The Big Picture: Bewildered, befuddled, and undone by Bowling Green’s 2-3 zone defense, a frigid Buffalo Bulls (9-3, 17-7) squad loses it’s second MAC game in a row, falling to the Falcons (8-4, 15-10) 59-48. This being the fifth time in six games that UB was held to less than 60 points, I’d say that it’s time to start getting concerned about the offense. Throughout the season, which had been going splendidly until Sunday, the Bulls have gotten by thanks to their defense; getting 15-plus points from Rodney Pierce; and getting a contributions from a cast of as many as 11. Well, the wheels seem to have come off that baby during the last stretch of games.
Coach ‘Spoon’s squad remains alone in first in the MAC East thanks only to Miami (8-4, 15-9) surpassing the Bulls’ offensive ineptitude tonight in a 53-44 loss at Akron (8-4, 17-9). What was once a commanding lead in the MAC East has been whittled to a single game with the hottest team in the MAC, Kent State (8-4, 15-11), winners of seven in a row, joining Miami, Akron, and Bowling Green in hot pursuit of UB. Yet, despite losing two in a row and forgetting how to score, all is not gloom-n-doom for the Bulls.
Fact is that they still control their own destiny in the MAC this season. Win their final four league games — home games Akron and Miami sandwiched around a two-game road trip to take on Ohio (6-6, 13-12) and Kent State — and UB heads to Clevo as the top team in the league, with plenty of momentum in what will be a knockdown, barroom brawl of a conference tourney. Since only one MAC team is going to the Big Dance, all that really matters at this point anyway, is that you get a bye out of the first round of the MAC. Even if UB loses a game during the sprint to the finish, they still should be spectators and not participants on Wednesday. Go 2-2 and the story could be different.
The Good: Nada. Nothing. Zilch, except for the hope that Buffalo’s gotten the bad games out of their system.
The Bad: In a game like this were the shots aren’t falling, it’s even more important that you block out, come up with loose balls, and take care of the rock. I don’t have stats on it, but it sure seemed like Bowling Green came away with the vast majority of loose balls, which earned them more possessions, and certainly helped them outscore Buffalo tonight. While UB ended up out-boarding BGSU, that was largely due to their inability to make any shots whatsoever. When the game was in the balance, the Falcons got the boards.
The Ugly: Watching UB try to dissect the Bowling Green zone was kind of like watching a VH1 reality show, but without the voyeuristic fun, which left just pure revulsion. A sure sign that Coach ‘Spoon’s squad was out of sorts was the 26 triples they attempted. According to Ken Pomeroy’s trusty stats, the Bulls typically get only 25% of their points from beyond the arc, which ranks them 235th out of 344 DI teams. 26 three-pointers is just too many.
Who’s Got Next: It’s Bracket Buster time, as UB travels to Burlington to square off with the America East-leading Vermont Catamounts (21-7, 12-3). It should be a great turnout and this is a good chance for Rodney Pierce and Company to regain their mojo by winning a nationally-televised game over a decent team at said team’s gym.
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