So the Falcon's men's basketball rolls its way into Kalamazoo tonight for a MAC cross-over game with the Broncos. The Falcons played some close games a couple years ago with WMU, but last year WMU beat BG by 14 and 11 last year, once on a neutral floor. BG's last win in Kalamazoo was 10 years ago last Sunday.
Add to that happy history that WMU is 10-11 this year, but 9-0 on their home floor. The positive thing? Every streak comes to an end.
WMU is 10-11, but they played a tough schedule (#95 in the country) in the non-conference (SD State, Temple, Iona, Colorado, Purdue, Gonzaga, Duke, Duquesne), and they are probably better than that record. They are 4-3 in the MAC, with losses @BSU, @EMU (a surprise at the time, maybe less so now) and @OU. They lost their first 7 D1 Games but are 9-4 in the meantime.
In common opponent land, they did lose to Detroit and Temple, who BG beat, and beat Duquesne, who BG lost to.
The Broncos are second in the MAC in scoring efficiency, at 1.04 points per possession. They are 7th in the MAC in effective FG%. They are like Bowling Green in that they prefer to score close to the basket and they are 10th in 3FG%. They are 8th in turnover percentage as well. All that doesn't sound like a team that is 2nd in the MAC in scoring efficiency, but, with the Broncos, you come to expect very physical inside play, and we find that they are second in the MAC in offensive rebounding percentage and free throw rate. They get a higher percentage of their points on FTs than any other team in the MAC and they are shooting almost 74% (also 2nd in the MAC).
They are solid, but not great on the defensive end. They are 7th in defensive efficiency. They defend the shot very well (3rd) and keep the boards clean, too (2nd in the MAC). They don't do too bad in terms of allowing free throws (5th). The only week part of their game is that they don't force turnovers--they have the lowest turnover percentage in the MAC on defense.
Actually, if you look at that chart, the game appears to be pretty even.
On an individual basis, WMU has three bigs who lead them in scoring. Nate Hutcheron, 6'7" (11.5/5), 6'9" Matt Stainbrook (11.3/6.8) and Flenard Whitfield 6'7" (10.5/5.4). They also have 6'10" Shayne Whittington who doesn't score much but gets 5.7 rebounds. They are solid at guards, at least at feeding the ball inside--both Mike Douglas and Demetrius Ward are both having decent years on assists.
BG is playing a team very much like themselves....that is, a team that wants to play in the paint. They are very physical and tough, and, of course, have played well at home, whereas the Falcons have yet to consistently play well on the road. This win would be very important to the Falcons in seeding, and if they are going to get it, there's going to have to be very good inside play from Calhoun, Black and Oglesby. BG has to keep WMU from dominating the offensive boards the way CMU--a bad rebounding team did--and BG needs to play a very strong defensive game against the shot.
Overall, this looks like a pretty tough assignment. However, this is a team whose strength matches our strength, and if we play our game effectively, we can hope we have another chance to successfully close a game out.
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