BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green State University men’s basketball coach Todd Simon doesn’t have his team do rebounding drills during practices.
In his eyes, rebounding is more than just the ability to jump and grab the ball.
“At the end of the day, it’s a consistency. It’s more of a culture stat to me because that tells me that you’re willing to do the hard stuff on every possession because it’s hard,” Simon said. “I’ve got a guy taking a 20-foot head start and he’s going to smash right into my back at a high rate of speed, and I’ve got to stand there and make sure that the resistance is great, then go get it with two hands, and then I’ve got to run 94 feet and try to score as fast as I can.
“That’s our culture.”
It’s something the Falcons have not only embraced, but excelled at during the 2023-24 season. And it came up big in Saturday’s 84-79 Mid-American Conference win over Western Michigan.
BGSU (14-4, 5-1 MAC), the top rebounding team in the MAC (38.2 per game entering the game), had a 47-41 advantage on the glass against the No. 2 rebounding team in the league in Western Michigan (37.5). The Falcons’ 19 offensive boards were a season high, and they led to 14 second-chance points.
BGSU has corralled at least 40 rebounds in nine games, including a season high of 53 against Ohio Dominican earlier this season. Saturday’s output was tied for the second highest of the campaign, and it came against a big, tall, and physical Western Michigan squad.
“They’re probably tired of hearing about it. That’s all that we’ve challenged them is this Western Michigan rebounding,” Simon said. “They’re going to send four to the glass, they’re going to do this, they’re going to do that, and our guys were out to kind of prove us wrong.
“So they did a great job in that area. Our guards did a good job getting in the fight, and that’s a big, strong team up front at Western, which requires a lot of toughness.”
The Falcons’ effort on the offensive glass against the Broncos was highlighted by their leading scorer.
Marcus Hill, a 6-foot-4 junior guard, pulled down a season-best 11 rebounds to go with his game-high 28 points. He had five offensive rebounds that led to six points.
A key sequence came with a little more than two minutes left. After leading by 16 with 10 minutes left, BGSU was clinging to a 72-71 advantage after a big Western Michigan rally.
Hill drove to the basket and put up a shot, but he missed. He chased down the offensive rebound and went back up amongst a tower of Western Michigan players.
Again, he missed but found a way to snag the rebound, and the third time was the charm as a tough putback gave BGSU a three-point lead. After Western Michigan’s Javonte Brown converted an easy dunk, Hill scored the next eight points to help BGSU win.
“I was just trying to be strong, trying to make sure I’d get the bucket,” Hill said. “So every time I got it, I was going back up, and it worked out.”
Added Simon: “He’s built different in that way. He’s one of those guys that’s going to will it into the basket. He loves scoring so much, I think maybe that’s why he wants that ball. If he misses, he wants it twice as bad as the initial miss so he can put it back in. He’s a unique talent down there.”
Senior forward Rashaun Agee had a game-high 14 rebounds (five offensive) to go with his 12 points in registering his seventh double-double in the past 10 games. Jason Spurgin, a 7-foot senior center, had nine rebounds (four offensive).
For the season, Agee is tied for second in the MAC in rebounding (9.1 per game). Spurgin’s 6.0 rebounds per game rank tied for 10th.
The effort Agee and Spurgin have put in this season with injuries severely impacting BGSU’s frontcourt has been impressive, according to Simon.
“What we’re asking Rashaun and Jason to do is way more difficult than people understand,” Simon said. “Jason’s 255 pounds and 7 feet and it’s like hey, you’ve got to play 32 minutes of our style of play where we’re going to get 80 possessions, which is 80 trips up and down the floor, and oh by the way, their 7-footer is going to smash into you 50 times.
“And then you’ve got to rebound, and then you’ve got to do this. And they have to play together, so now you’ve got to chase around their 3-point shooter and you’ve got to chase him around the arc. It’s extremely difficult what Rashaun and Jason are doing just from a pure workhorse, energy, effort expended type of deal.”
First Published January 20, 2024, 11:36 p.m.
