OU Preview

All right, then.  OU comes to the Stroh Tuesday.  BG raised the stakes, in a big way, with a 22-point road win at Kent.  A 2-point road win would have been a statement.

Also, BG is on a streak they have not seen in a long time.  It has been 60 years since a streak of double-digit wins this long.  BG is 6-0 at home this year.  This is a tough conference and the team we want to be has to bring it every game like that.

OU is 8-5.  Their best win was over Marshall and their worst loss was South Florida.  They did lost to Purdue and Xavier and have 1 non-D1 win.

They opened with NIU at the Convo.  OU had a big lead in the first half and then NIU rallied and OU had to resort to some magical Xs and Os to send the game to OT, but NIU was clearly better in the overtime and won 72-66.

NIU is decent (#5 in MAC based on kenpom), but you don't want to lose that game at home, especially when you had a big lead in the first half.

OU has won 3 of the last 4 at the Stroh.  The last ten have been split evenly.

OU plays at a fast pace, event faster than BG.  Overall, they are struggling on offense.  That's the #291 ranked offense you see there.  Worst in the MAC.  They are, however, really good on defense--#3 in MAC and #79 in the country.  BG hasn't played a team that plays above average defense since the VCU game, so that will be interesting to see.

Looking at OU on offense first, their issue is in the first two factors.  They are poor at shooting and even worse at turning the ball over.  They don't try many 3s, which is good, because they are #318 at making them.  Their 2FG is 51.9%, which is OK but not good enough carry the offense.  This looks a little bit like a Louis Orr line.  Also, BG is #22 in the nation at defending the 2 FG.

They are good on the boards and at getting to the line, although their FT shooting is almost as bad as BG's.  In short, this appears to be a match-up that is good for BG.

On the defensive side, OU builds their defensive with all-around strength, not strength in any one area.  They are average defending the shot and forcing turnovers.  They are really good on the defensive boards...better than BG...and keep teams off the line at an average rate.  They are also pretty much average defending the 2FG and 3FG.  Honestly, I feel like their getting a better overall defensive output than you would expect, given these numbers.  They allowed .96 to NIU, right about their season average.

Their leading scorer is Jason Carter, at 17.3 PPG.  He's a 50% FG shooter and 6.8 rebounds per game.  He was all-Freshman two years ago and then missed almost all of last season with an injury.  He's 6'8 and just a really good player.

Next is Kirk Teyvion, scoring 16.4 PPG, a 46% FG shooting and 6.5 RPG.  He has 22 steals this year.  One downside to his game...I watched the NIU game and he's an awful FT shooter.  He's 6'4" and was all-Freshmen last year.

Their other double figure scorer is Ben Vander Plas, a 6'8" Euro-style F from Wisconsin.  He was redshirted last year due to an injury.  He is scoring 10.5 per game on 37% 3FG shooting.  He has by far their most attempts. 

Their leading rebounder is Doug Taylor at 8.8 per game.  He's a 6'9 Sr.

They are a relatively young team.

BG has played well at home, and you just want to see this be a W.  I hope we have a nice crowd and reward them with a nice home win and a 2-0 MAC start.