Well, I don't think I ever saw somethin' like that before.
BG played about as bad a first half as you can play. Coach Jans was visibly irritated. BG shot 33% with 11 turnovers...and, in fact, was lucky to be within 7 at the half after Spencer Parker nailed a shot to end the first half.
I made a joke on twitter that they were going to have to repaint the Falcon locker room after the halftime speech, and I suspect I had the tone pretty right.
Then the second half happened. Whatever went on in there worked. BG came out and started by playing absolutely stifling defense. There was nowhere for the Vikings to go. Coach said BG switched up how they were handling ball screens...whatever it was, it worked.
It was over 6 minutes before the Vikings picked up a FG. Meanwhile, BG was playing efficient offense. With 11 minutes left they had reversed it and led by 7. With 9 minutes left, BG popped the lead over 10. At that point, we are looking at a 27-10 run in 11 minutes, honestly the longest period of domination that I can remember this program putting out against a legit opponent in recent memory.
Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it was impressive.
From there, BG did what a team does with a 10 point lead with 9 minutes left...they closed the game out. In fact, CSU never got the lead into single digits again.
More later to compare first and second half stats, but here's a little taste. In the second half, CSU shot 21% and was 1 of 15 from beyond the arc. The Vikings also turned the ball over 8 times. Meanwhile, BG shot 52% and 50% from beyond the arc and would have had even a stronger half if it wasn't for the 9 2nd half turnovers.
In the post-game, Coach Jans said BG gave up too many offensive rebounds in the 2nd half, which was 7. We need to acquaint the Coach with advanced stats. Yes, they got 7 offensive rebounds but that's because they missed so many. They actually only picked up 26% of offensive rebounds in the second half, which is well below average.
Richaun Holmes had 15 points and 9 rebounds on 5 of 10 shooting. He has evolved into a really tough rebounder...he pulled down numerous big boards in heavy traffic. He is building a very strong senior season.
Zack Denny had 14 points and 9 rebounds. That's a very efficient 14 points...4 of 6 shooting and he hit both of his threes. That's an offensive weapon.
Devlin Dikcerson had 12 points in 19 minutes, and Jehvon Clarke provided BG with a huge spark by hitting 2 straight 3s when the lead had melted to 1 in the second half. He finished with 10 points on 3 of 6 shooting and he hit both of his 3FGs.
Again, more later. But let us stop for a second and reflect on what happened. Cleveland State is not Kentucky, but they are a team that would easily end up in the tournament. BG completely dominated them in the second half and picked up a significant victory to add to their body of work. The Falcons had a very good week...they now get a break while they take finals before DII Ferris State comes into town.
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