Towson Tiger Preview

So, the Falcons escape out of Philly and head south to Towson, which is in Maryland, and where I think we will find a much better winning environment than in venerable McGonigle Hall.  While no pushover, this game will be a nice test for our team.  (The rest of the Falcon Nation will no doubt be focused on the blue turf, but a reminder that you can flip over to the game on an internet-only broadcast).

We played Towson last year and beat then 77-58 at AA, with Clements and Moten being the leading scorers.  Towson shot only 33% from the field for the game while the Falcons shot 55%.

Towson is 3-9 on the season, with a win over Miami being their signature win.  Their wins over Maryland-Baltimore County and Hampton are over teams in the 300s, RPI-wise.  Their losses are to some decent teams, with the exception of a 17-point loss to Navy.

They have yet to lose at home.  This year.

They will present us with a different style than we are used to playing, which is to say they are a little faster paced than MAC teams are.  They are getting 72 possessions a game, which is 7 more than BG typically runs, which just is to say that they play a pretty fast paced game.

This tempers how you look at the per game stats.  For example, with that pace, 71.9 PPG is just over a point per possession, and is especially not good when you allow 78 points per game.  But, given the tempo, that's only 1.09 points per possession, which is not as bad as it might seem.

Anyway, they have clearly struggled this season, and they do allow teams to shoot effectively against them, (46%).  On rebounding, FT shooting and ball handling, they appear to be pretty well matched with us.

NCAA Basketball

The challenge for this game is that Towson will represent a tempo challenge for our team.  We normally play well against teams that you can shoot against, and it would be great to see us get some offensive confidence back right away.  This team is not Temple, and if we can bring a strong defensive game, this looks like a matchup we can win.