Sweet Victory

So after the worst two consecutive losses since the Dakich era, you had to think that the Falcons were hungry for a victory, at home.  Pretty much needed a victory.  It does not matter if it was the worst offensive team against the worst defensive team...BG needed a win in this one, no matter any qualifiers.

And they got it.  And they got it in a relatively coasting fashion.  BG never trailed.  They were up 8-0 and put the lead over 10 with 12 minutes left in the first half.  BG's lead never fell below 10 for the remainder of the game.  In the 2nd half, BG's lead was as high as 23 and as low as 14.  I know Coach was upset that we didn't continue to build the lead, we also didn't blow it.  For my money, if you have a big lead and the other team never gets it inside 10 (much less 14), you remained in control of the game.

In the worst/worst match up, it was the worst defense beating the worst offense.  OU is really struggling on offense, but BG also played much more consistent and energetic defense, especially in the first half.  Remember, we were worried about OU taking advantage of BG's struggles defending the 3-point line.  OU was a woeful 2 of 17 from 3FG.  The .71 points per possession for OU was the lowest for a BG opponent since Morgan State last year.  Their 34.5% EFG is the lowest for a BG opponent since Cleveland State the year before.  On top of that, BG did a great job closing possessions out by getting defensive boards.  That's a lot of one and done possessions.

BG did not do much offensively either.  They struggled to shoot, took decent care of the ball, had a very average day on the offensive boards and, most telling, did not get to the line very much at all.

After some bench time at UT, Wiggins was back with a double-double.  He had 18 points on 8 of 15 shooting, 11 rebounds and....5 turnovers, which is a problem.  BG seems to understand the importance of feeding Wiggins in the post but seem to lack the ability to do it consistently and effectively.

Lillard scored a rough 13 on 4 of 12 shooting but also had 8 rebounds.  No other Falcon had 10 points, though Plowden had 9 2nd half points on 3 of 5 shooting and 6 rebounds.  Derek Koch had 7 points and 6 rebounds in 156 minutes. 

A couple lineup notes.  Lillard started for Caldwell.  John Wagner said that Caldwell was injured in the UT game, which Caldwell took to twitter to directly deny.  Frye ran the point for much of the game.  He's continuing to struggle with his shot big time (2 of 7/0 of 3) and had 3 assists and 4 turnovers on the point.  Coach said that he did a good job organizing players and getting them where they needed to be.

BG is now 4-5 in MAC play at the halfway point.  They'd probably play at home for the MAC if the season ended today.  Now, BG has two games with Buffalo left.  Saturday they have Kent at the Stroh.  Kent is on the rise.  They are 6-3 in MAC play and have won 5 out of their last 6, including a win over Buffalo on Tuesday.  Hopefully, they will come to BG reading the press clipping.