While there are the flu and cold seasons, BGSU men’s basketball seems to have an injury season; however, it’s come early this year.
After being physically beaten up in non-conference play last season, the Orange and Brown are being hampered by injuries as they stare down the homestretch of non-conference play.
“Kind of a rough week, obviously, we had some injuries,” head coach Todd Simon said. “We were down to three-on-three a couple days ago, and we’re just kind of running out of bodies.”
Bowling Green’s frontcourt is especially thin.
Senior forward Sam Towns hasn’t played since the Bellarmine game on Nov. 23 and is wearing a full leg brace. Junior forward Youssef Khayat left the Bellarmine game with an injury and was not on the sidelines for the Morgan State contest on Saturday. Meanwhile, junior forward Greg Spurgin has been wearing a boot for the past few weeks.
The injuries to BG’s big men have pushed players such as redshirt freshman forward Jamai Felt and sophomore forward Preston Squire into bigger roles.
“We hate to see our teammates go down; we want them back,” Squire said. “Just having the confidence, know the work that we’ve all put in, and be able to step in and try to fulfill their shoes.”
Senior guard DaJion Humphrey is also banged up and did not play against Morgan State.
While the Falcons are hoping to get healthier as they near conference play, Simon believes a few of the injuries are long-term.
“I think you’re looking at a few long-term ones, indefinitely for a number of them. We’ve got a lot of boots and scooters, and you name it; we’re definitely keeping Rob [Whitehurst] in business over there,” Simon said. “It will be probably indefinite on a few of them; we’ll see how it goes. A couple of them we probably won’t see for a little while.”
However, BGSU is not letting the injuries stop their momentum.
“Back-to-back years of losing people, you got to reevaluate some things certainly in the offseason. It’s frustrating, but you don’t have a choice,” Simon said. “So, whether we got five guards or six players, you have to put the work in, and the ones that are here, we have to go with it. So, that’s just the nature of the beast, and no one’s feeling bad for us in any way, shape or form. Next man up mentality.”
The Falcons defeated Morgan State 102-81 on Saturday, marking the first time they have won back-to-back games this season and moving their record to 4-5.
“We’ve grown as a team from our first couple games,” Squire said. “We know that as we continue to put in the work and practice, as we continue to fix what we need to fix and work on what we’ve had to work on, that these wins will start to add up and stack on top of one another, and that’s great.”
Derrick Butler was the star of the show, scoring a career-high 35 points against the Bears and earning Mid-American Conference (MAC) Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors.
But the team played together in the win, racking up a season-high 21 assists, with three players finishing with five dimes apiece.
“You want them to be rewarded for that, and today they were. They made the right plays, and the next guy makes the shot. This group is happy for one another, and I think that goes to the character of our guys and the chemistry that we’ve built. When you have a team that the enthusiasm and the joy playing for one another is there, that’s the makings of a special team,” Simon said. “There’s so many different ways that’s starting to manifest itself. That’s how you score 100 points on another Division I team, that doesn’t happen a lot. But I think it stems from having really good guys, a really good locker room, and really good comradery.”
While the injuries are a legitimate concern for Bowling Green, they continue to improve nearly every game.
The Falcons are shooting 36.6% on three-pointers and 80.6% on free throws, leading the MAC. They also rank third in the conference with 46.4% shooting from the field and fourth with 78.8 points per game.
With the team’s confidence and chemistry continuing to grow, they have a real chance to run the table for the final three games of non-conference play before the calendar flips over to 2025 and MAC play.
Next, the Orange and Brown will play just one game for the second week in a row, heading to Missouri to battle the Kansas City Roos on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 8 p.m. Falcon Media Sports Network will have a preview and recap of the game on bgfalconmedia.com.
