BG's MBB 8-game winning streak and four-game road winning streak came to an end at McGuirk Arena in Central Michigan. BG remains in first place in the MAC and remains in excellent position to win a bye to Cleveland, provided that the one loss doesn't turn into a losing streak. They have a reeling UT at home on Saturday and then a key matchup @ Akron the following Tuesday. No time to feel sorry for themselves.
BG got out to one of its poor starts, trailing 11-2 early. BG got it to 2 with about 11 minutes left, but CMU was scoring relentlessly and with 6 minutes left had a 12 point lead. They trailed by 13, 48-35 at the half.
Not an unusual place to be, but the story does not end with a big comeback. BG never got it closer than 8 and trailed double digits most of the time--by as many as 15. The 92-82 final is sort of your classic CMU game.
It was a game dominated by the offenses. BG scored 1.15 points per possession, a normally winning number. In fact, they haven't scored this well and lost since the Abilene Christian game of 2016. Problem is, CMU scored 1.29 points per possession, BG's worst since 2018. (As a note, BG allowed 9 teams to score over 1.24 in 2018, but it hadn't happened against until last night.)
The pace was 71 possessions, which is normal. Both teams shot well and took good care of the ball. Problem is, CMU took better care of the ball. If BG isn't going to force turnovers in order to focus on defending the shot, then they need to get more misses than that. Nobody did much on the offensive boards. BG was good at the time--15 of 17--but CMU was better, with an eye-popping 24 of 26. Gads.
CMU made 52% of their 3FGs--BG's most since the Detroit game last year--and 44% of their 2FGs. BG reversed that, making 44% of 2FG and 52% of 3FG. BG has beaten a team making 52% of its 3FGs since Florida Gulf Coast in 2016.
Justin Turner had an incredible night. He scored 31 on 8 of 16 shooting, 4 of 9 from 3FG and made all 11 of his FTs. None of the other starters got into double figures. Diggs had 11 on 4 of 8 and 1 of 1 shooting. Laster added 10 points on 5 of 8 shooting, 6 assists and no turnovers, which is a really solid night.
Frye and Sierra led the team with 5 rebounds.
And on we go. Will BG rally and make this a bump in the road or will it turn into an off-ramp. I believe in this team and I believe they won't let derail them, but that has to happen on the floor.
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