Falcon Men Dig Quick Hole

The MAC Season opened on Tuesday and BG had a game that it needed to win right away on the schedule.  Not that Miami should have been easy to beat, but they are a team that is also very young, has struggled in the pre-season and it was a home game for BG.  If you have any hopes of making a home berth for the tournament (a reasonable accomplishment for this year), you need this win and it is first on the schedule.

And we did not get it.  The RedHawks won 77-72.  BG was the only home to lose on Tuesday in the MAC.  Beyond that, Miami was the better team for most of the game.  BG did jump out to a 7-0 lead, but the game was tied again with 11 left in the first half.  Miami took the lead with 8 minutes left in the half and except for two possessions, led the entire remainder of the game.  They led by 5 at the half and scored the first 8 points of the second half to go up 13.  BG battled back to get it as close as 2 at one point and 3 a few others, but down the stretch BG went cold at the FT line and the RedHawks outran the Falcons to the finish line.

So, here's the thing.  BG is just woeful on defense.  They just don't consistently guard anyone.  Dribble penetration is a real problem.  Miami's PG got to the paint at will and once BG's man defense breaks down, the ball eventually finds an open shooter.  Miami had 1.037 points per possession, which is actually right on the national average, but they came into the game averaging only .92 points per possession, so once again a team found its shot against us.  They shot well 53% overall, which is well above the national average, but turned the ball over a lot.  They were much stronger on the offensive boards than BG was.  It was their second-best D1 game of the season.

Meanwhile, BG has hit an offensive slump.  Since the Evansville game, BG has been under 1 point per possession in three straight D1 games.  In this one, they hit .97, which isn't awful but isn't the formula BG used to win some games.  BG hit 37% from 3FG, which is about national averge, but missed a ton of shots near the basket and shot only 42% on 2FGs.

The other issue was FTs.  BG gets to the line and has been one of the stronger teams in the MAC at the line to date.  BG actually got to the line a little more than Miami, but was 11-21 while the RedHawks were 14 of 18.

Demajeo Wiggins had the most points for BG, with 15 on 7 of 10 shooting plus 4 out of 5 at the line.  He had only 5 rebounds and seemed to have a few mishaps defensively.  Antwon Lillard had his best offensive game of the year, with 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting and 5 rebounds, but at one point was pulled over the floor due to defense.  Daeqwon Plowden had 11 off the bench with 2 3FGs and one poster dunk.  Justin Turner had a rough 10, on 4 of 15 shooting.  Frye was scoreless and turned an ankle, Caldwell had 6 on 2 of 8 shooting and missed all three of his FTs (in addition to the issues guarding the Miami PG) along with 3 assists and 3 turnovers.

BG plays three of the next four on the road.  The home game is next Tuesday against NIU, the second most winnable game on paper for BG.  MAC play is tough.  No weaknesses hide very long.  BG is capable of playing better than they did on Tuesday, and they need to find that way back.  Next one is tough, at EMU and their 2-3 Syracuse zone.