for 804 yards, passed for four touchdowns, rushed for 428 yards, and 13 scores. His eight rushing touchdowns in 2024 are a Stanford single-season program record by a Stanford quarterback and ranked No. 12 nationally among quarterbacks from non-option offensive teams.

McMillian (Fort Valley, Ga.) spent the last two years at Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville, Miss. In 18 career games, he rushed 148 times for 593 yards and three scores. McMillian attended Peach County High School where he helped PCHS to a region championship in 2022.

Middleton (Mascoutah, Ill.) spent the last two years at Southern Illinois and is coming off a 2024 season where he caught 32 passes for 422 receiving yards and two scores. Middleton is an all-state performer out of Mascoutah High School.

Moore Jr. (Massillon, Ohio) comes to BGSU from Akron where he spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He appeared in 19 career games for the Zips, including all 12 in 2024. Moore posted 39 career tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and one fumble recovery. Moore attended Massillon Washington High School.

Ridley (Richmond, Va.) was an FCS Freshman All-American at Hampton in 2024 after leading the Pirates with 50 receptions for 596 yards and four touchdowns. Ridley helped Trinity Episcopal High School to two VISAA state championships in 2022 and 2023.

Saipaia (Fort Collins, Colo.) was part of three NCAA DII national titles at Ferris State (2021, 2022, 2024) where he notched 155 career tackles. He recorded 93 stops, 8.0 TFLs, and 2.0 sacks during the 2024 title run. Saipaia led Ferris State with eight tackles and 1.0 TFL in the 2024 NCAA DII title game against Valdosta State. Saipaia played high school football in Ohio at Canton McKinley High School where he was a first-team All-Ohio selection in 2019 while also being teammates with BGSU 2024 consensus All-American Harold Fannin Jr. 

Buffalo MBB Preview

Just 6 years ago, UB had a historically great season.  Since then......well, not so much.  Nate Oats left, Jim Whitesell came in, had 4 years and was fired.  Next up is George Halcovage III, a long-time assistant at Villanova.  He is committed to building his program with younger players and is enduring some Loeffleresque suffering.  

Last year, they were 4-27, 3-27 in D1 games and 2-16 in the MAC.  This year, they were picked last again, and are 3-10 this year in D1 games and 0-3 in the MAC.  They last won a D1 game the Monday before Thanksgiving and have lost 6 straight.

In the MAC, they haven't had the easiest start. They were @Miami, and then Ohio and Kent at home, all losses. They lost to Kent by 19.

They are not in last place based on Kenpom.  They are #331 and NIU is #355.

UB has won 6 of the last 10 against BG and 3 of the last 4.  BG won last year's meeting 87-73 at the Stroh. Kenpom gives BG a 73% chance of winning and ESPN 87%.  BG is a 6.5-point favorite. 

They play fast, at 71 possessions a game. Beyond that, they have the numbers of a 3-10 team. They are #326 in offense and #334 in defense.  BG is #192 and #296.

On offense, UB tries a lot of 3FGs...43%, which is #90 in the country.  Unfortunately, they only make 30%, which is #301.  They are actually decent on 2FGs (52%).  They turn the ball over, and they get only 21% of offensive rebounds, only 8 teams are worse, including NIU. They are decent getting to the line, but make only 69%.  

The defense is not much better.  They are ranked under 300 on EFG%, 3FG%, defensive rebounding and forcing turnovers.  One thing...they don't give up very many free throws.

Their leading scorer is Ryan Sabol, scoring 16.5 PPG.  He is a good 3FG shooter, making 42% is #3 in 3FGs per game in the MAC.  He's a SO in his 2nd year at UB.

Tyson Dunn is scoring 12.6 PPG on 56% 2FG and 32% 3FG. He is a senior who transferred from Wesrern Ontario.

Noah Batchelor is their leading rebounder with 5.5 RPG. He's 6'8" and a transfer from Maryland.  

A couple roster notes.

• They are relatively tall, #99 in height.
• They are the least experienced team in the MAC.
• They have 4 Canadians, 2 Englishmen, 1 Australian and 1 Latvian on their roster.

So look, a wounded BG team looks across the floor and thinks this looks like a win.  UB is doing the same thing.  At home, BG needs to put this one away. 

Forgettable Day in Muncie

The trip to Muncie Saturday is probably best forgotten.  Down 4 players with a very limited rotation, BS went right after us.  We had huge foul trouble the whole way.  BS led for 37 minutes. Coach Simon got ejected.  It was just a day to leave behind.

BG did not quit, to their credit.  They had been trailing by ten for at least half the game and early in the second half were down 18, but they kept chipping away.  With 5:33 left, BG was down 6, but from there it went bad fast, with BG giving up a 27-11 run to lose by 22.  During that run, Coach Simon was T'd twice and was ejected...it was just a fitting ending to a long day.

BG was playing without Towns, Khayat and Humphrey....and Preston Squire.  So, BG was down 3 big men on a team that was already not especially big.  And Ball State took advantage. They tried only 30% from 3FG, their lowest in a D1 game this year. When Felt was in the game for 15 minutes, BG was -1.  When he was not in the game, BG was -23.  Some of that was in the last couple minutes and I'm not claiming Felt is a game changing stopper at this point, but that's still a meaningful difference.

I noted in the preview that BSU is good at getting fouled, and they showed that for sure.  Felt fouled out, Thomas and Campbell had 4 and Johnson finished with 3.  Thomas played only 23 minutes....it will be hard for BG to win with that.

The key was shooting.  It was the second-worst shooting performance allowed by the BG defense, with only KC worse.  They made 67% from 2FG and 41% from 3FG.  BG shot 49% and 30%, which is not great.  The other major issue was FTs.  BG is regressing to the mean at the FT line and fast.  They were 11 of 22 at the line.  A few more FTs, and that 6-point deficit might have been very different.

BS ended up at 1.24 points per possession, and BG at .94.  BG has not won allowing more than 1.14 this year.  More shocking, all of BG's wins except NM State have come with over 1.15 points per possession....even D1 average offense is not good enough for BG to win.  BG is #294 in the nation in defensive efficiency.

Campbell had 13 on 6 of 8 2FG shooting.  It seems like we should be able to get him going more. Exacte had 12 on 3 of 5 3FG shooting, and 5 rebounds.  I think he has upside and he is getting some expedited on the job training with these injuries.  Johnson had 11, but it was 4 of 11 and 1 of 8 shooting.  He added six rebounds, 3 assists and 4 turnovers. Thomas had 10 on 2 of 5 and 2 of 6 shooting.  Felt had 5 rebounds, 1 block and 1 goaltending in 15 minutes.

The Falcons return home next week with Buffalo and EMU, two of the lesser teams in the MAC.  These are the teams BG needs to beat to make Cleveland, and this stretch is important.  In all honestly, splitting the road games this week was about all you might have expected.

Ball State Preview MBB

Next up, the Ball State Cardinals in Muncie.

The Cards were picked 6th in the MAC in Blue Ribbon and #7 in the MAC pre-season poll.  They had a tough pre-season.  They are 4-7 in D1 games and 1-1 in the MAC.  That's against the #334 ranked non-conference schedule.

That includes losses to Georgia State (290), Detroit Mercy (331), Richmond (214) and SIUE (256).  Their best win was over EKU (218).  They did beat Bellarmine, a team that smoked BG.

In the MAC, they started with an upset, winning a road game against Kent.  They then lost to Miami at home.

BG swept Ball State last year.  Before that, they had a four-game losing streak. Overall, the Falcons have won 4 of the last 10.

Ball State plays at 68 possessions, which is on the slow side.  The national average is 1.06 points per possession so you can see that in three of the four categories, the two teams are relatively typical.  The only area where something is different, is BG's defense.  BG played better defense than that against UA but worse against WMU.

The Cardinals are an average shooting team playing against a BG team that is easy to shoot against. They take 41% of their shots from 3FG, which is above average, and they make 33% which is exactly average.  They make 50% on 2FGs, slightly below average.  They take decent care of the ball, and are terrible on the offensive boards...BG is not great on the defensive boards.

The biggest strength of the BSU offense is getting to the FT line.  They don't take great advantage, making only 68.9%.  In fourteen games, they have 63 more FTs than their opponents.

Interesting side note:  BG has one thing against it that you cannot control.  Their opponents make 78.8% of their FTs, which is the fourth best in the nation.  You'd expect that to balance out.

Things should be pretty even here.  BG has been doing a little better on the offensive boards, so they might have a chance to take advantage of that.  And BSU gives up a few more FTs than BG is used to getting, 

As for the individuals, the Cards expected Peyton Sparks to be there big leader.  He was an all-MAC player who transferred and then came back. He's doing fine, scoring 11 PPG on 59% shooting, all from 2FG. He also leads the team with 6.7 RPG.  In the last few games, he has been coming off the bench in favor of Ben Hendriks.

Their leading scorer is JUCO transfer Jehrmari Hill.  He's scoring 16.9 PPG on 52% and 18% shooting.  He adds 4.9 RPG.  He also leads the team with 40 assists and 38 turnovers.

Mickey Pearson is back, scoring 10.6 PPG on 48% and 24% shooting. He averages 5.9 RPG. 

They best volume 3FG shooter is Juan Sebastian Gorosito, an Argentinian who transferred from Portland.  He makes 47% of his 3FG

Kenpom has them as a 65% favorite in this game.  ESPN has them as a 69% favorite.

Football Portal Reaching Fever Pitch

There is a frenzy down at the Sebo Center, as BG rushes to bring football players in before the beginning of the Spring Semester, which is Monday.  Stay tuned.  In the meantime, BG has picked up 3 players in the last week or so.

Hampton WR Brennan Ridley

Ridley totaled 596 yards and four touchdowns on 50 receptions as a true freshman in 2024, earning a nomination for the Jerry Rice Award, given annually to the top freshman at the FCS level.  He was also named to the Phil Steele FCS Freshman All-American team.

In HS, he recorded 58 receptions for 750 yards and 14 touchdowns over the course of his time at Trinity Episcopal High...they won two Virginia state championships.

Andrew Kilfoyl OL USF

Kilfoyl started 7 games this year before getting injured and played in 8 days the year before that.  He had a PFF score of 61 this year and played mostly LG.  He was a 3-star recruit from Tampa, with FBS offers from Air Force,  BG, Brown, Coastal Carolina, EMU, Liberty and WKU.

Mayes Doggan, DB, NW Missouri State

He played DII ball for NW Missouri State, playing 23 games over 3 years and making 29 tackles with 1 INT. 

Watch this space

BG MBB Wins at WMU

 The BG MBB team went on the road last night and picked up a win I think they needed pretty badly.  You don't want to fall into an 0-2 trap and WMU is a team that looks right now to be destined to be in the bottom of the MAC...we are at least looking for the middle.  And after leading Akron most of the way, you'd like to put a second decent game on the court.

And they did.  It wasn't always pretty but it was good enough.  And there are no bad road wins in the conference.

The first 12 minutes were closely played.  With 8 left and the game tied, WMU went on a 19-5 run over 6 minutes to take a 14-point.  This is a hidden danger point for BG.  You have a short bench, 2:27 left to play and you're close to getting blown out of the gym.

Instead, BG rallied, going on an 11-1 run to close the half down only 4 and very much still in the game.

Coming out of the locker room, BG fell quickly down 9--and it looked like another run was coming--but the Falcons rallied back to tie the game with 13:20 to play. Most of the remainder of the half was played at a one-possession game, back and forth.  

With about 3 left, Derrick Butler was fouled shooting at 3FG--highly disputed by Stephens.  He made two of three FTS, Felt and Butler got a blocked shot/jump ball in the paint and Butler dunked the ball to put BG up 4.  WMU missed the front end of a 1-1 and Johnson hit a 2FG and BG was up 6 with 1:48 to go.  Those little spurts late in games are critical, and BG did it while playing a very shallow rotation.

BG made 7-8 at the line coming home and won the game by 4 points.

The game was played at 69 possessions.  I think with BG's injury issues, that's a survivable pace for us. 

WMU came into the game making 28% of their 3FGs, which is terrible.  They made 19% against BG.  Also, they came in allowing only 24% on their defensive boards...a true team strength...and BG ended up with 39% of the available offensive rebounds, their second strong game in a row with that metric.

BG scored 1.2 points per possession and WMU had 1.14, so it wasn't a great defensive game for the Falcons.  BG made 61% on its 2FGs--a big improvement over the Akron game--and 35% on 3FG.  BG made 13 of 17 inside the restricted area.  Turnovers were even, as were FTs.  

On that...BG had a terrible first half at the line, making only 5 of 12.  They made 10 of 13 in the second half, much closer to where they have been.

Trey Thomas is really having a good spell when they need it most.  He was injured most of last year and struggled earlier in the year, but he's looking like the player we thought we were getting from Vanderbilt. He had 22 points on 3 of 10 and 4 of 5 shooting, 4-5 at the line and 3 assists over 0 turnovers. He was +9 for the game.

Derrick Butler had 19 on 6 of 8 and 0 of 6 shooting, 7-9 at the line and 7 rebounds. Marcus Johnson had 14 on 5 of 8 and 1 of 3 shooting, scoring a big basket to tie the game with 6:30 left and then the basket that put them up 6 late. He also had 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 turnovers.

Javonte Campbell had 12 on 5 of 6 2FG shooting, 2 of 5 at the line and 2 steals.  He is 2nd in the nation in steals per game.

BG had only 44 bench minutes.  Wilgues Junior Exacte played 25...he's what you would expect as a guy making up for missing a year...he makes good plays and then he makes head scratchers.

The Falcons move to 1-1.  A similar game looms in Muncie, with a road game against a team that has struggled this year. The key is to continue to build on what's working....we have strengthened ourselves inside even with Towns and Khayat injured...