More on all the permutations in another post. For now, BG has 10 wins in MAC play. 12 got them a bye last year and almost certainly would again.
This is a statement win because Ball State was undefeated at home. BG, coming off the Akron loss where they could not score, came into the den of the best defensive team in the conference. And BG adjusted their approach, played good D and got the win they needed.
Not without two minutes of absolutely ridiculous play...but we'll get to that.
Ball State actually led for most of the first half. They led by 1 with 2:55 left, but BG scored the last 8 points of the half (with two 3FGs by Justin Turner) and led by 7 at the half. BG then scored the first 4 points of the second half to go up 11. BG then took control of the game....BG had the lead to 16 with 11;50 left. In the interim, it had never been closer than 8.
The lead stayed in that comfortable range. BG led by 20 with 4:14 left to play and by 17 when the final media timeout hit at 2:31. At those points, BG had a 99.9% chance of winning the game.
And almost didn't. I mean, they did...but they almost didn't.
BG came out of that timeout. The Falcons had been just milking clock. Justin Turner is a huge asset because you can put him up top, have him run the clock down and you know you are going to get a good shot anyway.
So, the game's over if that keeps happening, so Ball State put full-court pressure on BG and the Falcons completely folded. It was complete chaos. Inbounding the ball directly into corner traps, intercepted passes, tie-ups that led to turnovers, even getting the ball up the floor once and turning it over...it was ugly.
BG turned the ball over on 6 straight possessions and 7 of 8, with the odd possession out being the missed front end of a 1-1. BG had 5 turnovers in the game's first 37 minutes and 8 in the last 3 minutes.
The lead vanished. Between that 2:37 timeout and :30, it went from 17 to 3. It was incredible to watch.
Coming off the FTs that made it 3, BG was able to get the ball up floor. Thankfully, it was inside :30 and Ball State had to foul. BG maneuvered Turner to get the foul and he made both FTs to put the lead back to 5.
Ball State wasn't done...they came down and missed a shot but had two offensive rebounds and scored again to make it 3 with :13 left.
BG successfully got the ball in to Turner and he was fouled with :11 left and he made both FTs again to go to 5. Teague missed a 3FG on the other end and it was finally over. BG had joined the 999 teams out of a thousand who win with a 17-point lead with 2:31 left.
It's not the first time something like that has happened...BG's Norfolk State collapse is one of the notable ones in NCAA basketball this year.
Coach said BG came out of the timeout thinking they had it won. They missed open passes and didn't execute the game plan for getting up court. He also said that it's good to be able to learn when you win...not lose. And that's fine. But teams have seen this. We need to make sure this is figured out.
Here's how it looked. Pretty close. Imagine how it would have looked with 3 minutes left. BG held Ball State to .94 points per possession, a winning number. Ball State's offensive strategy is inexplicable to me. They are 10th in the MAC in 3FG shooting and lead the MAC in how many 3FGs they take. Yesterday was no different. They took 45% of their FGs from the 3FG and only made 28%. They were 51% from 2FG.
BG turned them over a little and kept them off of the offensive boards. Two of their 8 offensive rebounds came on that one possession in the last minute. And they got to the line only 15 times, making 11.
BG didn't shoot any better, but it was a smarter mix. I mentioned that Coach Huger had said BG had to drive to contact and get to the rim more, especially post-Frye and as teams are double-teaming Turner. In this one, BG tried only 12 3FGs. That's 19% of their total attempts, their lowest since 2016 (Cleveland State, right before Christmas). They made 45% of the 2FGs and 33% of their 3FGS but shot 22 FTs, making a very solid 17. Coach said that it was the same offense against Akron but guys made their shots in this one.
They took very good care of the ball...until...and had a good game on the offensive boards.
In total, BG had 1.01 points per possession against a team that came in allowing .91.
BG was led--and saved--by Justin Turner. We should really appreciate what we are seeing. This guy is just a magical player and, as I understand it, a better teammate and friend. Against constant double-teams and hard-hedges, he scored 33 points. That's 8 of 16 on 2FGs and 2 of 3 on 3FG. Both 3FGs came on that key run in the late first half and he made the 4 FTs BG had to have at the end. He shot 11 of 13 at the line. He added 6 rebounds and 6 assists...and 4 turnovers.
Michael Laster had 12 points on 5 of 11 shooting, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. He also had 1 assist and 3 turnovers, two in the late meltdown. He's going to be needed as a ballhandler in those situations.
Plowden had 8 points and 8 rebounds, but the shooting wasn't great at 4-13 and 0-3. Mattos had 6 points and 6 rebounds in 11 minutes. Mattis had 6 rebounds and 3 turnovers.
So, here's how it looks. With that win, BG greatly solidified their position. More on that later. The Falcons are off on Tuesday with some time to heal up. Well needed, I'm sure. I think you always want a late bye if you can get it. Also, you want one off a win. Being off after blowing that lead would have been awful.
But that didn't happen.
In the meantime, this is exactly what we have waited for all these years. Enjoy.
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