MBB EMU Preview

So, things moving fast again for BG...this time with EMU coming into the Stroh.  As The Blade notes today, the jury is still out on this team.  To persuade the jury, BG is going to need to string together some good performances, which will partly mean stringing together solid segments of games.  Until that comes, BG is at best a .500 team and you will need to string 3 great games together to win the tournament.

The jury is right to be skeptical.  For example, talking about playing better defense against WMU is fine....but we aren't going to play WMU in every game.

The next opportunity is EMU.  

EMU finally grew tired of Rob Murphy and brought in Stan Heath.  Heath took Kent to the Elite Eight in his only year there--but it was a team that someone else had really built.  He went to Arkansas where he won 54% of his games and made the tournament twice and then to South Florida where he won 43% of his games and made the tournament once and won a game.  Having lost both jobs, he coached in the G League, where he won last year's title and was coach of the year.  He has also been MAC coach of the year and Big East coach of the year.

He is an EMU grad.

The Eagles are 7-10 and 6-10 in D1 games.  Under Murphy, they regularly played four non D1 games.  They are 2-4 in MAC play, having beaten WMU and CMU and losing to Ball State, NIU, KSU and Akron.  They only lost to the Zips by 2 in their last game, 46-44, at the JAR.  They also played without their top 2 scorers.

Tempo was, there is a slight contrast, but not as big as other recent games.  BG is #1 in the MAC in tempo and EMU is #7.

There is, however, a big contrast between these two teams.  BG is #3 in scoring and #12 in defense.  EMU is #9 in defense and #9 in offense.  When you see gaps that big, it shows that there will be contrasting styles.  Which team's strength will overcome the other's weakness more?

Eastern is a decent, average shooting team.  That comes from the #3 2FG shooting team in the MAC, paired against BG as the #10 team on 2FG defense.  They are #11 on the 3FG, but don't take very many.  They turn the ball over a lot and are terrible on the offensive boards--not unusual for a team trying to control the tempo--and they do get to the line.  They make 73% of their FTs, which is good, not great.

One note.  They played the Akron game without their two leading scorers and had 44 points.

The key here is defending the rim...something BG has struggled with more often than not.  

On the other side, the shooting is pretty predictable.  However, EMU is used to forcing tunrovers--something BG has struggled with lately and needs to be cleaned up.  BG is also better on the offensive boards than EMU has been allowing.  EMU leads the MAC in 2FG defense,

Their leading scorer is Noah Farrakhan.  He is a transfer from East Carolina, where he played 12 games in his only year.  He missed their last game, no idea of his status tomorrow.  He is scoring 14.6 PPG...not great on 2FG (36%) but good on 3FG (39%).  He is an 85% FT shooter.

In MAC play, their 2nd leading scorer is Bryce McBride.  He's scoring 13 a game on mostly 3FGs, and 33% on those. He's a JUCO transfer in his second year with EMU.

Monty Scott had a good pre-MAC season but has missed the last 3 games.  Their leading rebounder is Mo Njie.