Complete Effort puts BG past Miami

Last night in Oxford, BG came up with the kind of win we have been waiting to see for a while.  Yes, I know, it was not against one of the top teams in our league, but I think we needed to see BG just go out and beat somebody in the MAC, anybody, and doing it on the road was huge.  

The game was competitive throughout.  BG was up early, then Miami went up and they led by 2 at the half.  The game was tied in the first minute of the second half, and it was game on.  The next 8 minutes were very tightly contested.  With 12 minutes left, BG was up 50-49.  And from there, the Falcons did what you see winning teams do, which is take control down the stretch, outscoring the RedHawks 31-21 over that period, scoring and getting stops and rebounds, and then making FTs down the stretch to get the win.

The scoring came on two runs.  BG went on a 7-0 to pop the lead to 8 with 9 minutes left and then after Miami cut the lead to 4 the Falcons went on an 11-1 run to put the game away.  At that point, they led by 14 with 4 minutes left.  The Falcons won 81-70.

What this constituted was a game where BG put a complete effort together on both ends of the floor.  BG scored 1.12 points per possession, their best game of the MAC season and they held Miami to .96 points per possession.  It was the first MAC game this year when BG was on the "right" side of 1 point per possession offensively and defensively.

BG excelled most at propelling the ball through the rim.  BG shot 60% overall and 46% from 3FG.  The 67% EFG% is their best this year against D1 competition.  Meanwhile, Miami shot 40% and 29%.  The shooting helped BG overcome a poor game with turnovers and offensive rebounding.  Unlike the first game, BG had a great game at the line.  BG made 21 out of 26 for a +5 FT margin.

Making FTs is vital for BG because of the way we play.  The Falcons are #38 in the country in the rate at which they get to the line.  The idea is to attack the rim and get to the line.  They simply have to make FTs.  BG gets 23.6% of its points at the FT line, which is #16 in the country.  The Falcons currently shoot 73% which is #112 in the country.  The national average is 70% and given the style of play, BG just needs to be there or better to win.

Let me say this.  Demajeo Wiggins is playing really well.  It would be very tough to play much better than he did, in fact.  He scored 22 points on 8 of 9 FG shooting and 6 of 7 at the line, added 15 rebounds and 5 assists when he was double-teamed.  He did play 36 minutes, which helps those bulk numbers, but I don't care what that says, he was a dominant force in that game.  It's not going to get easier--he's going to get more and more attention--and that's where it will be a team game.  When A'uston Calhoun was surrounded in the post, we could never find anyone to make the shots.  Hopefully, we have those guys.  Oh and he ends up at the line, too.

Rod Caldwell had a bounce-back game with his shooting.  He had 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting to go with 4 assists over 1 turnover.  He's solid.  He needs to find that balance between forcing offensive opportunities and disappearing.  This was a good example of that balance, in my view.

Dylan Frye, playing hobbled, had 16 on 5 of 12 shooting and 2 of 5 from deep.  It was also a bit of a bounce-back for him, as he has been struggling with his shot.  Daeqwon Plowden had 10 points in 11 minutes, shooting 4 of 4 from the field and making both his 3s.

CMU comes to town on Saturday.  The next step is for BG to become tough to beat at home.  It would be great to put another strong effort together and move to 4-2 in the MAC.  BG's early schedule is way softer than the later schedule---Buffalo, Ball State and Toledo wait for us--and it's good to rack up some wins.  Saturday would be another great one to get.