Basketball Set Back Decades, Kent beats BG MBB

Well, that makes it 14 straight.

Kent continued their mastery with a defense-oriented slugfest victory at the Stroh, beating BG 78-71.

It was often hard to watch. There were 54 fouls called and 76 FTs.  BG made only 20 baskets; Kent made 21.  

And let me say this.  I don't often complain about the officials.  They are never great, usually OK. This was an awfully officiated game.  When you have coaches screaming and yelling after every call, you know it is being mishandled.

Also, they should watch this...

The first 10 minutes were very close, with no one leading by more than 4.  BG went on a 7-0 run to lead by 7 with about 8 minutes left.  BG was up 6 with 6:13 to play when something odd happened...Coach Senderhoff got a T, BG made one FT, and led by 7.

That's not the weird part.

At that point, BG had 5 fouls, and Kent had 10.  The refs apparently thought Senderhof had a point, because they didn't call another foul on Kent for the rest of the half.  Six straight against BG.  Really?  Kent went from 10 fouls to none? 

And the score?  Kent 14, BG 2...Flashes by 5 at the break.

I mean, come on.

Kent did what they usually do, which is to inch a lead forward instead of getting a big run.  They got it to 9 with 15 to play.  BG chipped it to 4, but it was back to 9 with 10:33 left to play.  They kept building and hit it to 13 points with 8 minutes left. 

BG scored the next 9 points to get it back to 4 when Morgan Safford hit another 3 to quell the rally.

It was a 9-point lead with about 4 left, and BG went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 2 with 1:48 left.

Huge possession.  Kent comes down, and Shackleford committed his fifth foul, of which at least 4 were dumb fouls. Safford hit both FTs, and it was a 4-point lead with 1:39 left to play.

They fouled Troy Glover, who in all fairness had made 7 of 9 at the line so far in the game and has clearly improved at the line....but he missed them both.  

More FTs.  Kent split a pair and pushed the lead to 5.  Campbell got to the basket and cut it to 3.

This recap is as monotonous as it was in real life. There was not another one-score possession in the game, and BG lost by 5.

BG did not play a bad game on defense, holding KSU to 1.08 PPP.  Their EFG was only 47%. They made 39% from 2FG and 7 of 19 inside the restricted area.  They made 37% from 3FG, which is decent, and 51% of their shots were from 3FG. BG held them to 25% on the offensive boards, a significant accomplishment.  Their FT rate was 75%, second-worst of the year for the BG defense.  That means they shot 40 FTs and only 53 FGs.  They made 28 out of 40, for 70%, which is average.

Meanwhile, the Falcons scored .98 points per possession, their 6th worst this year.  EFG was 43.4%, with a very solid 50% on 2FG but 4 of 19 (21%) from 3FG.  BG did nothing on the offensive boards, had 3 more turnovers than Kent, and had a FTR rate of 69%.  BG made 25 of 36 FTs (69%), slightly below average.  Kent was +3 at the line.

Perfectly captures what a terrible game it was.

Campbell had 22 for BG, making 7 of 10 and 0 of 3.  He made 8 of 10 at the line.  Also, 4 assists, 3 TO, and 3 steals.

Glover had 17 and 7 rebounds, plus 4 blocked shots.  He scored 17...5 of 5 from 2FG and 7-11 at the line.

Sam Towns had 13, but it took a lot...making 2 of 6 from 2FG and 2 of 4 from 3FG.  Also, 11 rebounds.

So BG ends the day in sixth place.  They are still very likely to make it to Cleveland, but it would be nice to get a 5 seed.

Next up...America's preppy sweetheart.  Let's ruin it for them.