Things are set to become a little more real. BG has had 4 of their first 6 at home and has played, statistically, the weakest schedule in the MAC to date.
On one hand, I remember hearing an interview with Sammy Sosa during the year of the HR chase and he said some people said he was hitting cheap homers in Wrigley Field.
He said: "I hope I hit a cheap one every day."
Winning is winning. When you looked at the schedule before it started, you knew you needed to be at least 5-1 coming out of the stretch and we are.
Even so, every game has been a nail biter. You don't get the sense that BG has played a championship game yet. And, in Sosa terms, the fences are moving back. BG has 7 of the last 12 on the road and against more successful teams. I believe they're going to need to be more effective to consistently win.
For example, Coach said that EMU's defense makes it hard to get things going. Well, 4 of their 6 opponents scored better against them than we did and the other current top teams in the MAC beat them easily...Akron (24) and Ball State (17).
Or, as Coach was quoted in The Blade, "until you can really hit a stride and play well, and everybody is playing well for 40 minutes, you have to figure out a way to win the game."
Which is true...but I think BG also needs to hit a stride.
The first half was pretty even, though probably slightly favoring the Eagles on points. They went up 8 but BG rallied and the game was tied at halftime.
BG scored the first 8 points of the half and led by 10 with around 11 minutes left to play. EMU scored the next 8 points (over 4 minutes!) to get the game to even. BG then fouled Marcus Gibbs shooting a 3FG--Gibbs had not scored all season and played only 9 minutes--and then Gibbs hit 2 of the 3 FTs to give EMU the lead with about 3 minutes to play.
BG then closed the way they have been. Turner hit a jumper to go up 1 with 2:40. BG got a couple stops before Plowden hit a jumper to go up 2 and make the lead 3 with 1:27. Then, Gibbs (again!) got himself a hoop and an and-one chance. He missed the chance to tie the game.
Turner hit a layup next time down (+3) and Frye poked the ball away from their big man from the blind side and Turner was fouled and he made both FTs to make it +5 with :18 left. BG got another stop and it was over. EMU hit a late 2FG to make it 3 points final.
For the game, BG had .87 points per possession, their second worst offensive game of the season, with only KSU being worse. BG shot 43% from 2FG and 29% from 3FG...more or less what they shot against NIU. What you see here is what happens when you shoot like that and don't get 40% of the offensive boards and to the line a lot.
Meanwhile, EMU shot 61% from FG but only 13% from 3FG. They didn't do a thing on the offensive boards. To help their cause, they got to the line quite a bit, but made only 13 of 20. Meanwhile, they turned the ball over 19 times, probably costing themselves the game.
Individually, Justin Turner was certainly back from his cold game against NIU. He was 6 of 12 from 2FG and 3 of 6 from 3 FG, 4-4 from the line and added 7 rebounds.
Daeqwon Plowden had a night, too. First, he had a SC Top ten dunk that has been all over the web. It was an amazing play. He scored 17 on 7 of 13 from 2FG and 0-2 from 3FG to go with 9 rebounds.
Coach said that Plowden is an NBA wing roaming around the court. No doubt, he's made incredible progress, it has been great to watch.
Dylan Frye is struggling. He was 2-9 from 3FG and is 5-22 for these last 3 games. He has 4 assists and 7 turnovers over the last 2 games. It happens. I felt like he maybe forced a shot or two, but in general they just aren't falling. With him doing what he can, BG has three very good players and a capable bench.
Mattos had 5 rebounds but only 2-6 from the field. BG had real trouble with Toure in the post, something they will need to fix before Luke Knapke is across from them.
So, at 5-1 BG has @UT, Ball State, @UB and @CMU. This is a tough stretch. We will learn a lot.
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