Bowling Green Preview

On Saturday night, the Crusaders will be hosting Bowling Green State University. The Crusaders will be looking to avenge a 85-76 loss to IPFW on Wednesday night. Bowling Green comes into Saturday's game at 5-3, with an 0-2 record on the road. Valpo is sitting at 6-3 on the year, with last Saturday's win against Butler the highlight of the season so far.

Last time out: Valpo could do nothing to stop IPFW as they shot a blazing hot 61% for the game. Valpo shot well for the game at 51%, but it makes it difficult to stay in it when the opposition is hitting so frequently. The main difference was in 3 point shooting, where Valpo only shot 35% for the entire game. IPFW again was unstoppable behind the arc hitting 58% of their treys. The Crusaders still had a shot to win as they had a one point lead with 14 minutes left to play. But IPFW went on a run right after that, and Valpo never recovered. Ryan Broekhoff led the team in scoring with 20.


Game Preview: Bowling Green has beaten Detroit this year (67-61), a Horizon League foe Valpo will be very familiar with by the season's end. The only other regular season win for Bowling Green has come against Austin Peay. As mentioned before, BGSU has not won on the road yet this year, so the Crusaders should have a slight edge in that area. Especially considering the Crusaders are undefeated at 4-0 this season. BGSU averages 66 points per game, and the Crusaders are giving up about 67. BGSU is an offensively balanced team, with the scoring leader being Scott Thomas, a 6'7 senior forward. They are comparable to Valpo in depth, in terms of minutes played. BGSU has 6 players averaging 20 minutes of more, with the 7th man being just under. Valpo is the same, with Richie Edwards being the 7th man, and he is at 19.7 mpg. Overall, we can expect a very interesting competitive contest. Ryan Broekhoff and Kevin Van Wijk keep showing us why they are so valuable to the team by posting consistent number. Van Wijk had 15 points and 9 rebounds in the IPFW game. The player to watch, in my opinion, will be Richard Edwards. He played very well at Butler, especially down the stretch. He had 18 in that contest, but just 2 points against IPFW. Look for him to get back on track in this one.


Prediction: I have confidence the Crusaders will get back on track and stay undefeated at home. Valpo takes it 65-59.