I know this may seem like an awkward statement to make, but this was probably my favorite win of the season...
UB didn't score a lot of points, the crowd really wasn't into the game, no exciting dunks or plays that made you say "wow", but just an overall good solid win.
The defense played a very good game if you look at it from all of the aspects that you wont see on paper. Their close out on the outside shooters was soooo much better than it was at the mid way point of the conference season. Bowling Green was only 1 for 9 from beyond the arc, which is where we were struggling. The 1 for 9 is nice, but the fact that they were only able to get 9 shots off from 3-point land is a major sign of how much better the perimeter defense play has been.
I know Bowling Green doesn't have a high-powered offense, but for a team with the worst defense in the conference (allowing around 72 points a game against), holding an opponent to 51 points really is something special. The guards didn't really pick up any dumb fouls, keeping the 4 man rotation of Betts, Boyer, Pierce, and Smiley in tact, and not having to use the other guys on the bench.
Watt got into foul trouble really early, and picked up his 3rd in the first minute of the second half. I know he isn't the best one on one defender, but his length and athleticism really helps out defenders who need help when they lose their man. Being able to hold a team to 51 points, with Watt not being there/having to play conservative defense makes the defensive performance by the rest of the team that much impressive.
Offensively there was some struggle, I know that, but we never play well offensively against the 2-3 zone and Bowling Green. So if you really think of it, 64 points against them is about what you should expect against the slow paced Bowling Green team.
Its easy to say that they played terrible offensively for the first half of the 2nd period, which is true, but I believe there was a reason behind that. There were up by such a substantial amount going into that point in time (more importantly there was just playing really well overall leading up to that point), so I think the team just had a mentality to slow the pace down even more, and just try to take a lot of outside 3's, while conserving energy. When the score started getting dangerously close the Bulls decided to pick up the offense, and completely outplayed Bowling Green for the rest of the game.
Okay I need to get some sleep since Ive had a really long day, more analysis coming tomorrow
UB didn't score a lot of points, the crowd really wasn't into the game, no exciting dunks or plays that made you say "wow", but just an overall good solid win.
The defense played a very good game if you look at it from all of the aspects that you wont see on paper. Their close out on the outside shooters was soooo much better than it was at the mid way point of the conference season. Bowling Green was only 1 for 9 from beyond the arc, which is where we were struggling. The 1 for 9 is nice, but the fact that they were only able to get 9 shots off from 3-point land is a major sign of how much better the perimeter defense play has been.
I know Bowling Green doesn't have a high-powered offense, but for a team with the worst defense in the conference (allowing around 72 points a game against), holding an opponent to 51 points really is something special. The guards didn't really pick up any dumb fouls, keeping the 4 man rotation of Betts, Boyer, Pierce, and Smiley in tact, and not having to use the other guys on the bench.
Watt got into foul trouble really early, and picked up his 3rd in the first minute of the second half. I know he isn't the best one on one defender, but his length and athleticism really helps out defenders who need help when they lose their man. Being able to hold a team to 51 points, with Watt not being there/having to play conservative defense makes the defensive performance by the rest of the team that much impressive.
Offensively there was some struggle, I know that, but we never play well offensively against the 2-3 zone and Bowling Green. So if you really think of it, 64 points against them is about what you should expect against the slow paced Bowling Green team.
Its easy to say that they played terrible offensively for the first half of the 2nd period, which is true, but I believe there was a reason behind that. There were up by such a substantial amount going into that point in time (more importantly there was just playing really well overall leading up to that point), so I think the team just had a mentality to slow the pace down even more, and just try to take a lot of outside 3's, while conserving energy. When the score started getting dangerously close the Bulls decided to pick up the offense, and completely outplayed Bowling Green for the rest of the game.
Okay I need to get some sleep since Ive had a really long day, more analysis coming tomorrow