Morgan State Preview

Next up for MBB is the Morgan State Bears.

Morgan State plays in the MEAC Conference, which kenpom lists as the #29 conference out of 31 total.  They won the DII National Championship in 1974 and have been in the Big Dance twice.  They were picked #4 in the MEAC preseason poll and Blue Ribbon picked them #6.   They started the year #312 in kenpom and are now #341, out of 364.  NIU, the MAC's worst team, is #342.

They are 5-6 so far, but 4 of those wins are against non-D1 opposition. Their only D1 win was over NJIT (350).  They have lost to Mercyhurst (355), @Longwood (188), @NC A&T (300), @UB (329), Towson (156) and @UMBC (270).  So, that's 1-6 against the #346 non-conference schedule.

This is the 3rd time BG has played Morgan State.  BG won previous meetings in 2016 and 2022.  Kenpom gives BG a 77% chance of winning.  ESPN has it on 81%,

These guys do play fast, at 71 possessions a game.  All the stats below are D1 games only.

They are #323 in offense and #336 in defense.

They try only 21% of their shots from 3FG, which is the second-lowest percentage in the nation.  That's good because they make only 26%. They are better from 2FG, making 50.9% on 2FG, which is the national average.  They get 68% of their points on 2FG, which is the highest in the nation.

They turn the ball over a lot--20% of possessions.  As you would expect, their offensive rebounding is good at 33% (#104), but they do not get to the line for a team around the basket so much. They make 70% of their FTs, which is a tick below average.

Defensively, they are #241 defending the shot. Their 3FG (34.7%) and 2fG (52%) are below average. They are average forcing turnovers, average on the defensive boards, but they foul A lot! #350 in the country for free throw rate. They allow 24% of their FTs at the line. Average is 19%.

You'll hear a lot of stats during the game, but their stats are badly inflated by their non D1 games.  For example, this week they played two such games and scored 247 points.  These are D1 only.

Wynston Tabbs, who was pre-season All-MEAC, is scoring 14.3 PPG.  He makes 52% of his 2FGs and 16% of his 3FGs....and has made all 25 of his FTs.  Amahrie Simpkins, a 6'4" G is scoring 12 PPG on 60% 2FG shooting and only 1 3FG.  8 of 20 at the line. He also averages 5.7 RPG. 

BG MBB is going to be like a football team, playing on the next 3 Saturdays with nothing in between.  This one is on the schedule to win and we hope to see it happen.