And on we go. If BG isn't the surprise team of the MAC....WMU is. Both teams enter at 4-1...BG was picked 6th and WMU was picked 10th.
WMU has been in a long struggle for MBB since Steve Hawkins had things rolling. They are 4-1 this year in the MAC...they won four games last year...and the year before...and the year before that. Hawkins won 6 the year before that. Which makes the fact BG is 5-5 against WMU over the past 10 meetings somewhat disappointing.
Their last winning season was 16-17. They have had success, Hawkins made the NCAA tourney twice and they have made it 4 times since 1968.
They entered MAC play 2-9 in D1 play. They played the #7 non-conference schedule in the MAC, #161 in the country. Their best win was SE La (270).
And then things turned around. They won @Miami, @UB (struggling team), NIU (struggling team), and then beat OU by 2 in KZoo. They lost last time out @Akron. They have been scoring better in the MAC games...and, in the middle of December, they added Jacquez Brown, who finally got his NCAA waiver. He's a 7'0" transfer from A&M and UConn before that.
He's an impact player. He doesn't start and only logs 18 minutes a game. That's partly because he has 12 fouls in 90 minutes of play. He scores 10 PPG, 5 RPG, and shoots 69% from the field. On a tempo-free basis, he's #5 in offensive rebounding in the MAC, #10 in defensive rebounding, #1 in blocks and #4 in drawing fouls.
All stats MAC only.
Anyway, they are better. Their toughest MAC game they lost...but they have 2 MAC road wins.
In terms of pace, these are the two fasted paced teams in the MAC. WMU plays at 70.7 and BG plays at 69.8.
The MAC is the 3rd most efficient offensive conference in D1. They are solid on offense, #5 in the MAC, while BG is #7 on defense. On the other side, BG is #4 in offense and WMU is #5 in defense. Appears to be a fairly even match up.
WMU takes only 35% of their shots from 3FG, which is #10 in the MAC. They are selective...they make 38% (#4). They aren't great from 2FG, at 54% (9th). The real battle here will be on the boards....WMU is #2 on the offensive boards and BG is #2 on the defensive boards. In a related topic, WMU is #3 in getting to the line and BG is #6 at keeping opponents off the line.
WMU is #11 in FT% and BG is #12.
On the other side, BG is not a great shooting team (#9) and WMU is decent at defending the shot, especially the 2FG (#5). Here, the key would be on the boards again, but just as importantly at getting to the line. BG leads the MAC in FT Rate.
Look for a lot of FTs.
Seth Hubbard leads the Broncos with 16 PPG on 47% and 36% shooting. He was MAC All-Freshman last year. B. Artis White scores 14.8 PPG on 37% from 2FG and 42% from 3FG, which is good. He also leads the team in assists and red-shirted last year due to injury. We have discussed Brown. NIU transfer Anthony Crump is averaging 7.8 RPG in 22 minutes a game. Brandon Muntu, a JUCO transfer started the first 6 games and hasn't played since then due to injury. We will see if he's back.
This is a big 2-game stretch. An overachieving WMU team and an underachieving KSU team at home. Let's see how we do.
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