BGSU men’s basketball’s defense disappeared in the team’s 89-78 loss to Buffalo at the Stroh Center Tuesday night, as the Bulls shot the lights out to end their five-game skid and hand the Falcons their second straight loss.
Buffalo shot 55.8% (29-52) from the field and 53.8% (14-26) on 3-pointers in the win, tying their most 3-pointers made this season.
The 14 triples are the most allowed by Bowling Green this season and the second-most allowed by the Falcons in head coach Todd Simon’s three seasons leading the program.
“I feel like we just had a lot of scouting mistakes that put us in that position. We’ll have to sit down, learn from it and just start getting more gritty and guarding the three,” senior guard Javontae Campbell said postgame.
Five Buffalo players made multiple triples, led by junior guard Ryan Sabol, who drained five 3-pointers and leads the Mid-American Conference (MAC) with 73 3-pointers made this season.
Bowling Green led for just under two minutes of the contest, with their defense faltering in key moments.
“Defensively is nowhere near what we’re about. You give up 14 threes, and when an emphasis to take that away from them was kind of what we worked on for a couple of days,” Simon said. “So, we were really undisciplined at critical times and teams when they catch fire, they make you pay for that.”
BGSU played man-to-man the entire game, deciding against switching to their zone, which they have done often throughout the season.
“I think the zone is kind of the Achilles’ heel for us. At the end of the day, we have to sit down and guard. So, you can’t always look for the zone to save you every day. So, that’s on us,” senior forward Sam Towns said.
Bowling Green’s defense has struggled in MAC play.
In 12 non-conference games, the Falcons held teams to 64.9 points per game and 32.2% shooting on 3-pointers. In nine conference contests, BG has allowed opponents to score 79.9 points per game and shoot 36.7% from deep.
Additionally, BGSU’s ability to force turnovers has all but disappeared recently.
Throughout the nonconference slate, the Falcons averaged 13.4 steals per game. However, they have forced only 7.6 steals per game against MAC opponents, including just four swipes against the Bulls.
“We have to play better one-on-one, just stay in gaps and just be more disciplined in gaps,” Campbell said.
Simon made it clear postgame that the Falcons have to get better defensively, starting with the team’s next practice on Thursday.
“Thursday’s going to be a bloodbath. That was the message in the locker room. They’re going to strap up. This is not what we’re about. The guys that are on the bus to play defense are going to move forward. The guys that are not will still have a seat, but it’s going to be more in different roles,” Simon said. “So, we’re going to defend. That’s what this program’s about, and tonight we didn’t. You don’t give up 89 points on your home floor. You don’t give up 14 threes on your home floor. So, we’ve got two practices to really get after it and fix it.”
