BG was back at home on Saturday and with Metheny and Elsasser back in the lineup and things clicked back and the Falcons beat Miami by 10 to go to 3-3 in the MAC. Miami, at a program low, is 1-5.
For reference, a .500 record almost certainly qualifies to go to Cleveland.
Things went well for BG from the beginning and Miami never led in the game. BG led for 39:18. The margin was 9 or more for the last 33 minutes of the game and almost all of that time in double digits.
The first break was Anderson Mirambeaux getting 2 fouls in the first 3 minutes. Their leading scorer played only 9 first half minutes.
BG started playing really well. In particular, Leon Ayres was en fuego, scoring BG's first 9 points. BG led by 9 at the first media time-out and 10 by the next one. The game kind of hung in that balance for a few minutes until a modest 7-2 run ended with BG up 15 with 4 to play. BG had a couple turnovers coming home and it was a 10-point lead at the half.
Metheny drilled consecutive 3FGs coming out of the locker room was 16. A 10-0 run had BG up 22 heading into the second media timeout. MU went on an 8-0 run to get it to 14, but in this case BG stemmed the tide, with Chandler Turner finishing in the paint to make it 16. The lead was 13 heading into the last media timeout.
With about 2:30 left BG turned it over and MU got to the hoop to cut the lead back to 9. Gotta feel nervous at this point. MU is pressuring, but they fouled Ayres who made both FTs. MU scored on the other end to get it back to 9, Ayres was fouled again and made 1 more FT to put BG up 10 with 2 to play. Mills got a steal, BG ran clock, Curtis was fouled and made both FTs and the lead with 12 with 1:26 left and that was that.
BG had another really good offensive game at 1.17 points per possession. If you can score that well, you only need average defense to win. The MAC average this year is 1.05 and BG held Miami to 1.03. This is the difference between the MU game and the WMU game.
BG shot the ball really well. They took 33% from 3FG and made 44% and added 63% on 2FG, their best D1 shooting of the season. They also made 22 of 24 FTs...and did well on the offensive boards, but they needed this shooting because it was another bad night for turnovers.
MU tried only 28% from 3FG, but had a terrible night even for them, shooting 3-17. They were 61% from 2FG and only 10 of 16 at the line.
Leon Ayres had a career night for BG. He scored 31 points on 7 of 7 2FG shooting, 3 of 5 from 3 and 8 of 9 at the line. He had 4 assists...and 7 turnovers, the only downside on his line.
Metheny continued to come out as a player even better than what we have seen. He shot 4 of 7 from 3FG for 15 points and played excellent defense on Lairy. Curtis has 10, mostly on 8-8 at the line. He really struggles near the rim, but he did get calls when driving through traffic.. Also 4 rebounds.
One note. Ubong Abasi Etim has been starting with Towns injured. He gave 10 really effective minutes Saturday--with 10 minutes, 4 points, 4 boards, 2 steals and 2 turnovers. I'm feeling we are seeing some upside from him.
BG needed this win. Miami is not great and you need to beat them on your floor. Next up is CMU--not great, but at McGuirk. BG's last 2 roads games were poor, but at full strength let's see if they can get the W.
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