BG MBB Preview: The Bulls

When the season started, I don't think we had high expectations for the Falcons and the pre-MAC season confirmed that.  When MAC play started, BG played much better...until a second half that set Falcon basketball back to the time of RB McCandless. 

That's happened and now there's just trying to get back onto the beam with a tough road game.  The biggest issue was that there was no one to punch back, no one to stem the tide...and you'll need to find one of those to get anywhere.

Buffalo was picked #6 in the MAC to start the season by the MAC and 7th by Blue Ribbon.  The Bulls are 6-9 in D1 games and 2-2 in the MAC.  They played the #29 non-conference schedule and picked up decent wins over Colgate (home) and George Mason (neutral), but also lost to Howard (neutral).  In the MAC, they opened by beating Ohio and NIU at home and losing to Miami and CMU on the road.  To date, in conference play, they have played the #10 schedule, so there are tougher games coming their way.

UB is 6-4 against BG over the last 10, with BG winning 2 of the last 3 at Alumni Hall.  Last year, the Bulls swept BG, including scoring 112 in a game at the Stroh.

UB plays a fast-paced game.  At 74 possessions, they are the #5 fastest team in the country. For all that, they are not a great offensive team.  Their scoring is below average....as is their defense.  These are the raw numbers....even adjusting for their schedule, they are below average.  BG's defense needs to stiffen up to take advantage....currently ranked #300.

They don't shoot well and they turn the ball over a lot.  BG doesn't force turnovers, but most of Buffalo's a non-steals and presumably less defense-influenced. They only take 33% from 3FG but they are terrible, less than 30% and #321 in the country. They are average on 2FGs.  As is typical for them, they are outstanding on the offensive boards (the last 2 years they were top 10 in the country and 32%, while good, is down from that) and they get to the line a lot, although at 67% they are poor at the FT line.

Defensively, they can be shot against, they are average on their own boards and give a huge number of FTs.  They do force turnovers...something BG is typically decent at, but when they struggle, it's usually the cause (as in the last minute of the first half against Akron and the early second half against WMU).  BG needs to take care of the ball.  UB defends the 3FG poorly.

BG played at WMU without Lightfoot and Towns and with Metheny under the weather.  Hopefully Kaden is feeling better and the other guys are ready to go.

Curtis Jones is their leading scorer at 15 PPG.  He's 6'5" and from Indian Hills CC in Florida, where BG forward Madani Diarra also played.  He plays a ton of minutes and is a good shooter, at 50% from 2FG and 38% from 3FG.  He also has 45 assists.

Their second leading scorer is Zid Powell. He's a 6'4" JUCO transfer from Harcum (in PA).  He missed a few games with injury and since he came back is playing bit minutes, but off the bench. He's scoring 13 a game, shooting a good 52% and a bad 16%. 

Isaiah Adams is the other double figure scorer. He's 6'6" and a transfer from UCF, where he started 9 games last year.  He is scoring 10.6 PPG on 45% and 32% shooting.  Armoni Foster leads them with 53 assists, a transfer from the Indiana University of PA.  LaQuill Hardnett leads the team with 6.9 RPG.  He is their 5th leading scorer but their top scorer who played with them last year.

As always, the Bulls are long in the backcourt.  They are the #49 team in the country by playing height. 

So, we will see what happens.  Whatever it is, it has to be better than the second half in Kzoo, but whether it is good enough to win remains to be seen.