BG MBB Over OU

The Falcon MBB team came up with a nice win last night at the Stroh, beating OU at the Stroh.  The Bobcats returned a lot of players and were expected to content for the MAC this year.  They aren't looking quite that good, but it was a nice win for the Falcons at home.  It was the most complete game they have played in quite a while.

By that I mean, BG led for 35 minutes and OU only for 2.  It wasn't a tale of two halves.

BG led by 3 at the end of the first half and by 6 at the first media timeout. BG went on an 11-2 run to go up 15 with 12:38 left to play.  You knew OU was going to reel that back, and they did, with a 10-0 run over the following two minutes to get it back to 5. 

OU got it to 2 with about 7:30 left.  BG pushed it back to 8.  OU cut it to 1 with 3:30 left and then had a steal and a chance for a lead but missed a FG.  They got it back to 1 with 2:24 left and Spurgin hit a 3FG to put BG up 4.  That was the game's decisive moment.  OU chipped back to 3 with 1:12 and BG's ball and Spurgin did it again, nailing a 3FG with :40 left to make the lead 6.  From there, it was foul shots both ways and BG won +5.

The game was played at 68 possessions and the stats are close, as you would expect.  BG had 1.22 points per possession and OU had 1.15 points per possession, both strong offensive games.  Both teams shot the ball well and took good care of the ball.  OU outshot BG 56-49 from 2FG and BG outshot the Bobcats from 3FG, 50-40.  The Falcons had 12 3FGs, a season-high. Honestly, the offensive rebounds were the difference.  BG tried 6 more FGs than OU did, so they ended up +8 on FG points despite the same percentage.  BG only had better 3FG shooting against Lipscomb.   OU kept BG off the line and ended up +3 in FTs.

Trey Thomas had a great game for BG.  As he gets into the swing of things, he is turning into our strongest player.  He had 20 on 5 of 7 and 3 of 8 shooting, 5 assists, and 1 turnover.  Take that all day.

Marcus Hill had 15, but they made him work for it.  He was 5 of 13 from 2FG and 1 of 2 from 3FG and 2 of 4 at the line, with 2 TOs and 2 steals.  Spurgin is also a very good player.   He had 14, including 2 crunch-time 3FGs. He did have 4 assists and 5 turnovers.  Agee logged 34 minutes, scored 12--but he had to work for it, too, shooting 3 of 11 on 2FGS, MAKING a 3FG, 3 of 4 at the line, 15 rebounds and 6 assists over 0 turnovers.

Phillip had a highly effective 10, with 3 of 3 and 1 of 2 shooting, making his only FT  in 14 minutes.

BG continues to play a 7-man rotation, with the exception of EJay Greer getting 5 minutes.  Towns and Smith are injured with no discussion of when they will be back.  In the meantime, BG is representing.  The next game is @NIU--a banged up team as well.