BOWLING GREEN — The recent shooting woes on the road for Bowling Green State University’s men’s basketball team didn’t make their way back to northwest Ohio on Saturday.
Derrick Butler’s career-high 35 points highlighted a remarkable shooting performance for BGSU as the Falcons connected on 57.4 percent of their shots and had six of their nine players reach double figures in scoring in a 102-81 nonconference victory over Morgan State at the Stroh Center.
“It’s phenomenal. There’s a seldom better feeling out on the basketball court than just having everyone be able to eat,” BGSU sophomore forward Preston Squire said. “DB went off for 35 and that’s great, but five other of us were able to get the ball going.
“It showed. We had 21 assists as a team, which was great to just be able to share that ball and get guys in positions where they can score and do the best with it.”
BGSU, despite missing a handful of players, notched its second straight win to improve to 4-5. The Falcons’ 55 points in the first half nearly matched their output from the previous game — a 61-60 victory over New Mexico State on Nov. 30 in Arizona.
“You’re starting to see the guys kind of really get comfortable. Everything’s coming second nature now, particularly for a lot of the new guys,” second-year BGSU coach Todd Simon said. “You’re seeing communication uptick and some comfort level out there, so that translates into good offense.”
BGSU made 70 percent (28 of 40) of its shots from 2-point range, shot a respectable 39.3 percent (11 of 28) from beyond the arc, and sank 81.3 percent (13 of 16) of its free throws. In its past three games, which included road losses to Weber State in Arizona and Bellarmine, BGSU shot a combined 36.7 percent (61 of 166) from the floor.
Butler scored 22 points in the first half, including eight in a row to give BGSU a 12-9 lead and 12 in a row to push the advantage to 42-23 with six minutes left. He made 13 of 21 shots overall, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range, and grabbed six rebounds.
“We just had to mesh together and just make the right play,” Butler said. “I’m just thankful for my teammates just finding me in the right spots, me finding my teammates in the right spots, and just making the open shots.”
Trey Thomas chipped in 16 points and made 4 of 6 shots from beyond the arc. Javontae Campbell stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points while tallying team highs of eight rebounds and four steals. He also tied a team high with five assists.
Squire (6-foot-11) had 12 points, while Marcus Johnson and Braelon Green both had 10 points, five assists, and three rebounds. Redshirt freshman Jamai Felt (6-10), who was making his first career start, had six points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes before fouling out.
Squire and Felt’s play was critical, with forwards Sam Towns and Youssef Khayat among the BGSU players who were out for the game.
“The opportunities have been great for both myself and Jamai, then also [Wilguens Jr. Exacte] as he’s kind of stepped in and been a bit of a four [position] for us,” Squire said. “We know that we put in the work and we hate to see our teammates go down.
“We want them back, but just having that confidence to know the work that we’ve all put in to be able to step in and try to fill their shoes.”
Veteran guard DaJion Humphrey was also out for the Falcons. Simon declined to go into specifics about the injuries, but said “a couple of them we probably won’t see for a little while.”
“You’re looking at a few long-term ones, and definitely for a number of them. So it’s kind of TBD. We’ve got a lot of boots and scooters and you name it,” Simon said.
For Morgan State (5-7), 12 of the 13 players who entered the game scored. Will Thomas had a team-high 19 points; Kameron Hobbs chipped in 12; Amahrie Simpkins added 11; and Wynston Tabbs, who was the Bears’ leading scorer entering the contest at 17.5 points per game, had 10 (2 of 10 shooting) with six assists and six rebounds.
The Falcons will return to action at 8 p.m. Dec. 14 at University of Missouri Kansas City.
First Published December 7, 2024, 11:01 p.m.
