 AKRON 89, BOWLING GREEN 54 NO ANSWERS
“They did a lot of things right and we didn’t do many things right,” BG head coach Louis Orr said about the drubbing. “It was a tough game to watch; we didn’t have any answers, offensively (or) defensively.”
For Akron head Keith Dambrot, the Zips are doing a lot “right” of late, going 6-2 in the last eight games.
“They just caught us on probably our best game in the seven years I’ve been here,” Dambrot said. “We just went into the game trying to attack and not be tentative against the zone. That’s really what we did.
“We have a little front-running tendency ... and when things go well, we’re pretty good,” he added.
It started with the 3-point arc. Akron was 7-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first half while BG was 0-of-5 as the Zips were up 41-23 at the break. At one point in the second half the Zips were 16-of-24 on threes and finished 16-of-28 as the bench players missed some shots down the stretch. The Falcons finished 0-of-8 on threes.
ROTATION ISSUES
“We didn’t play very good defense tonight,” BG’s Scott Thomas said. “Our rotations weren’t there. They got wide open threes, that weren’t contested.
“We prepared for them. We knew what they were going to run. We just didn’t come out and execute our game plan on defense.”
Brent McClanahan led the 3-point parade making 6-of-7 and Darryl Roberts was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc for the Zips.
Dambrot said the Zips got a lot of open looks against both BG’s zone and BG’s trapping pressure, which allowed his team to be aggressive from beyond the arc.
Akron also hit the boards, holding a 44-33 edge in rebounding, and played good defense, making Thomas and A’uston Calhoun work for their points. Calhoun finished with 18 points and Thomas added 10. The two combined to shoot 9-of-27 from the floor.
FALCONS 0-FOR ON TREYS
“We had a poor shooting night,” Orr said. “You can’t let a team shoot 55 percent and go 16-of-28 on threes and then you shoot 30 percent and go 0-for-8 on threes. You put those two together; I don’t know if they always add up to a 35-point loss, but they did tonight.”
The Falcons were down 17-14 after a Torian Oglesby layup with 10:34 left in the first half. The Zips then took control of the game, going on a 20-3 run over a span of 8:32. BG’s only points in the run were a basket from Calhoun and a free throw from Oglesby.
In the second half, Akron led by 40 at one point before settling for the 35-point win.
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and figure out how we can defend and get better. That’s something I have to do as a coach,” Orr said. “It’s definitely an attention-getter for me. It’s all about how you respond.”
NOTES: BG is now 12-14 overall while Akron is 16-10 ... BG, Buffalo and Akron are tied for third in the MAC East at 7-5 ... The 16 made 3-pointers is an Anderson Arena record for an opponent ... The 35-point loss is not the worst loss this season for the Falcons ... Duquesne beat the Falcons, 90-54 on Nov. 22 ... Thomas led BG with eight rebounds while Calhoun had six rebounds and three steals ... BG plays at Youngstown State Saturday in the BracketBuster with tipoff at 7:05 p.m.
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