On to Western Michigan

So next up is Western Michigan.  This is one BG needs.  Hopefully, having been "embarrassed" in the last game (their words), they will bounce back.  I remember an 18-point loss to a lousy Cleveland State in December, 2018, that prompted some soul searching for BG and a 10-game winning streak.  We will see if these guys have that in them.

WMU has had some rough times after a pretty decent 16-year run behind Steve Hawkins, which resulted in 2 NCAA trips.  They let him go and promoted Clayton Bates because the AD didn't think it was seemly to do a coaching search in the middle of the pandemic lockdown.  Bates has spent most of his career at WMU, even dating back to the staff before Hawkins.  He is 9-29 in his 1.5 seasons there.

They are not having a great year.  They are 4-13 overall, 3-12 in D1 games and 2-1 in non-D1 games.  They have lost their last 9 D1 games and all 6 of their MAC games.

On the other hand, Tuesday at the JAR they had a 10-point lead over the Zips with 2:40 left to play.  These are the same Zips from last night's "embarrassing" game at the Stroh.  Akron scored the last 11 points to pull the win out. They are capable of almost winning and you have to believe they are, therefore, capable of actually winning.  Their kenpom is 327...out of 358.

BG has won 4 of the last 5 against WMU, but lost at the Stroh last year to the Broncos, providing their 4-win opponent with their best win of the season.  They led the Falcons for over 39 minutes of the game.

Much like the Akron game, this will be a battle of tempos.  BG is 2nd in the MAC and WMU is 11th.  FWIW, the Akron game turned out to the Zips tempo.

The numbers on this one are hinky.  WMU is #11 in the MAC in offense and BG is #12 in the MAC in defense.  (MAC ONLY).

It is difficult to describe the level of play here.  WMU is 267th in the country in offense.  BG is #317 in defense... out of 358.

On paper, the difference should be that BG is #5 in offense and WMU is #10 on defense.  In other words, BG is terrible on defense but WMU is terrible on both offense and defense.

WMU's strongest offensive point is offensive rebounding.  They are poor shooters, last in turnovers and 11th in getting to the line, although they shoot well when they get there. They shoot well, our opponents shoot well.  They turn the ball over, our opponents don't turn the ball over.  At worst, it will be interesting.

They try a lot of 3FGs, but rank 9th shooting 2FGs and 3FGs.

When BG has the ball, the shooting is pretty evenly matched with the WMU defense.  Same with turnovers.  WMU is terrible on their defensive boards and BG has been pretty good, so that could help.  WMU keeps their opponents off the line and BG rarely gets to the line.  BG is #4 shooting the 3FG and #10 on 2FGs.

Their leading scorer is Lamar Norman, Jr.  He is a Duquesne transfer, where he made 25 starts in 3 seasons.  He is scoring 22 ppg on 44% on 2FG and 41# on 3FG.  He makes 79% of his FTs and averages 4.2 RPG.  Artis White is scoring 12.7 PPG mostly on 40% 3FG shooting.  He was out for much of the season but started the last 3 games.  Markeese Hastings is their top rebounder with 9.8 per game.  He is 6'7" and a transfer from Butler, where he played 8 games.