Ugly Loss to Kent at Stroh

It was an ugly day at the Stroh.  BG lost a game it should be able to win and it happened in a very frustrating and disappointing fashion.

Kent plays very physical basketball.  They commit a lot of fouls on the theory that they can't all be called.  And that tends to be right--at least it was yesterday.  In the post-game, Coach Huger said the officials decided they "weren't going to call anything" and you think, yeah, that was true, and then you realize you have that impression despite the fact Kent was called for 27 fouls and had 2 guys foul out.

And then there's BG's defense, which is just pure ugly.  BG has always struggled to defend dribble penetration, and that's still going on now.

BG allowed Sincere Carry 30 points on 7 of 11 and 4 of 8 shooting.  BG also allowed Bryan Trimble 32 points.  In contrast, when Plowden had 21 early, Kent took him out of the game, sometimes triple-teaming him.  We had no such answer for Carry.

Kent came in the #10 offense in the MAC and they got 91 points. Their 1.20 points per possession was their highest against D1 opposition since....their game at the Stroh last year.  

Their 58-point second half was 1.4 points per possession.

BG went into their 3-2 zone they have been using and Kent absolutely shredded it.

Coach Huger noted that BG needed to knock down shots that were open when Plowden was triple-teamed.  And that's true.  To me, it begs the question...why wasn't 83 points and 1.09 points per possession enough to win at home against the 10th best offense in the MAC?

To illustrate.  The 2019 team was 15-0 at 1.09 points per possession or better.  This team is 6-3.

Meanwhile, when you give up 1.20 your chances to win are very small.  BG is 2-15 over the last five years at that level of defense.

Kent came in the #316 shooting team in the country.  They made 57% of their 2FGs and 41% of their 3FGs.  It was their best MAC shooting game of the season.

They combined that with a dominant performance on the offensive glass...BG's worst performance in MAC play and the same percentage of offensive rebounds that OSU got against us.

Meanwhile, BG shot decently and took good care of the ball.  They were destroyed on the boards and lost by 8 despite having a +9 advantage at the FT line.

Daeqwon Plowden had a great game.  He had 27 points on 4 of 8 from 2FG and 4 of 5 from 3, made all 7 FTs and added 6 rebounds and only 2 turnovers.  When they triple-teamed him, he didn't force the play but got the ball to a teammate.

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Myron Gordon had 13 on 3 of 5 and 1 of 5 shooting.  He made all 4 FTs and added 8 assists over 1 turnover.  Joe Reece had 12 on 4 of 8 shooting, but only 3 rebounds in 24 minutes.  Also 3 steals and 3 blocks.

BG is 4-6.  Here is the picture.  BG is currently tied for the last spot into Cleveland.  They play the team they are tied with on Tuesday.  Big picture, though, we have yet to see much that shows we can be that #8 or (#7) seed that makes a run.  Remember, this is the soft part of the schedule and we've lost 3 of our last 4 at home.  We're turning out to be the team that they predicted us to be.  Maybe that can be changed.

Reminder: The top eight seeds advance to Cleveland.

Still plenty of #MACtion left... pic.twitter.com/T6OJleMIyf

— #MACtion (@MACSports) January 30, 2022