BG Nails Cougars to Win Opener

 Well, that Todd Simon era is off to a roaring start as BG picked up a 70-41 win over Bewley-less Chicago State.  BG was playing without probably its top player, Trey Thomas, the Vanderbilt transfer.  He has a sprained ankle and will miss a few games.  Even so, BG cruised to the victory over the Cougars.

CSU came out on a 6-0 run.  BG took the lead 9-6 with 14 left in the first half and never trailed again.  CSU hung close for a while, trailing 19-16 with 8 left.  BG went on a 13-5 run to close the half out with a lead of 11.  BG came out and put the game away in the second half.  The Cougars could not buy a basket and when there were 10 minutes left they had been outscored in the 2nd half by 21-6.  The lead got as high as 34 before BG closed it out winning by 29.

BG had an OK offensive night at 1.01 points per possession.  They held CSU to .59 points per possession.  That's the worst offensive efficiency by a BG opponent (D1) in the kenpom era, which dates to 1999.  That shooting disparity is incredible.  CSU made 25% of their 2FGs and 25% of their 3FGs. In the second half they shot 18%. They shot 20% from 2FG and 12.5% from 3FG.  It was just a horrific night.  BG had a slight edge in turnovers, won the rebounding battle and BG finished +2 at the line.  BG was only 11-20.

As mentioned, BG didn't have a great offensive night.  Shooting was OK, a lot of turnovers, decent rebounding and poor FT shooting.  Coach Nairns said after the game that we got open looks and they didn't fall....they call them "10 out of 10" shots, which means you take them every time.  It means you touch paint and kick out.  I did think the ball movement was light years better than it has been in recent years.  Good attack angles and fast rotation to pressure the defense.

I thought a big difference for BG was rim protection.  For the last two years, BG was terrible  preventing 2FGs...allowing over 53% each year, ranked above #300 each time.  Spurgin was a big part of that, blocking 3 shots and influencing many others.  In all, BG blocked 6 shots for the game, but more than that, CSU had to earn everything it got at the rim and BG mostly didn't foul in that situation.

Marcus Hill, the huge JUCO scorer, had a big game.  Thrust into the PG position with the Thomas injury, he scored 18 on 50% shooting....2 assists and 3 turnovers.  He was +26 for the game. Also 6 rebounds.  Agee had 14 on 7 of 10 shooting and 8 rebounds. DJ Smith had 10 on 2-6 shooting but he made all 6 FTs.  J. Spurgin had 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. PJ Edwards had 4 assists over 0 turnovers. Da'Shawn Phillips had 10 rebounds.

So, it's 1-0.  This was a game BG was supposed to win easily and they did.  Nothing wrong there.  It was a fun night and I was encouraged by the ball movement on offense and the rim protection and pressure on the point guard that we displayed.

On we go.  Our toughest pre-MAC opponent comes in Saturday, a game we are still favored to win.