Falcon MBB Gets Road Win

BG got a badly needed road win at UB on Saturday.  UB was tied with BG in the standings and BG is down in the race to make the final 8.  Even so, EMU and WMU beat top MAC teams Saturday to stay a game ahead of the Falcons, who are tied with CMU for 9/10--both out of the top 8 for now.  More on all of that later.

It was interesting in that BG led for 36 minutes and for the entire second half, but the game was always close.  BG led by no more than 8 in the first half and 7 in the second half.  It was no offensive masterpiece as a game....but BG scored when UB got close.  With about 10 minutes to play, BG went on a Javonte Campbell-fueled mini-run as he scored all 6 to get the lead to 7. 

That kind of set things in place and the lead stayed above one possession most of the way.  At the last media timeout, BG was still up 6.  The timeout came with 3:43 left.  The two teams went over a minute without scoring before UB cut it to 2 with 2:31 left. BG ran the clock down before Thomas hit a layup to put BG up 6.  UB got a layup to make it 4, forced a miss on a late clock 3FG by Thomas, and then Boldin scored again to make the lead 2 points with :56.

BG went to a play they used often with Justin Turner.  This time it was Campbell at the top of the key, dribbled the clock down and then he gets to the rim and finishes to make the lead 4 again with :27 to play.

UB made a big play, hitting a 2FG and the foul and chance to cut the lead to 1 with :18 left.  They missed the FT and due to official idiocy (more later) it took until :09 for the foul on Johnson was called.  He hit both FTs and BG won by 4.

It was no testament to the sport of basketball.  Not from UB, BG, or the officials.  I'm glad to be able to say this in a game we won, but the officiating in this one was a joke.  There'd be a bevy of ticky-tack fouls and then they'd stand there mutely while a Black Friday melee broke out on the next possession.  Both teams suffered from these guys.  All it did was largely take the game out of the player's hands.  A little hint.  If you start calling fouls like crazy, you won't be able to be consistent because sooner or later you are going to have to back off in order to keep guys in the game.

Anyhoo.  It was a 68-possession game, which is a little slow for our taste. 

Both teams had terrible games on offense, with BG scoring .93 points per possession and UB getting .87.  BG was narrowly outshot and smoked on the offensive boards.  However, due to 3 fewer turnovers, BG ended up with more FGAs and were +1 in points from field goals and +3 in free throws.  BG was 15-19 at the line (79%) and UB was 12-21 (57%), costing them the game.

About time.  Even with that, BG's collective opponents have the highest FT rate in the nation at 79%.

Javonte Campbell had the kind of game we imagined when he came here and before his hand injury...it was a Marcus Hill-like 20 on 8 of 10 from 2 FG and 4-7 at the line.  Thomas had 10 on 3 of 5 and 1 of 6 shooting. With Johnson and Butler both only getting 7, BG does not win the game without Campbell. Exacte had 9 rebounds and Humphrey had 5 steals.

Here is where things stand.

7.  EMU 5-7

8. WMU 5-7

9. CMU 4-8

10. BG 4-8.

BG plays EMU and WMU.  If BG can get in with 7 wins (losses to KS, @UT, @EMU, beating BS, NI and WM, I think they have a shot.  If they have to get to 8...it could be tougher.  CMU has the easiest scheduling coming home.

My guess is that it's less than 50/50.  A win this week--however unlikely--would be a huge lift.