Short-handed UB Shuts Down BG

So, BG made the long ride home after a loss yesterday in Buffalo.  On one point, it isn't too surprising...UB is the conference favorite, BG was picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the MAC, and the game was in Buffalo.

On the other hand, UB was playing without Josh Mballa, their 6th man Tra'Von Fagan and another reserve (Hardnett) for most of the game.  They played 7 guys, four of them for more than 33 minutes and one player (Jones) played 28 minutes, his most of the year.

In that light, BG lost by 11 at UB last night.

The first 12 minutes were very competitive.  UB went on a little 9-2 run to go up 9 with about 5 minutes left. BG bounced back--as they would do numerous times--with a 12-4 run to cut the lead to 1 in the last minute of the half and UB led by 2 at the break.

UB had it up to 6 with 16:27 left and BG got it back to 2 with 15:52 left to play.  They got it to 8 with 11:42 left and BG had it back to 3 with 9:39 left.

The yo-yo ended then.  A 7-0 run made it 10 with 7:37 left. It was never closer than 8 and they led by more than 10 for the last 3 minutes.  UB led for the last 28 minutes of the game.

It was a 77 possession game, which is no surprise.  UB had a ridiculous offensive game.  They scored 1.28 points per possession.  BG has only had one MAC game a season that bad over the last 3 years.  BG.  Meanwhile, BG had a very good offensive game (1.14) against a poor defensive team, but not nearly good enough.

BG shot the ball well.  That's their best shooting night since Milwaukee.  BG shot 56% from FG and 27% from 3FG to get there.  That's on 37% of 3FG attempts.

UB shot better.  They made 66% on 2FG and 35% from 3FG.  That's with 42% of their FGA on 3FG.

BG had a slight advantage on turnovers and kept offensive rebounds even against UB's strength--though it was without Mballa--and the key element came at the FT line.  BG was good, making 17 of 21.  UB was incredible, making 31 of 33.

BG also played a much tighter rotation, with only 7 players getting more than 10 minutes.  Samari Curtis, who continues to show himself to be a huge find, scored 25 on 6 of 7 2FG and 2 of 5 on 3FG. He made 7 of 9 at the line and added 4 rebounds.

Joe Reece had 15 in 23 minutes.  He made 5 of 8 2FGs, 5 of 5 at the line but curiously had 1 rebound.  Plowden had 14 points on 4 of 11 and 1 of 3 shooting (not great), but added 9 rebounds.  Trey Diggs had 11 on 3 of 7 3FG shooting.  Metheny had 9 on 1 of 5 3FG shooting to add with 5 assists. Josiah Fulcher played 24 minutes with 6 points and 5 rebounds. 

BG falls to 0-2 in MAC play, both road games.  Just this minute, BG announced they will play Miami at the Stroh on Saturday.  Miami was supposed to play Akron.