Falcons Get First D1 Win

After the game, Coach Simon said this was an important game for us and it was.  We had some tough games to start with and then we're on the road for a little while and this was a game with a not-great D1 team and we needed to put it away.

Which we did.

The first half did not go so great.  Five minutes in, BG was down 14-5.  With 10 minutes left, the Purple Eagles were still up 9.  BG went on an 11-2 run to tie it up with 6:50 left.  Niagara led for most of the remainder of the half, and led 37-33 at the break. BG led for :29 in the first half.

In the post-game, Coach said he asked the team kindly if they might not focus on playing defense in the second half, to which they kindly agreed (or words to that effect).

BG had the lead a minute-and-a-half in and led for the last 16 minutes of the game.  The decisive exchange came with about 9 minutes left.  BG was up 4.  They got a Butler 3FG, a stop, a Butler 2FG, a stop, a Butler 3FG, a stop, a Johnson 2FG, a stop and a Johnson 3FG and with 6:51 BG was up 17.

It was over at that point.  Win probability is 99%.  Niagara got it to 8 with :35 left, but BG was in control the rest of the way.

BG scored 43 points in the second half.  40 of them came from Towns, Johnson and Butler.

The game was played at 63 possessions, which is really slow.  BG had a great offensive game--1.21 points per possession, which they got to only twice last year in D1 games.  In the last 10 years, they have only lost twice when scoring at that pace. They held Niagara to 1.08, which is not a great defensive game, but good enough.  Also, BG was able to be that efficient while playing at NU's pace.

BG shot 64% for EFG, their second highest in the Simon era (Lipscomb).  That's 67% from 2FG and 41% from 3FG, both of which are scalding.  Niagara shot 53%, making 42% from 2FG and 41% from 3FG. 

BG had the advantage on turnovers, but had a strong disadvantage on offensive rebounding and a small one on FT Rate. NU made 10 of 14 and BG made 9 of 10 at the line.

BG had some stellar offensive performances.

First, Marcus Johnson.  He had 24 points....that's 8-9 on 2FG and 2-2 on 3FG and 2-2 at the line. Five rebounds and 3 assists to go with it.  He's on his way to being a national media darling.  Note that Coach Simon said after the game that he might be best at passing...called him an "elite" passer.

Derrick Butler had a similar game.  He was sick last week, which explains his low minute count in Lansing. He had 16 points on 4 of 5 2FG shooting, 2 of 2 on 3FG and 2-2 at the line. Add 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

And Sam Towns, had 16 on 4 of 7 2FG, 2 of 3 from 3FG, 2-2 at the line, 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

That's 3 pure jet fuel offensive performances. Javonte Campbell only scored 5 and only had 3 shots for 2FG, but he's a strong defender and contributes either way.

Point being, BG has some weapons.  A good example is Sam Towns, who made 1 3FG last year and has 4 so far this year.  Coach says he has worked hard in the gym. Campbell didn't score, Khayat played only 15 minutes and Squier did not play at all.  BG has a lot of weapons...this was a team we were supposed to beat.  They will need to sharpen it up for tougher games in the conference, but if it comes together we have the potential of being really tough to play.

Next up is Bellarmine on Saturday from Louisville.  BG should be favored against the winless Knights who smoked BG in the Stroh last year for one of their 8 wins.