Hampton Pirates Preview (MBB)

BG is heading to Norfolk for a mini road swing, starting with a game against the Hampton Pirates.  Norfolk State will be next.

Hampton is most famous for their 2001 upset of #2 seed Iowa State in the Big Dance.  That victory was helmed by Steve Merfeld, a 10-year BG assistant.  (He went from Hampton to Evansville, where things did not go well and today he is "assistant to the head coach" at Creighton.)

Overall, they have been in the tournament six times, winning the Iowa State game and a play-in-game against Manhattan.

They played in the MEAC for most of their history and were relatively successful.  They moved to the Big South in 2018 and had dwindling success. culminating in a 9-19 record and a move up to the CAA, which started this season.

They are coached by Edward Joyner, Jr., who has been there for 12 years.

Blue Ribbon has them last this year in the CAA as did the CAA's official poll.

Their kenpom is #331, which is among the 30 lowest of the 367 D1 teams.  They are 2-6 in D1 games. Those are wins over Howard and Loyola (MD) at home.  Loyola MD is ranked just behind BG in the kenpom rankings and the game is projected to be 50/50 by kenpom and ESPN.

That says a lot right there.

This is the second time we have played Hampton.  You may recall the previous meeting in Detroit, when BG trailed by 12 at halftime and got a last-second tip-in from Demajeo Wiggins to win the game.

What we have here is two teams who struggle to score and play poor defense.  The difference is in the degrees, at which Hampton is below BG on both fronts.

The two teams are compatible on tempo, both going at a quick 70 per game.

This remains a not pretty story.  Hampton is a terrible shooting team.  They shoot a typical amount of 3FGS and a just below NCAA average at making them.  That means 2/3 of their shots come from 2FG and they make 41% there, which is in the 10 worst in the country.  The rest is not too bad.  They take above-average care of the ball, are slightly below average on the offensive boards and they get to the line a lot, though they only make 67%. 

They are also poor on defense.  They are #358 in the nation in defending the 3FG.  Against the 2FG they are roughly average. They don't force turnovers, they are poor on the offensive boads and they give up a lot of FTs.  However, everything they are bad at stopping we have been bad at doing.  (Except the offensive boards).

Individually, they are led by Jorden Nesbitt, a 6'6" So. transfer from St. Louis.  He scores 14.8 per game, but its rough.  He shoots 38% of 2FGs and 33% on 3FGs.  He also leads the Pirates with 7.3 RPG. He also has 25 assists and 28 turnovers.

Their other double figure scorer is Marquis Godwin, at 10.5. He makes 41% and 31% shooting, so also not good. 

They don't have any real big guys.  Luc Therrien is 6'10" and has started but missed the last game.

Deuce Dean leads the team with 28 assists, but pairs it with 27 turnovers and 30% and 33% shooting.

BG was much better against Morgan when their avoided half-court offense.  Maybe some pressure against Hampton and missed shots get BG in transition and this game gets where it belongs, which is in the win column.

The team is getting to spend some time together, as well.  The start to the season has been rough...we will watch for signs of improvement.