For the second straight game, BGSU men’s basketball was in a closely contested battle against one of the best teams in the Mid-American Conference (MAC).
However, the Falcons also faltered in the second half for the second straight contest, as Bowling Green fell 84-71 to Toledo in the first edition of this year’s Battle of I-75 at the Stroh Center on Friday night, suffering their third straight loss and falling to just 2-5 in MAC play.
After falling behind 7-0 early, the Falcons hung with the Rockets for the entire first half, going into halftime trailing by five points, 43-38.
But things unravelled in the second half, as the Orange and Brown were outscored by the Midnight Blue and Gold 41-33 over the final 20 minutes.
“I don’t think they did anything special. I think we beat ourselves,” senior forward Marcus Johnson said postgame.
It’s something that has not happened for most of the season, as Bowling Green has been, for the most part, good at second-half adjustments this year.
“To come out of the locker room, that’s something that we’ve been really good at this year in that first four minutes,” BGSU head coach Todd Simon said postgame. “We came out, we didn’t execute offensively, made some self-inflicted wounds, gave up a couple rebounds, turned the ball over; it was not how we play.”
The Falcons came out of the locker room sloppy, committing two fouls and turning the ball over on three straight possessions within the first four minutes of the second half.
“Good teams turn that into a double-digit lead; you’re going to pay for that. That’s why Toledo’s had the success they’ve had,” Simon said. “We got to take out those stretches. We have those three, four-minute stretches in every game where we do turnovers and lose the possession battle, and I think that was the story of the game again.”
Overall, BG turned the ball over nine times in the second half while tallying just two assists. For comparison, they had eight assists and only four turnovers in the first half.
“Just making that one more pass, just playing together as a team. This is another game where we had 10 assists. Last game against Miami, we had more than 10 assists; our offense was smoothly sailing,” Johnson said. “We just got to play more as a team, swing the ball around the arc more, finish more inside, and just be smarter with our shot selection down the stretch.”
The Falcons were never able to get into a consistent rhythm on offense after halftime, never building a run bigger than a five-point swing in the second half.
Following Toledo going on an 8-0 run early in the second half, Bowling Green was only able to come within five points for the rest of the game.
Fatigue may have also played a part in BG’s troubles in the second half.
Due to sophomore forward Preston Squire and junior forward Greg Spurgin dealing will illnesses this week, they were not available for the game, leaving the Falcons with a seven-man rotation.
All seven players for Bowling Green played at least 17-and-a-half minutes, with all five starters playing at least 31 minutes.
“I mean, it’s a factor; right now, we’re squeezing too many minutes out of everybody. There’s no off days, with the quicker turnaround and the Friday game, you try your best to do recovery, but you have to practice,” Simon said. “We have guys that we have to, from an injury standpoint, are one or two days a week practicing. A guy like [Javontae Campbell] doesn’t practice. We need him for games, and until we feel he’s 100%, he’s just going out there and giving everything he has. It catches up with you at some point. I think the fatigue is certainly showing.”
Next, BGSU will look to end their three-game skid against Kent State at the M.A.C. Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Tyler Kavalecz and Artie Abrego will have the call on Falcon Radio, beginning at 6:45 p.m. for pregame.
“We’re going to see what we look like getting off the mat and fighting on Tuesday,” Simon said.
