BG MBB Loses to CMU in OT Again

 As they say in the UP, "uff da."

That was a tough one.

Only in the MAC.

For the first half, BG played their 5th straight half of unwatchable basketball. And this was probably the worst of the lot.  BG shot 5 of 20 from 2FG and 0 of 10 from 3FG.  CMU shot awful, too....10 of 24 and 2 of 10.  Add in 7 BG turnovers and the Falcons hit the locker room down 11 and even that was a miracle.

I will give the Falcons credit.  They battled in the 2nd half.  Overall, things only got a little better on the margins, but they got the game to OT.

BG shot 11 of 21 from 2FG and 1 of 6 from 3FG for the second half.  CMU also shot poorly...7 of 17 and 4 of 11.

The difference was free throws.  BG was 14 of 19 at the line for the half and CMU was 2 of 6.

It was well into the second half before it looked like a competitive game.  BG was still down 8 with 12 to go...38-30!!

BG went on a 7-0 run....a huge run in a game like this to cut it to 1 with 9 left and then CMU nailed a 3FG to put it to 4.  BG got it to 1 a couple more times and then took the lead with 4:50 left on a Thomas 3FG...BG's only 3FG of the game.

CMU took the lead right back, though.  Just inside 2 minutes, BG got a turnover, Jason Spurgin ran the floor and dunked the ball and BG had a 1 point lead back.  BG got a stop and board and ran clock, with Agee hitting a 2FG to put BG up 3. 

Pritchard hit 2 FTs (:46) to cut it to 1.  BG ran clock, Hill missed a driving layup but Agee had the board and hit the 2nd chance hoop with an and-one and BG was up 4 with :19 to go.

I know, right?  After all that, in a position where you should win the game.  94% chance, according to kenpom.

Derrick Butler BANKS a 3FG with :11 left.  They fouled Spurgin, who split the pair. BG up 2 with :10 left.  As the clock ran down, Vasko drove into the key, threw a shot up, lost control of the ball and it flew in the direction of the backboard and bounced into the basket.

Cruel fate.

OT was rough to watch.  CMU had three bigs fouled out, and yet BG made 1 basket.  CMU made 2.  Game was tied and BG had the ball with 1 minute left. BG got a shot clock violation, which was pretty emblematic.

CMU ran the clock to :08, Taylor drove into the lane and scored to put CMU up 2.

BG ran the ball up floor to look for a transition advantage, and called timeout with 3.5 left to set a play when it didn't materialize.  They lobbed the ball in to Agee who kicked it back to Hill who missed the shot in heavy traffic and that was it.

Look, CMU is a good defensive team.  BG's 29% EFG was its worst since a 1999 game against WVU, which a good BG team lost by 46. The 6% 3FG shooting was the worst in 14 years.

So CMU is a good defensive team, but probably not the best we have seen in 14 or 25 years.

62-60. IN OT.

Hard to see getting outshot and out-turnovered like this and making it to OT. BG was +17 at the line.

Agee had 18 points.  That's 3-8 and 0-1 shooting, but 12 of 14 at the line, 11 boards, 2 steals, 3 blocks and 3 turnovers.

Hill? 15 points, on 6 of 22 and 0 of 1 shooting.  That's a huge win for the defense. He added 8 rebounds.

Thomas had 11 on 2 of 2 and 1 of 8 shooting.

Spurgin is struggling.  Luckily, with Towns back really for the first time, they were able to hold Spurgin to 26 minutes.  He's played a lot for a big.

Towns played 24 minutes and had 11 rebounds.  Great to see him back.  He had only played 21 minutes total in two games since his early December injury.

DaJion Humphrey did not see action.

Coach said that BG's defense was improved and that "when the offense comes around" we can be a force in Cleveland.  At one point we were #4 in offensive efficiency in the MAC...now #6.  Reversing that trend is critical, especially as an undermanned team that has, of late, been easy to game plan for, battles fatigue.

BG has been under 30% from 3FG (27% actually) in its last 5 games.

BG is now 7-6 with the Rockets coming in Friday night. They are in 5th place.  You'd like to fall no further than 6, so you have a probable match up with CMU, a team you took to OT twice, or OU, a team you beat.  BG is only 1 game out of 8th and two games ahead of Ball State, the #9 team.

This has been a better season than expected.  And they are in the dark forest right now.  It will be interesting to see if it comes around.