On Sunday night the men’s basketball team lost to the worst team in the Mid-American Conference. Tonight they’ll travel east in an attempt to bounce back against the best team in the MAC.
BG, 14-10 (7-4 MAC) is coming off what should be seen as their most disappointing loss of the season. They had ran off six straight victories against the MAC West division and looked to have an easy road to a seventh.
Then they dropped the ball.
Eastern Michigan, who came into the game with three wins all season, led BG from start to finish and dominated the Falcons for three quarters of the game, and put them in so big of a hole that they weren’t able to climb out late.
Now the Falcons will turn their attention to the team they might have had on the minds already on Sunday; Buffalo.
BG opened conference play back in early January with a huge home victory over UB.
UB followed up that loss to BG by winning nine straight conference games before losing on Sunday to the West division leading Ball State Cardinals.
Buffalo is 5-0 at home in conference play while BG is 4-1 on the road. Something has to give there.
In the Falcons’ win over UB in January they scored 86 points. On Sunday EMU held them to 57.
That kind of offensive inconsistency will be something BG will need to avoid if they are to pull off the upset.
Nate Miller will have to keep stepping up and leading the Falcons, because when he has been on, the offense has been on.
Against EMU Miller struggled to get good looks and score points in the first half, and as a result the Falcons had 15 points at halftime.
In the second half Miller scored 16 of his 18 points and lead BG to a 42 point second half.
Miller’s ability to drive to the basket is what opens up the BG offense. It allows him to finish with a lay up, give Otis Polk a bounce pass, or kick it out to one of BG’s deep threats; Brian Moten and Scott Thomas.
Buffalo currently sits atop the MAC East standings, thanks in large part to their ability to win close games. Five of the Bulls conference wins were decided by five points or less. Both of their losses, to BG and BSU, came by four and two points respectively.
BG managed to come away from their West division swing looking better then they did before, but it’s clear that their toughest competition is in the East division.
With road games against UB, Akron, Miami still ahead, and home rematches against Kent State and Ohio, the Falcons are about to show everyone what kind of team they really are.
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Contact assistant sports editor Jason Jones at [email protected].
