Bowling Green at Miami 1/21/21 - College Basketball Picks & Predictions

The Bowling Green Falcons travel on the road to Millett Hall to take on the Miami-Ohio Redhawks. Bowling Green got off to a hot start to the year but has since lost two of their last three games, sandwiching a road-win over Buffalo between home losses to Ball State and the most recent a 69-57 loss to Akron. Miami-Ohio has won two of three since a long COVID layoff, the most recent winning 81-71 over Ball State to improve to 5-4 (2-2 conference). 

Bowling Green has been one of the best offensive units in the MAC this season averaging 79.9 points per game ranking 48th in the country in scoring offense. The Falcons love to push the pace, they’re 19th in the country in field-goals attempted but are shooting just 42.9% from the field and 34.3% from beyond the arc. 

Senior guard Justin Turner is the key to the Falcons offense, he leads the way in scoring with 20.4 and assists with 5.3 per game. Turner is a 2x All-MAC player and has started over 100 games for the Falcons, his shooting percentage has dipped this season to 41.6% but the increase in assists has been huge for the Falcons. Combo guard Daeqwon Plowden is pulling down a team-high 8.7 rebounds and adding 11.6 points per game. 

Miami Ohio has struggled to get anything going offensively and comes in averaging 68.4 points per game ranking 257th in the country in scoring offense. The Redhawks are shooting just 41.7% from the field but have had success from beyond the arc making 36.9% of their threes. 

Junior guard Mekhi Lairy has anchored the offense, he was a MAC All-Freshman two seasons ago and has improved in each season including the beginning of this year. Lairy is averaging 11.9 points and 3.1 assists per game, both of which are team-highs. Senior forward Delonte Brown is another experienced piece coming back averaging 11.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. 

Miami-Ohio comes in allowing 69.4 points per game ranking 156th in scoring defense with opposing teams shooting 45.9% from the field, the 281st field-goal defense in the nation. Miami-Ohio is 219th in KenPom adjusted defense. Bowling Green’s pace has led to their defense allowing 73 points per game ranking 243rd in the country in scoring defense; the Falcons are 153rd in KenPom adjusted defense.