MBB to Face VMI

BG MBB's next opponent is Virginia Military Institute, a team the Falcons have never faced.

They are the Keydets.  They have not made the NCAA Tournament since 1977.  They had a really good team for two years in that span, making the Sweet Sixteen in 1976 and the Elite Eight in 1977.

Their current coach, Andrew Wilson, was named to start the 2022 season.  His first two years, they went 11-53.  Last year, they improved to 15-19.

They were picked #6 in the Southern League by Blue Ribbon and the pre-season poll.  This is a really tough place to win.  While everyone else is paying NIL and transferring willy-nilly, you can only transfer INTO VMI with 3 years remaining and when you do you are subjected to "hell week" that doesn't match the experience of most athletes.  To say the least.

They returned the second most production in the country.  On paper.  The problem is that returning first-team SoCON player Rickey Bradley has yet to appear in a game this year, and comments from VMI indicate that the loss is hurting them.  There's been nothing announced about what might be up, but I'm assuming he won't play today.

They are 3-5, 1-5 in D1 games--win over Southern Indiana.  They started the year with a kenpom of 258 and now it is 331.  A 19-point loss to Stetson has a big role to play in that.  

They have lost four straight.

In the first game of this event, they lost to Buffalo by 8 in a tougher game than expected.

Their numbers are not good.  They are averaging 1 point per possession, with the national average at 1.076.  That's #262 in the country. They are #5 in the countries at the frequency of shooting 3FGs, but #261 at making them.  They are only #223 on 2FG. They are a little above average at protecting the ball, but poor rebounds and poor at getting to the line.

Defense is even a bigger problem.  They allow 1.23 points per possession, which is #339 in the country. They don't defend the 2FG (#324) and 3FG (#342). They are average at forcing turnovers, but terrible on the defensive boards and they are bad if not terrible at fouling.

They are getting scoring out of TJ Johnson, a 6'7" F who transferred from Lipscomb.  He's scoring 21.7 PPG.  Two-thirds of his shots are from 3FG and he's 26%, but he makes 66% on 2FG.  He also averages 7.9 RPG.

Walker Andrews is scoring 12.5 PPG in 19 minutes. He's 6'1" and makes 71% of his 2FG and 25% from 3FG. 

Mario Tatum is scoring 12.3 PPG and he can make a 3FG...35%.

AJ Clark (all-SoCon defense last season) leads the team with 8.3 RPG.  And Tan Yildizoglu (Turkey) leads the team with 34 assists.

BG is an 11.5 point favorite.