BGSU men’s basketball pulled off a controlling, double-digit win over Toledo on Saturday, moving up to fourth place in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) standings after one of their best showings in conference play.
Then, the Falcons failed to capitalize on the momentum, playing a sloppy game against Kent State on Tuesday, losing to the Golden Flashes for the 14th consecutive contest.
In the win against the Rockets, Bowling Green made 11 3-pointers on 52.4% shooting from deep, tied for their second-most triples in a game this season. In the loss to the Golden Flashes, the Falcons shot 21.1% on 3-pointers and committed a season-high 29 personal fouls.
This has been the story of Bowling Green’s season. BG has won consecutive conference games just twice this season and has never found consistency.
Bowling Green’s shooting has been as inconsistent as it gets this year, with the team shooting 40% or better on 3-pointers in back-to-back games just once this season.
“You hope as the roller coaster of our shooting goes, that the next one is one of those 12 or 16 games that we’ve had. It’s a very unique group where I’ve never been a part of a group where kind of our shooters go hot and cold together,” head coach Todd Simon said after the loss to Kent State.
BGSU has also continued the trend of struggling to beat the top teams in the conference. Against the five teams in front of the Falcons in the MAC standings—Miami (OH), Akron, Kent State, Ohio and Toledo—Bowling Green is only 2-5 this season. Across Simon’s three seasons at Bowling Green, the Falcons are just 6-18 against the five teams. He does not have a win against Akron or Kent State.
Bowling Green has also struggled in the clutch this season, holding just a .333 winning percentage in close games decided by five points or less, ranking 288 out of 356 teams in the country and the fourth-worst mark in the MAC. The Falcons had a .556 winning percentage in the same category last season.
The Falcons are also 0-9 this season and 8-31 during Simon’s time at Bowling Green when trailing at halftime.
If the MAC Tournament, which begins in exactly three weeks, started today, Bowling Green, sitting in sixth in the conference standings, would face Kent State, their boogeyman, in the quarterfinal round. While that is a tough matchup, it is much more favorable than facing Akron or Miami.
While a win over Miami, which would rock the college basketball world, would be amazing, it is not likely. That reality makes it essential that the Falcons win their final three games of the season against Western Michigan, UMass and Eastern Michigan.
