JAR Continues to Be Dead Space for Falcons

BG went into the JAR double-digit underdogs and came out defeated by double digits.  This was the toughest game on our schedule this year, and while BG stood its ground for a significant period of time, Akron was eventually better than us and showed it over the last 15 minutes.

BG is playing a short rotation and is especially hampered by only having two big men trying to play Freeman.  Agee managed only 15 minutes due to foul trouble. BG led for 28 minutes and by as much as 14...and led by 8 with about 15 minutes left in the game.  Akron outscored by 40-16 over those remaining minutes to take the easy win.  They led for the last 11:30 of the game.

BG continues to play "tale of two halves" basketball.  BG made 75% from 2FG and 45% from 3FG in the first half, and then 38% and 8% in the second half.

When you look at the final score, note that it was a 65 possession game, which is slow. UA scored 1.27 points per possession, the second worst defensive game of the year for BG.  Since 99, BG has never won a game with defensive efficiency that low.  The Falcons were at 1.02, which isn't terrible but isn't great. 

As you can see, it was mostly shooting. As noted in the preview, Akron is a very effective shooting team. BG made 56% of 2FG for the game and only 26% from 3FG.  They are #295 in the nation shooting 3FGs. BG took 42% from 3FG, which is a lot for a team that doesn't make them. Meanwhile, UA shot 56% from 2FG and 42% from 3FG while taking 43% from beyond the arc.

They also won the turnover battle, good for a team that tends to turn it over. They gashed BG on offensive rebounds, with BG's worst game of the season.  The teams were equal getting to the line and neither shot FTs well, but UA ended up +4 at the line.  BG made 54%.

Marcus Hill had 19 for BG.  They made him work for it...he was 6 of 12 from 2FG and 1 of 5 from 3FG and 4-8 at the line and 4 turnovers.  Spurgin had 14 on 4 of 8 and 2 of 3 shooting with 5 rebounds and 4 assists.  Trey Thomas had 12, with 3 of 4 and 2 of 7 shooting, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 0 turnovers.  Agee puts numbers up, he had 12 on 4 of 5 shooting and 6 rebounds in 15 minutes of play.  He picked up 2 fouls in 2:30. (I thought he got called on some ticky tack shit).

BG continues to work with 7 guys.  Neither Sam Towns nor DJ Smith has played since the Southern Indiana game. Freeman had 24 on 6 of 12 2FG shooting and 12 of 13 at the line, plus 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. He was in foul trouble too and played 27 minutes.  He drew 11 fouls...and many of those fouls came from our thin front line.

Look, for everyone who wanted to see us play tougher competition, that's what that could have looked like. We are improved from last year but a work in progress, when everything is taken in context.  I continue to think we should make it to Cleveland and we are definitely stronger than last year. Tuesday will be an interesting test.  We have OU at the Stroh.  They are a top 4 team but not great so far this year.  Let's see what happens.