Home stretch: The RedHawks, Part II

Coming down to the last few games.  BG still has a shot at finishing 8th, which is not the kind of goal you want to have but it was a reasonable expectation for this team, this year.  BG plays at Miami...and it would be a pretty important one to win.

This is the 150th meeting between BG and Miami.  The RedHawks are historically bad.  They have 3 MAC wins.  If they finish, it's their worst season since the year after Coles/The Evil Genius.  They did win their last game, @NIU. 

And they are 1.5 point favorites over BG.

The first game was pretty much all BG.  Miami never led and BG had a 20+ lead heading into the 8 min timeout. The RedHawks rallied and had it to 9 late, but BG made key FTs and won the game by 10.

Miami is 2-6 since then and BG is 1-7.

This is one for people who love the game.

Miami is #10 in offense and #9 in defense, while BG is #6 in offense and #11 in defense.  From this look, it appears that BG getting any kind of consistent stops is the key to winning.

Miami is the #8 shooting team in the MAC while BG is dead last defending the shot.  Miami is interesting.  They are 8th in the MAC in taking 3FGs, and they are 11th in making.  They lead the MAC in making 2FGs.  So, the shooting evens out to OK.  They are 10th in turnovers, 10th in offensive rebounding and last in getting to the line, though they make 74%.  BG will need to defend the inside and get some turnovers to get enough stops to win.

BG is 2nd in the MAC in shooting. Miami is decent defending the shot and #3 in the MAC defending the 3FG, which is worrisome for BG. Miami is OK on turnovers and the defensive boards, but they foul a lot. The secret to BG scoring is the same...be less careless with the ball and make shots, both from the field and at the line.

Miami has three double figure scorers.  Mekhi Lairy is scoring 16.6 PPG, #9 in the MAC. He made 54% of his 2FG and 33% of his 3FG, along with 4.1 assists (#7). Morgan Safford scores 15.8 PPG shooting 58% on 2FG and 33% on 3FG. He leads the tgeam with 6.8 rebounds (#6).  He played all 45 in the NIU game. The giant Anderson Mirambeaux is scoring 15.1 PPG on 58% shooting.  He is the #9 most efficent player in the MAC. He also averages 6.7 RPG. 

So here we go.  It would be great to see BG follow up on the UT game with a strong effort.  Not much to suggest it will happen, but who knows.