EMU MBB Preview

Two games left.

EMU is coming to town.  We started the MAC season with them and now we are (almost) ending it with them.

EMU was picked #7 in the media poll, largely in anticipation of an oversized impact by Emoni Bates.  It didn't work out that way. They have been near the bottom of the standings all year.  They have now won 4 of their last 9 (four better than BG) and their last 2...and in the soft underbelly of the MAC chasing the #8 seed, where a 5-11 record gets you to Cleveland, the Eagles currently sit in #8 and one game ahead of the Falcons.

Those four wins included @MU, and OU, WM and BS at home.

BG won the first game by 26 in YPSI, despite being -17 in free throws.  BG never trailed in that one and it was a promising win for its size if not its opponent.

EMU does not have great numbers.  They are #11 on offense and #10 on defense.  BG is #11 on defense but #6 on offense...by the way, based just on these numbers, there's no way BG should be behind EMU in the standings.

As we know, BG is the easiest team to shoot against in the MAC.  EMU is #1 in shooting.  They don't take that many 3FGs, which is good because they are last in the MAC in 3FG shooting.  They are 7th in 2FG shooting--and BG is 11th defending the 2FG.  They are decent taking care of the ball, but are last in offensive rebounding and in the middle of the pack at getting to the line.  They do lead the MAC in FG shooting at 79%.  If BG can control the boards, it becomes a battle of poor shooting against poor shooting defense.

Looking the other way, EMU is really poor on defense.  They are 10th against the shot and last on 2FGs.  They defend the 3FG well (5th).  They don't force turnovers, they are poor on the boards and they give up a good number of FTs.  

You'd think BG would make shots in this one.

Emoni Bates is the leading scorer for EMU.  He has not been the one-man ticket to the title some thought, but he has had some ridiculous performance, including scoring 29 straight points against UT at Savage.  He is scoring 19.5 PPG in confence play on 46% and 29% shooting.  Among players using 28% of their team's possessions or more, he is #7 in offensive efficiency.  Which isn't bad, but not what his billing way.  His gross stats are inflated because he has used 32% of their possessions, top in the MAC.  He also leads the team with 6.2 RPG.

Tyson Acuff is scoring 14.7 PPG on 58% and 38% shooting, which is much more efficient. He also leads the team with 2.4 APG and 20 steals.

Noah Farrakhan is scoring 12.1 PPG, on 57% and 17%.

So, we shall see.  BG still has a shot, but right now they are as close to last place as they are to making the tourney.

BG MBB Loses to Kent at Stroh

BG lost their 9th straight game, as expected, to Kent State at the Stroh yesterday, with a 10-point loss.  

BG battled in the first half and led for 12 minutes.  At one point, BG was up 12 and ended up by 5 at the break.

In the second half, we stopped doing what we did in the first half, and after that it's no surprise what happened. BG did OK, leading for most of the first 6 minutes of the second half.  Kent took the lead with 13:37 left and never trailed again.  BG kept the game within reach and had it down to 2 with 6:31 left.  BG needed a stop but fouled, Kent hit 2FTs, got a stop and a basket and it was 6 again.  With about 2 left, KS had the lead to 10 which is where the margin ended.

Kent had 1.08 points per possession, but their defense eventually won them the game, holding BG to .94 points per possesson. BG is 1-10 this year under 1 point per possesson.  (Air Force).  BG shot the ball very poorly, as poorly as they did all year. That's 48% from 2FG and 11% from 3FG. They scored 27 points in the second half and missed all 7 3FGs.  Otherwise, it was pretty even and it wasn't the worst game of the losing streak.  It was still a defeat.

BG has lost 9 straight.  As far as I can tell, that is the longest in-season losing streak in 51 years.  BG lost 8 straight in 2006 to end the year.  That was Dakich's 2nd to last year. (BG Assistant Steven Wright was on that team).  Then, in BG loss 8 in 77-78 in Weinert's 2nd year.  Then, in 1971-72, in Pat Haley's first year BG lost 10 straight on their way to a 4-20 year, truly one of the worst years in Falcon history.

The 1955-56 team lost 14 straight, which as far as I can tell is the school record.  Still, we are on a historic bad run.

It was senior day.  BG had five players out there....Ayers, Elsasser, Turner, Diarra and O'Neal.  What is interesting is that only two of those players--Ayers and O'Neal are truly out of eligibility.  Coach was asked post-game about Elsasser...he said that once a guy decides to be in senior day, they are usually done, but that they would talk after the season.  He gave roughly the same answer for Diarra.  No one asked about Turner but the answer would probably the same.

It could be academic.  If Huger goes, there's a good chance everyone goes, that's what seems to happen in today's world.  

Look, I don't blame someone who has played college ball for five years for deciding to get one with their life.  You're supposed to leave college.  In essence, they are declining their COVID year, which is 100% reasonable. 

But the fact remains that three of these guys could have come back and, I guess, still could.

KSU Preview....Game 2

Three games left....

Kent comes into BG for the second meeting of the year.  Kent is 12-3 in the MAC and one game behind the Rockets for the top spot. They were the talk of the MAC before conference play started with close road losses against Houston, Gonzaga and Charleston. They then won their first 6 MAC games, including over Toledo and looked to be on a glidepath.  They are 6-3 since then, with losses @NIU, @UA and @BS.  None of those is a terrible loss, unless you want to be the conference champion.

Note, if you will, the fact that all those MAC losses are on the road, where Kent will be on Saturday.

Also, note that the best two games BG has played in MAC play have been against Akron and Toledo, top teams at the Stroh.

Kent won the first meeting by 23.  BG led for only :15.  They did get the lead to 6 with 10 minutes left, but Kent has that ability that winning teams have to respond to a run with a run. They punched it back and eventually won big.

Look, Kent plays very physical basketball.  From my observation, their goal is to commit way more fouls than refs can call.  They shot the ball well and killed us on the offensive boards.  Meanwhile, BG shot poorly.  Both teams had too many turnovers.

Kent is the toughest team to shoot against in the MAC and forces the most turnovers.  Overall, they lead the MAC in defense.

Giovanni Santiago did not play in the first BG game and has not played since.  In their last game, Jacobs came off the bench but played 36 minutes.  Hornbeak started but played only 5 minutes. 

Jacobs had 17 on 4 of 8 2FG shooting and 6 FTs.  He had 7 assists and an amazing 7 steals.  Hornbeak had 14 on 5 of 7 shooting plus 5 rebounds. Thomas had 12 on 2 of 4 and 2 of 3 shooting plus 5 rebounds.  Reigning MAC player of the year Sincere Carry had 11 and 7 assists.

We'll see if BG decides to play up for a game against the #2 team in the MAC and how motivated Kent is to play.  Once you are in the top 4, there's no real advantage to be had in seeding anymore.

Short Wrap Up: MBB Loses at Miami

BG lost their 8th straight last night, all but cementing a second straight year in the bottom four.  This is a team BG handled at the Stroh and led by 3 at the half.  That did not last long.  Miami tied the game 4 minutes into the second half and then took the lead with 14 left and led for the remainder of the game.  Once the lead got to 5 a couple minutes later, it was never closer than 6 again and over 10 for most of the time.

The RedHawks scored 48 second-half points.  Coach Huger said that we had no "pride" in our defense and we played "like it didn't matter whether you win or lose."

If that was the synopsis once in a while, fine.  But it is almost every game with this team and this Coach, in his 8th year at BG.  It's very discouraging.  I will tell you this, Coach sounded tired and a little beaten during the interview.  Things have gotten to a place that he can't seem to influence and it has to be hell.

Not much need to go through the whole thing here. It was a listless effort against a team we should be more competitive with, at least. In a 15-game schedule, to date, BG is 9 games out of first.

Home stretch: The RedHawks, Part II

Coming down to the last few games.  BG still has a shot at finishing 8th, which is not the kind of goal you want to have but it was a reasonable expectation for this team, this year.  BG plays at Miami...and it would be a pretty important one to win.

This is the 150th meeting between BG and Miami.  The RedHawks are historically bad.  They have 3 MAC wins.  If they finish, it's their worst season since the year after Coles/The Evil Genius.  They did win their last game, @NIU. 

And they are 1.5 point favorites over BG.

The first game was pretty much all BG.  Miami never led and BG had a 20+ lead heading into the 8 min timeout. The RedHawks rallied and had it to 9 late, but BG made key FTs and won the game by 10.

Miami is 2-6 since then and BG is 1-7.

This is one for people who love the game.

Miami is #10 in offense and #9 in defense, while BG is #6 in offense and #11 in defense.  From this look, it appears that BG getting any kind of consistent stops is the key to winning.

Miami is the #8 shooting team in the MAC while BG is dead last defending the shot.  Miami is interesting.  They are 8th in the MAC in taking 3FGs, and they are 11th in making.  They lead the MAC in making 2FGs.  So, the shooting evens out to OK.  They are 10th in turnovers, 10th in offensive rebounding and last in getting to the line, though they make 74%.  BG will need to defend the inside and get some turnovers to get enough stops to win.

BG is 2nd in the MAC in shooting. Miami is decent defending the shot and #3 in the MAC defending the 3FG, which is worrisome for BG. Miami is OK on turnovers and the defensive boards, but they foul a lot. The secret to BG scoring is the same...be less careless with the ball and make shots, both from the field and at the line.

Miami has three double figure scorers.  Mekhi Lairy is scoring 16.6 PPG, #9 in the MAC. He made 54% of his 2FG and 33% of his 3FG, along with 4.1 assists (#7). Morgan Safford scores 15.8 PPG shooting 58% on 2FG and 33% on 3FG. He leads the tgeam with 6.8 rebounds (#6).  He played all 45 in the NIU game. The giant Anderson Mirambeaux is scoring 15.1 PPG on 58% shooting.  He is the #9 most efficent player in the MAC. He also averages 6.7 RPG. 

So here we go.  It would be great to see BG follow up on the UT game with a strong effort.  Not much to suggest it will happen, but who knows.

Rockets Win Thriller at Stroh

Yesterday was a good day to watch college basketball.  In front of a packed house at the Stroh Center, BG and UT played a highly entertaining and competitive game that ended up with UT on the winning side.  The only thing that would have made it better was a BG win, but it was a great game.

For BG fans, it adds to the disappointment.  BG can play with the best MAC teams, especially at home...see Akron and UT.  Where was this effort in the WMU, CMU and NIU games, for example?  A similar effort in those games would have BG in position to head to Cleveland right now.

You are what your record says you are...and we are an inconsistent team that doesn't bring a winning effort on a consistent basis.

And we're not as good as Toledo....the best team won the game.

Dakich used to say your goal as a team was to be "tough to beat."  As I recall, he was talking about the Romeo Travis-era Akron Zips.  They could go inside, they could go outside and they didn't make mistakes at key times.

That's a good description for this Rockets team.  They are tough to beat.  Here's why.  Three minutes into the 2nd half, BG is up 6.  Biggest lead of the game.  Place is rocking.  UT goes on a 12-2 run to go up 4 with 12 to play.  BG ties it again and it is tied with 10 to play.  UT goes on an 8-0 run to go up 8 with 8 to play, BG calling time.  

BG never had the ball again with a chance to tie the game. UT kept BG at arm's length.  When BG needed a stop, they could not get it.  That's just close-the-game-out basketball.  UT made their last 16 free throws.  They made zero turnovers in the last 9:30. That's a team that is hard to beat.

That's how good we need to be. Competitive every week and every year.  Tough to beat.  That's what it looks like.

They have one other asset....RayJ Dennis, who clearly is one of the best if not the best player in the MAC.  This guy plays the angles on the backboard like Tim Duncan.  It's incredible.  He put the team on his back and made sure his team won.

He had 19 points on 6 of 8 2FG and 2 of 3 3FG shooting, 4 rebounds and 3 assists over 0 turnovers.  In the second half.  (For the game he had 27.)

Kowalcyk stirred some stuff up in the post-game when he said that the MAC had caused a problem by only letting coaches vote on the awards.  Here is what he told The Blade:

“It’s the league office’s unbelievably poor decision to take out the media voting and now you get the head coaches,” he said. “It’s just 12 head coaches. There’s jealousy, there’s bias, there are agendas. We’re not very well-liked, I’m not very well-liked, so be it. The fact that our league office did that, shame on them. That’s a big mistake. That’s wrong.”

Look, that might be a direct shot at the MAC office, but it is just as big a shot at his fellow coaches.  And, just to interrupt Tod the Martyr for a second, Dennis was #23 in the MAC in scoring last year and #6 in assists...those are bulk stats and he was #8 in the MAC in minutes.  So the tempo free stats are a little worse.  He was also over-shadowed by an NBA draft pick.  If Dennis isn't on the All-MAC team after this year, that's an outrage.  Even if it didn't age well, it wasn't an outrage before the season.

Back to this game. Here is an incredible thing.  In the last 5 minutes, there were 50 points scored.  That's the equivalent of a 400 point game...NBA All-star game territory.  Unbelievable and thrilling to watch.

BG had a good offensive game, their best game since their last win at 1.16 points per possession. BG made 62% on 2FG and 44% of 3FG and 71% inside the restricted area, since I have been harping on that.  BG was 18 of 26 in the paint and made 11 of 14 at the line.  In fact, BG outshot UT.  UT made 52% on their 3FGs and 50% of their 2FGs...but won the turnover battle and was 24 of 28 at the line.  No one did much on the offensive boards.

Samari Curtis led BG with 18 points off the bench. He was 5 of 7 and 2 of 6, and 6 assists over 1 turnover. Kaden Metheny had 16 points, (4 of 9 on 3FG, 1 of 4 on 2FG), with 7 assists, 1 turnover and 2 steals. Mills had 13 on 2 of 3 and 3 of 6 shooting, a team high 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Gabe O'Neal had 13 as well, making all 6 of his 2FGs and adding 5 rebounds. And Ayers had 12 points on 3 of 4 and 1 of 2 shooting and 5 rebounds in 23 minutes. 

Once again, Ayers sat for the last 8 minutes of the game.  Todd Walker asked Huger about it and he said that we needed stops and the team on the court was getting them....in the 8 minutes Ayers sat, UT scored 39 points.  On the other hand, they guys we did have on the floor were scoring.

So, here is where we stand.  That kind of effort was what we need and rarely see. BG has four games left. with Miami and EMU on there and Miami next.  If they get to 6 and 12, they could tie CMU and the head-head is even and gods knows what happens after that. Do we go to Cleveland and bring out "good opponent" game?  Whichever...we saw yesterday what our program needs to look like.

Hated Rockets, MBB, Part II

 So now the Rockets come down to the Stroh.  It's hard to imagine two teams going in more different directions. Starting with the UT loss, BG has lost 6 straight and 9 of 11 overall. The Rockets have won 10 straight since their loss @Kent with the BG game in the middle of that streak. That's the nation's 3rd longest winning streak.

The first game with UT was competitive for 18 minutes.  BG was only down 2...then UT went on a 26-7 run spanning into the second half and the game was over.  Final score, 91-77.

UT has a very clear game plan.  Score.  They are #1 in the MAC in offensive efficiency (MAC game) and #14 in the country (all games). They lead the MAC in EFG and in not turning the ball over. That's #2 in 2FG and #2 in 3FG and #3 at the line. Meanwhile, they are #6 in defense...and they do not foul.

They scored 1.29 points per possession in the first game, which is well above their average. BG had a decent offensive game at 1.09 points per possession, which is pretty good. But nowhere near good enough against that kind of onslaught, especially when you see the turnovers.

They are led by RayJ Dennis, a bona fide all-MAC player. He's #3 in scoring at 18.5 PPG and #16 in offensive efficiency, really good for a high-volume scorer. He is #2 in assists and #1 in A/T ratio. Millner is #18 in scoring and #14 in efficiency, Shumate is #18 in scoring and #3 in efficiency and Mattox is #21 and #8. 

This would be one of the bigger upsets for us in recent memory.  UT has Akron on Tuesday at Savage, maybe that helps.  UT will eventually lose and you'd like to see us rally.  Obviously, a big offensive team against us is not a great matchup, but maybe the rivalry gets us focused.