It was about as ugly as it can get. BG was playing a not good NIU team, which put two not good teams on the same floor and the result was about as bad as it could be.
BG lost 45-36. It was their lowest point total since 1994 in a game in Oxford. Based on my review, it is the lowest total for a home game in 71 years when BG beat the boys from Camp Perry. There have been only 7 D1 teams to score fewer points this season. Only one--Marquette--was at home.
So, you know. There you are. There's not a lot to say about it. BG shot 29% overall, 23% from 3FG, 43% from the FT line. BG had 17 turnovers in a 58 possession game, which means they coughed the ball up on almost 30% of their possessions and they shot horribly in the other 70% of the possessions. The .62 points per possession is the lowest since the 2010-11 game @MSU. No comparable home performance can be found.
NIU was not much better. They shot 33%, 40% from 3 and 46% from the line. They did have 4 fewer turnovers and got 38% of their available offensive rebounds (BG got 23%) and those extra possessions were the difference.
It was nothing to be proud of for NIU, either. But for BG to lose at home in this fashion to this team--it was a very humbling day. Losing would have been bad enough, but losing like this was a pretty low moment.
As usual, Richaun Holmes was the only real contributor. He had 12 points on 5 of 10 shooting, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks. The rest? Um. You know, I'm not going to go through them one by one. Without Holmes, the rest of the guys were a collective 7 of 31. That's a collective sin.
One positive element and maybe the only positive element, was the debut of Zach Denny. He shot 2 of 5, but he was 2 of 3 from beyond the arc and they were WAY beyond the arc. This team badly needs an outside shooter, and let us hope he gets the chance to pull those defenses out a little bit. He seemed to settle into the game and is in a position to make a contribution to a team that is badly lost.
In the post-game presser, John Wagner finally asked about the elephant in the room. He asked Coach Orr if he "had concerns about his job."
"What concerns would I have?" Coach said. And it was not a flippant answer. If you get a chance, yo might hop over and check out the last couple minutes of the presser on bgsufalcons.com. Coach said that he isn't worried because "God is his provider" and he trusts his will. I have to say, I hear people talk like this from time to time, but I believe Coach Orr is 100% sincere in what he believes. I don't share his views on the subject, but I do respect him and his beliefs.
This is as bad a start as could have been imagined for his team. They are 0-2 at home to start the season. That means only 7 more games at home and 9 on the road. If you can't beat NIU at home, you have to wonder who you can beat. Certainly, just for discussion, UT, OU, Akron, and Kent are on the very unlikely list. You could go on and on. This has the chances to be historically bad for the Falcons if things do not get turned around.
That starts with another winnable game Wednesday against CMU. We're a little past the must-win stage here. This is starting to feel as bad or worse than it was feared to be.
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