The BG Men's Basketball team continues to provide a highly satisfying season to its fans and supporters. This is just really fun. Can't wait for Tuesday.
Yes, nothing is decided. As Coach says, "we haven't done anything yet," and they haven't. But they are showing that small steps have been made and they might add up to big steps. We shall see.
One of the things I always said about teams like Kent and Akron was that they knew how to win. They were ruthless. You might be ahead with 8 left and be all excited, but they would just settle in and work the game plan and make the plays needed coming home. To beat them, you had to play a very good game and there was no other way.
Again, we're not there yet. But you saw elements of that kind of thing on Saturday in Mt. Pleasant.
The arc of the game was interesting. Note that CMU had a good record but a poor schedule. Still, they were undefeated at home this year...just like us...and the game was sold out. This is a tough situation in a conference where the home team won 67% of the games last year.
BG bolted out to a 7 point lead early in the first half, but CMU had it tied again with about 9 minutes left. CMU never took the lead in the first half, and BG pumped the lead as high as 9 again and then lead by 7 at halftime.
BG came out of the locker room hot (note, if you will, when the opposite used to happen) and stretched the lead to 11 a couple minutes in. With 13 minutes left, BG led by 16. With 10 left, BG was still up 10.
Then it happened. CMU went on a 13-0 run to take the lead by 3, with about 5 minutes left. Guirk is rocking. They are finally hit 3s, even guys that don't make them. BG struggling on the offensive end. This is tailor-made for any team to get swept away in the flood.
CMU held the lead for a few minutes. In fact, with 90 seconds left they led by 6. Based on kenpom, BG had about a 1% chance of winning at that point.
Dylan Frye made a steal and went all the way to cut the lead to 4 with 1:10 left. BG fouled Larry Austin, who then missed both of his FTs. BG came down the floor and had the offense in Juicemode, which is when they feed Turner at the top of the key and he drives and scores a basket. Which he did for a layup to cut it to 2 with :43 left.
DiLeo missed a 3FG, Wiggins cleared the board and BG raced down there floor. Juice drove again, but was fouled this time with :07 left. Turner made both clutch FTs to tie the game. CMU had one last possession but Austin turned the ball over and it was OT.
BG bolted out to a 4 point lead in the OT, but with 3 left CMU had it tied again. BG pumped it up again to go up 3 but then CMU had it tied again with 2 minutes left, 87-87.
From there, BG scored 10 and CMU scored 0.
Turner hit a 3 to put BG up 3. CMU had a possession with two shots, the last of which was an errant Austin 3, cleared by Wiggins. (1:21)
Working in Juicemode, Turner got into the lane and showed his skill because once he's rolling the defense is on their heels and he has more than one way to score. He hit a jumper to make it up 5. On the next possession, Caleb Field stole the ball, fed Turner who was fouled and made 2 FTs. BG up 7 with :46 to play.
Just look back at those three possessions. Seven points for BG, and a missed shot and a steal for CMU. That's the kind of thing Akron used to do to you.
CMU came down and Fields gets another steal and feeds Turner again and he's fouled and makes both FTs again and BG was up 9.
That's 9 straight points by Justin Turner in crunch time and two steals from a true freshman. Michael Laster made a late FT, but it was over at that point. BG had come into the sold-out gym and got the win.
Just for reflection, how many times did we feel that from the opposite perspective? Losing a game in OT we should have won in regulation?
Here are the numbers. Remember, this was an OT game. BG scored 1.13 points per possession, which is their lowest since the Western Carolina game, but still in winnable territory. BG was 7-1 scoring at that level last year. BG allowed 1.01 points per possession, which is not as good as in other games but still below D1 average and winnable. BG was 10-3 last year playing that kind of defense. Just as importantly, they held a team that came in with a high-powered 1.07 points per possession to a below-average total. It was their fourth-worst offense this year.
That's the kind of thing Akron used to do to people.
You can see how that played out. BG shot well, but not great...lowest since Findlay. BG made 46% from 2 FG and more 3FG. Obviously, that's great on the 3s, but should be better on the 2FG. BG missed a lot of zero footers in there. However, the Falcons had an edge taking care of the ball. Their only better game was NC Central. Perhaps the key number is the offensive rebounds. CMU came in with really good offensive rebound results and BG kept them off that game in a big way...TCU held them to the same number.
CMU does get to the line and they certainly did against BG. They are a poor FT shooting team, and though they made about an average 69% and were +9 at the line, it wasn't enough to make up for BG's lead on the other categories.
BG continues to struggle at the FT line. BG made only 65% of its FTs.
Individually, the name of the day was Justin Turner. He scored 30 points on 10-22 shooting, 3 of 8 from 3. He made all 7 of this FTs, however, and was flawless in clutch time, as we have noted. He also had 6 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 steals. He might be the best player we have had since McLeod, but I might need to think about that.
Wiggins struggled. Here's the thing. So far, MAC teams have seemed to say that they aren't going to let Wiggins beat them and his offensive opportunities have been limited. He shot 2 of 7, 2 TOs and made only 4 of 10 FTs. So, that's not great. He did get 16 rebounds though, and is largely responsible for keeping CMU off the offensive glass, which was a key element.
He's leading the MAC in rebounding and is 3rd in the country. Here's the thing. We have two guys that you would want to take away, and taking them both away is going to be difficult. That makes you tough to beat.
Michael Laster is growing by leaps and bounds. He's just playing great. He scored 18 points on 8 of 17 shooting, made 1 of 3 from 3FGs, had 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Right now, he's our best guard.
How about Dylan Frye? He scored 11 points, on 4 of 8 and 1 of 3 shooting. The best thing is that he is playing within the offense and isn't forcing shots. Also, he's on the floor during all the defense.
Antwon Lillard is also playing well off the bench. He had 11 points, on 5 of 9 and 1 of 3 shooting and added 6 rebounds.
Lastly, Matiss Kulackovskis, who hasn't gotten off the bench in a couple games, added some real energy in a dead part of the first half for BG. He ended up with 10 in 12 minutes on 4 of 7 and 2 of 2 shooting. The Sierra/Plowden/Uju rotation didn't seem to click today, but Matiss did.
And Caleb Fields with 2 huge steals in the last minute of overtime.
That's the kind of thing you used to see from Akron, too.
Last thing. Depth. BG had 10 players play over 10 minutes. (Remember, 45-minute game). Turner played 39. CMU had 8 play over 10 and 3 play 38 or 39. Coach felt in the post-game that the depth was a factor in BG's hard close both in regulation and overtime.
This is fun as hell. Ball State next, coming off a blow out loss in Muncie. Enjoy the ride.
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