UB @ BGSU - 7 PM ESPN+

[Bluebird96]

24 minutes ago, Chet said:

Bulls scored 112 with 19 turnovers. Remarkable stats.

And don’t forget the 27 fouls. Cut those two numbers in half and we might’ve won by 40+.  Alas, no need to be greedy when we just outdid the point spread by 5x!  Bad team or not, it’s still a road win in the wild ‘n crazy MAC. But Bulls need to play more consistently than we have against the top teams for sure, or none of these comfortable wins will mean anything!

[TML1000]

If this team doesn't go wire to wire and keep their foot on the gas for 40 minutes straight, they sure do suck, eh?

Take a look at any ranked team and see how consistent they all are this season...hint, they're not.

[MKBullsfan]

I think we all need to settle down. Bowling Green is not a good team. Yeah they played good against them but so did the other 14 teams that beat BG. All that matters is winning the conference tourney.

[DooleyBull06]

Complete side note
 

https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/33299373

 

Reese is still playing 

[yussi1870]

20 minutes ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

 

Final two games of regular season against Toledo and Kent State will be very telling.

If they matter. It’s possible our seeding is locked by the time we get to those games. In that case we may not want anyone to get hurt or to preview any strategies or we may want to expirement…

[UBinMD]

14 minutes ago, Bluebird96 said:

And don’t forget the 27 fouls. Cut those two numbers in half and we might’ve won by 40+.  Alas, no need to be greedy when we just outdid the point spread by 5x!  Bad team or not, it’s still a road win in the wild ‘n crazy MAC. But Bulls need to play more consistently than we have against the top teams for sure, or none of these comfortable wins will mean anything!

Toledo lost at home and scored less that 60. I'll take this win anytime. It builds confidence and they stayed pretty disciplined throughout. Much less cowboy basketball. We are sharing and I think the guys get jacked for making assists now. Plus 55 rebounds and a +23 advantage on the board is what we are really starting to get good at again.

[Bluebird96]

3 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

Toledo lost at home and scored less that 60. I'll take this win anytime. It builds confidence and they stayed pretty disciplined throughout. Much less cowboy basketball. We are sharing and I think the guys get jacked for making assists now. Plus 55 rebounds and a +23 advantage on the board is what we are really starting to get good at again.

Agree 100%, games like this are fun to watch no matter who the competition is. And gives the bench guys a chance to show what they’ve got as well as rest the starters a little for this busy stretch ahead.  Would it be too greedy to hope we go out and lay 121 on EMU Thursday night? I’d be OK with 80 and another W 😂

[UBinMD]

22 minutes ago, Bluebird96 said:

And don’t forget the 27 fouls. Cut those two numbers in half and we might’ve won by 40+.  Alas, no need to be greedy when we just outdid the point spread by 5x!  Bad team or not, it’s still a road win in the wild ‘n crazy MAC. But Bulls need to play more consistently than we have against the top teams for sure, or none of these comfortable wins will mean anything!

Note on the 27 fouls, 15 were committed by our bench players:

Saleh - 2 fouls, 1 minute of PT

Hardnett - 4 fouls, 6 minutes of PT

Bertram - 3 fouls, 7 minutes of PT

Brewton - 4 fouls, 16 minutes of PT

 

Curtis Jones - 15 minutes of PT, 0 fouls

Only 5 of the 19 turnovers were from the bench: Jones/Fagan with 2, Brewton 1 (shocking!)

Starters - Jack/Williams 4 each; Mballa 3; Skogman 2; Rondo 1

 

Still say it's a great win and loved how they played as a team.

[skrabukes]

37 minutes ago, Erie County said:

Yes. UB had double digits prior to garbage time, as another poster said, it's the main reason BG was hanging around at that point.

"Hanging around"? UB led by double digits for the entirety of the game. BG had 10 fouls in 10 min and we were in double bonus before they were even in the regular bonus. This group loved blowing the whistle tonight. Who cares? There was nothing not to enjoy about this game and win. WMU beat a top team tonight in Akron. Maybe Groce should be canned. I'll hate to see the game thread on Thursday if UB doesn't beat EMU by 25+,  God forbid! Now if EMU plays as pathetic of D as the last time and we don't win by 25+, I'd be disappointed. So long as we win however, I'd gladly take it. 5 definitely winnable in a row coming up. Gotta keep heads level and not swelled and it could be a 9 game streak heading to the Toledo rematch on senior night.

 

[John]

10 minutes ago, skrabukes said:

"Hanging around"? UB led by double digits for the entirety of the game. BG had 10 fouls in 10 min and we were in double bonus before they were even in the regular bonus. This group loved blowing the whistle tonight. Who cares? There was nothing not to enjoy about this game and win. WMU beat a top team tonight in Akron. Maybe Groce should be canned. I'll hate to see the game thread on Thursday if UB doesn't beat EMU by 25+,  God forbid! Now if EMU plays as pathetic of D as the last time and we don't win by 25+, I'd be disappointed. So long as we win however, I'd gladly take it. 5 definitely winnable in a row coming up. Gotta keep heads level and not swelled and it could be a 9 game streak heading to the Toledo rematch on senior night.

 

A very good if not great game in many aspects. Looking like Mballa playing with both energy and confidence. Jones playing better from game to game along with Jack continuing to play with more energy and if we continue to get consistent play from Segu and Williams we should be right there in Cleveland. Love the rebounding energy along with our shooting and free throw percentages. Only concern is the continued erratic play of Brewton who really does seem to be forcing all his shots but I do think the effort is there. Four wins in a row and hope for another big win against EMU before returning home for our Saturday doubleheader. Go Bulls!!!

[DooleyBull06]

Oh my god what’s happening here? We won by 27 on a night where two teams ahead us lost  and the standings tightened up. Can we not enjoy nice things for one night? Won on the road by 27. Shot 55%, missed only 3 FTs, out rebounded them by 23. Never trailed in this game. Started the game 10-0. Built a 31 point lead. Yet we suck. When we score 112 and have as many possessions as we did there are bound to be some turnovers. Please I hope we keep this style of play and scoring going. Oh by the way balanced scoring and contributions from the bench. 

[MDBullsfan89]

1 hour ago, DooleyBull06 said:

Complete side note
 

https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/33299373

 

Reese is still playing 

Saw this live after our game ended, what a shot! And good for him, getting to be a big part of one of last season's big tournament upsets at UNT and now starting and making game winners for his hometown school. 

[MuchMany]

A 30-point nail biter, just as I suspected! Just watched it, really fun game despite the bizarre clock/game administration. Great mojo builder for the boys and welcome minutes for the bench to continue to develop. Refs were actually fair and solid, BG just committed a lot of clear fouls.

Jeenathan and Rondo both showed great handles and advanced 1v1 offense. Two big crossover buckets were at the BG end and tragically we didn't get to see our bench's reaction.

Skogman is looking like a problem for the MAC next year and beyond. Great touch inside and a very good decision maker with the ball on a team where that stands out. He's becoming a bit of a physical force underneath, affecting plays outside the box score. If he could only start to knock down a few 3s.

Vintage UB rebounding like we've all been clamoring for. Strong hands, boxing as a team, securing 50/50s, easy putbacks. The 2nd half possession with four OREB ending in Josh making two FTs was a highlight.

Not too many negatives. Turnovers felt largely just the result of a super fast and disjointed game overall. With the usual caveats that they're kids and we're all pulling for them, Brewton has to get his minutes squeezed for the stretch run. He sows chaos. Mballa threes really should stop.

Curtis Jones deserves those minutes. He's 12-22 from 3 in 10 GP since his first nice game vs BG. Cool to see the in-season development after he looked a bit raw early. Handles are improving & he's more calm and confident in decision making. He's a going to be a guy for us, always fun to see them emerge. And so is Kidtrell Blocker btw. Ideally he would have somehow overtaken Brewton in-season, but as others have pointed out he has a bounce and skill set that jump off the screen against MAC-level athletes even in small samples. Not a one-to-one comparison, but I'd be showing him Davonta Jordan tape all offseason and telling him that type of defense could land him in the Association.

I know these aren't big productions, but the broadcast was stupendously bad in a season full of them. I just try to enjoy the absurdity of it all these days. The camerawork, graphics over buckets, the announcers ranting about baked potatoes, their favorite types of cake, shuffleboard, (incorrectly) UB never having a NBA player. "Give somebody an inch and they're going to take it" was a stand out lol.

Go UB

[DocCas86]

I was looking at some season stats this morning for Williams, after 3-6 performance last night, he is shooting 44% from three for the season.  His hard work has really paid dividends here, as he hit 32% his sophomore year and has improved since.  Love to see that.

[UB92]

17 hours ago, DocCas86 said:

I would love to see a big game from Mballa.  I see he is featured in game day tweet.  Sharing is always a good thing...so yes plenty of that too please.  Would be nice to have a comfortable game, but you are probably right will probably not be easy. 

You got your wishes.  
 

The game flow looked nice as well. 
 

[DocCas86]

15 minutes ago, UB92 said:

You got your wishes.  
 

The game flow looked nice as well. 
 

Maybe I should save my two remaining wishes for Cleveland! 🙂

Edited February 16, 2022 by DocCas86

[Bluebird96]

49 minutes ago, DocCas86 said:

I was looking at some season stats this morning for Williams, after 3-6 performance last night, he is shooting 44% from three for the season.  His hard work has really paid dividends here, as he hit 32% his sophomore year and has improved since.  Love to see that.

Also last night he moved into 10th place on UB’s all-time scoring list at 1320. He’s had a very nice career with good progression every season.

[mikescherrer8]

The same thing is happening now as the same time as last year, getting hot toward the end of the season. We are beating people we should be beating, which that in itself is quite satisfying. The last 2 games of the regular season Toledo and Kent State are going to be the games where we will see where we are at. We should beat Kent, but Toledo is going to be a tough game. They even got the best of Ohio. Ohio and Toledo are what is going to stand in the way of the ncaa tourney. Hopefully this 4 game win streak isn’t a complete sham.

[TML1000]

30 minutes ago, mikescherrer8 said:

The same thing is happening now as the same time as last year, getting hot toward the end of the season. We are beating people we should be beating, which that in itself is quite satisfying. The last 2 games of the regular season Toledo and Kent State are going to be the games where we will see where we are at. We should beat Kent, but Toledo is going to be a tough game. They even got the best of Ohio. Ohio and Toledo are what is going to stand in the way of the ncaa tourney. Hopefully this 4 game win streak isn’t a complete sham.

Kent is on a 7 game win streak, including winning in Toledo last night by 13. I'd say they are just as big a threat rn.

[DooleyBull06]

Anyone of the top 5 MAC teams can beat each other in Cleveland. The tournament from the 4-5 game into the semis and on could be unpredictable.

[Bluebird96]

12 hours ago, DocCas86 said:

I was looking at some season stats this morning for Williams, after 3-6 performance last night, he is shooting 44% from three for the season.  His hard work has really paid dividends here, as he hit 32% his sophomore year and has improved since.  Love to see that.

Williams’ current rate would be the highest single season 3P% in UB history according to sports-reference.com, ahead of Jeremy Harris’ .418 in 2017-18.  Pretty good company to be in. 

[Bluebird96]

With his 3/5 from 3 vs EMU today, Jeenathan is now a nice round 45% (45/100) on the season as the % keeps climbing. During the 5-game win streak he’s 15/27.  His overall consistency in not forcing shots from 3 is fairly remarkable. Only 1 game all season has he taken more than 6 shots from behind the arc, when he shot 2/7 vs Rider…a 22-pt UB win in which he scored 19 including 5/9 from inside the arc.

[Bluebird96]

Jeenathan 2/4 from 3 vs WMU as that % keeps rising. Tops among all MAC players in conference games at 52.3%. By comparison, Sears from Ohio shooting 39% and leading MAC scorer Norman from WMU shooting 37%.  Williams should garner plenty of votes for MAC POTY.

[skrabukes]

30 minutes ago, Bluebird96 said:

Jeenathan 2/4 from 3 vs WMU as that % keeps rising. Tops among all MAC players in conference games at 52.3%. By comparison, Sears from Ohio shooting 39% and leading MAC scorer Norman from WMU shooting 37%.  Williams should garner plenty of votes for MAC POTY.

That last point likely will depend on how UB finishes the season. If they can run the table, or close, it's a possibility.  If not, it will likely go to a higher seeded team's player, regardless of his individual stats. After a struggle inside early today, he really got it together,  much like his squad. He, along with Mballa really seemed to lead the charge back and beyond. He's definitely lived up to his billing. Amazingly,  if you go back and read threads from a few years ago ( I will not, but recall them) several here thought he was overrated, slow, awkward shot, etc. He's stayed the course, worked hard, and it's paying dividends now. Should be a model for others on the team who may be down on the bench/street clothes.