BG MBB Takes Sole Possession of First

und der Beat geht weiter

That's 6 in a row in the MAC and 10 in a row overall.  And, with Buffalo's defeat, BG's Falcons (MBB) are #1 in the MAC all by themselves, virtually unthinkable when they were picked to be dead last when the season started.

So much fun.  Every game gets better.

This one was EMU, playing a 2-3 zone which early this season had us completely befuddled.  On this day, in January, BG handled the zone and some, and continued to play solid defense, outrebounded a nationally ranked rebounding team and beat some pressure and it was all on the road and bundled into an 80-67 win.

The first half of the game was competitive.  With 8:25 left BG hit a 3FG to go up 19-16 and the Falcons led for the remainder of the game without interruption.  BG was up 9 at halftime.  Five minutes into the second half BG had the lead into double digits and it was never inside 10 for the remainder of the game, getting as high as 18.  Another night where the Falcons cruise to victory.

Not only did BG succeed against the zone, they had their best offensive game this year and the best D1 game since that UT 2OT game a couple seasons ago.  As mentioned in the preview, EMU plays slow.  This game had 63 possessions, so scoring 80 in that low number of possessions is impressive.  BG scored 1.275 points per possession.  That came not from one factor being great, but a number of them.  First, BG had an EFG% of 56%--only their 8th best of the year--but BG took excellent care of the ball, had good offensive rebounding and only did OK getting to the line, but made 72% when they got there.  BG shot 49% from 2FG--their best since the Ohio game--but made 47% from 3FG, which is also their best since the Ohio game.

On the EMU side, the Eagles were actually relatively effective at 1.07 points per possession.  That's the best offensive/worst defensive game in the 10-game winning streak.  They shot pretty well at 49%, with 48% on 2FGs but only 33% of 3FGs.  Overall, BG did outshoot them, though, and EMU also turned the ball over more.  Most importantly, EMU came in #14 in the country with 41% offensive rebounding, but BG held them to 29%.  Finally, EMU did get to the line and made 70% of their FTs.

Individually, BG had contributions from a few players.

Justin Turner led the scoring, with 19 points on 5 of 10 and 3 of 4 shooting, plus 6-6 at the line and 2 steals.

Demajeo Wiggins had a better game after slumping for four games.  He scored 13 points, on 5 of 8 shooting, made 3 of 4 at the line and only 1 turnover.  He added 10 rebounds.  He scored on a couple of dunks when BG broke the press and went for the rim rather than letting the opponent reset.

Dylan Frye scored 11.  Coach mentioned in the post-game that Dylan is letting the game coming to him and not forcing shots up.  He's been deadly on open looks.  He shot 4 of 11 and 3 of 6 and had 4 assists over 0 turnovers.

Jeffrey Uju had a big contribution.  That's 11 points in 11 minutes.  He shot 5 of 6 from the field...including some zone-crushing shots from in the paint.

Marlon Sierra also had 9.  He shot 4 of 5 and 1 of 1, and 4 assists.

Caleb Fields had 4 assists.  In fact, BG had 20 assists on 29 baskets.  Laster had 8 on 3 of 6 and 2 of 4 shooting. 

Just a nice game up and down the line. And another cruise to victory for BG.  No need to bite nails or stress.

Miami is up next after winning 2 straight, in Oxford.