BG MBB in the Little Apple

The Falcons MBB team is on the road again, this time playing the only P4 game on the schedule--at Kansas State in Manhattan KS.

The first note is that this was expected to be a reunion with Marcus Johnson, the Falcon's leading scorer last year.  Johnson went into the portal and ended up at K-State...which has not appeared to be a very good move for him.  He appears to be healthy, but has not appeared in any of the games this year, including both exhibitions.  According to this, Coach Tang told him that there would not be any minutes this year for him.

Certainly, we all saw that there were holes in his game... especially on defense.  I'd think that K-State would have watched enough film to know about that.  Apparently not.

Anyway, he hasn't played 1 minute and there's no indication he will.  They have had 3 wins over of 20 and he didn't appear.

This is a high-level program over-shadowed by the big brother in Lawrence where Dr. Naismith used to coach. They have made the NCAA tourney 10 out of the last 20 years. In total, they have been in the tournament 32 times.  They were quite the powerhouse in the 1950s and 60s.  They finished #2 in the NCAA Tournament in 1951 under legendary Coach Jack Gardner.

Today, they are coached by Jerome Tang, who was an assistant at Baylor.  In his first year, he took the Wildcats to a #3 seed and was Big XII coach of the year.  The next two years they did not make the tourney and he is in his 4th.  His record is 66-44.

It is our first game vs. Kansas State. Their last MAC opponent was NIU in 2004 and 2005, when they split a home-and-home.

They were picked #10 in the 16-team Big XII by Blue Ribbon. They were #9 in their league poll. 

The Wildcats are 5-2, all D1 games. They started at 61 on kenpom and now they are a 54. A neutral floor win over Mississippi State by 21 is helping them the most...other wins are UNC-Greensboro, Bellarmine (see they can be beaten), Cal, Tulsa and Mississippi State.  After a 5-0 start, they have lost to Nebraska (n) and @Indiana by 17 in their only road game to date.

Offensively, they score.  They have 1.18 points per possession, which is #60 in the country. They are a great 3FG shooting.  They take an average amount, but they make 42.9%, #3 in the country.  Add in 56% on 2FG and you have the #19 shooting team overall in the country.

Not that it matters too much when you shoot that well, but they are worse than average in turnovers, a little better than average on the boards, and they do not get to the line. When get there, they make 78%.

Defensively, they are averaging 1.06 points per possession, which is essentially average. That's against a pretty good schedule though. They defend the 3FG well, but are weak against the 2FG. They are a little better than average on turnovers, on offensive rebounds, and keeping their opponents off the line.

Individually, the name you need to know is PJ Haggerty.  He's a 6'4" JR, who has played at TCU, Tulsa and Memphis. He is scoring 27 PPG, the top in the nation right now.  He makes 57% from 2FG and 39% on 3FG, both outstanding. Also 83% at the line. And #35 with 5.7 assists per game.  He's #7 on the kenpom player of the year list to date.

Nate Johnson is the next leading scorer at 13.7 PPG.  You remember him, to be sure.  He played at Akron, where he was the Player of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year for the Zips. He's making 59% from 2FG and 47% from 3FG, a top-100 overall shooter. He leads the team with 6 rebounds a game and 11 steals.

They have 3 other double figure scorers: Abdi Bashir (50% from 3FG), David Castillo and Kahmari McGriff.

K-State is -13.5.