Hill's Efficient Night Lifts BGSU Over Ball State Tuesday In Muncie

Tuesday, January 30

Muncie, Ind.

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

15-6,6-3MAC

Ball State

11-10,3-6MAC

Bowling Green

Ball St.

Photo by: Nick Wilson, Ball State Athletics

Hill's Efficient Night Lifts BGSU Over Ball State Tuesday In Muncie

January 30, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-BSU Game Stats Support Our Student-Athletes Photo Gallery

Hill Records 12-Straight Made Field Goals, Logs Sixth-Straight 20-Point Game

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

MUNCIE, Ind. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team got back in the win column with a road victory over the Ball State Cardinals Tuesday (Jan. 30) in Muncie, 81-72. The Falcons took a two-point advantage to the half with a big 9-0 second half run securing the lead for the win. Bowling Green was able to utilize second chance points to their advantage, outscoring Ball State 16-6 in the stat. The Falcons will now return home for their next two games with a 15-6 record and 6-3 MAC standing.

Marcus Hill led the way for the Falcons with 28 points, his sixth-straight 20-point game. Hill shot 72% from the field, going 13-of-18. He missed his first shot of the night, but proceeded to make his next 12 shot attempts. Jason Spurgin followed on the score sheet with 17 points, including a key triple and free throws down the stretch. Rashaun Agee rounded out the double-digit scorers with 14 points to go along with a team-leading 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double in the last 13 games.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons won the opening tip, but it was Ball State with the first points of the game, coming with a layup. Trey Thomas swiped a steal to answer and dished it off to Marcus Hill in transition for the dunk and first BGSU points.
Ball State hit a three to reclaim their early lead before Hill tallied a step-back jumper, but another BSU bucket made it a 7-4 score at the first media break.
Out of the timeout, Rashaun Agee registered an offensive board and bucket. Ball State answered with an elbow jumper and a layup to push their lead to 11-6.
After two Agee free throws and a Ball State bucket, the Falcons tallied a 5-0 run to knot it up 13-13. Jason Spurgin got a second chance layup followed by a corner three from DaJion Humphrey.
Ball State responded to push back in front 15-13, but EJay Greer quickly gave an answer of his own, hitting a corner three to give the Falcons a 16-15 lead at the under-12 media timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Ball State utilized a 5-0 run to take the lead back at 20-16 at the under-8 break.
The two teams traded points before a 5-0 BGSU burst pushed the Falcons in front 23-22. An Agee free throw was followed by a Spurgin putback and Hill swipe and score for the lead. A free throw for the Cardinals tied it at 23-23.
Agee swiped a steal for the Falcons and strong ball movement in transition found an open Spurgin for three to swing the score back to the Falcons, 26-23. A driving layup from PJ Edwards made it another 5-0 BGSU run, giving Bowling Green a 28-23 lead.
Ball State answered with a three, but an acrobatic layup from Hill extended the lead back to 30-26 Falcons at the final media timeout of the first half.
After the media timeout, Hill connected on his first three of the game to make it a 33-26 advantage and force Ball State's first half use-it-or-lose-it timeout.
Ball State converted an and-one and a jumper before half to close the gap to 33-31.
Spurgin started the second half with a layup. Thomas soon followed with a corner three and then a driving layup from Agee gave the Falcons a 7-0 run to start the second half and a 40-31 lead.
Ball State hit two threes, interrupted by an Agee layup, to trim the lead to 42-37. Each team added a basket, with the Falcons' coming from Hill, for a 44-39 score at the first media timeout.
Hill tallied a layup out of the timeout, but a 5-0 Ball State run cut the lead down to 46-44.
The Falcons answered with a 5-0 run of their own. Greer hit a free throw followed by layups from Hill and Edwards for a 51-44 lead to force a Ball State timeout.
Ball State continued to chip away at the lead. A three-point play and a three, interrupted by a Hill fastbreak layup off an Edwards steal, got it to 53-49. Another three for the Cardinals got it down to a one-point game at 53-52. Hill hit a jumper for BGSU to push the score to 55-52.
The Hill jumper jump started an 8-0 BGSU run with Thomas and Hill hitting threes from nearly the same spot on the floor in back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 61-52 at the under-8 media break. Agee hit a free throw after the timeout to make it a 10-point lead and 9-0 run.
The two teams began trading baskets with the lead staying intact up to 68-58 before a 68-60 score at the under-4 media timeout.
The Cardinals tallied a 6-0 run to trim the lead to 68-64. On the next BGSU possession, Thomas drew a foul from behind the arc with one second left on the shot clock. He hit all three free throws to push the lead back to 71-64.
Spurgin continued the BGSU push with a three the next time down to get the lead back to 10 for the Falcons at 74-64.
The Falcons and Cardinals traded points down the stretch with Bowling Green securing an 81-72 final for the win.

STAT LEADERS

Marcus Hill: 28 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Jason Spurgin: 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Rashaun Agee: 14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist
Trey Thomas: 9 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound
PJ Edwards: 4 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds, 2 assists

FALCON STAT FACTS

The win moves BGSU to 15-6 on the season, the most wins in a season since 2019-20 (21). The Falcons are also now 6-3 in MAC play, the most MAC wins since 2021-22.
As a team, the Falcons shot 51.8% from the field marking the fourth time this season BGSU has posted a team field goal percentage north of 50%. In those games the Falcons are 4-0.
Marcus Hill tallied a team-leading 28 points for the Falcons, his sixth-straight 20-point game and 12th of the season. Hill was an efficient 13-of-18 from the field and 2-of-2 from three.
Jason Spurgin tallied 17 points for the Falcons, including 2-of-3 from three and 5-of-6 at the free throw line. Spurgin added seven rebounds, including four offensive to match his season-high.
Rashaun Agee finished with 14 points and a team-high 10 rebounds to mark his ninth double-double in the last 13 games. Of Agee's 10 boards, five came on offense and five came on defense. Agee also matched his career-high for steals with two.
Trey Thomas recorded a team-leading four assists for the Falcons. Thomas has now led BGSU in assists five times this season. Bowling Green is 5-0 in those games.
PJ Edwards led the Orange and Brown with three steals in the game, matching his career-high.
EJay Greer logged one of BGSU's three team blocks, going down as his first block at the collegiate level.
The win snaps a two-game losing streak on the season for BGSU as well as a four-game losing streak against Ball State all-time.
Bowling Green finishes the month of January with a record of 6-3. Between the months of December and January the Orange and Brown have posted a record of 11-3.

TODD WALKER RADIO CALLS
Humphrey Triple To Tie
3Jay Greer
Hill Steal And Slam
Edwards Scoop And Score
Agee Spins And Scores
Hill Reverse Up And In
Key Spurgin Three
Falcons Win!
Postgame Interview With Head Coach Todd Simon

QUOTE FROM COACH SIMON
"I thought our resilience was good in the second half. When we needed stops we were able to find them. I thought our guys were a little more locked in, especially when the runs started to come."

UP NEXT
The Falcons will return home to the Stroh Center for their next two games. BGSU will host the Central Michigan Chippewas on Saturday (Feb. 3) for a 5 p.m. tip. Bowling Green will then take on Buffalo inside the Stroh Center on Tuesday (Feb. 6) with a 7 p.m. start.

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons' men's basketball team on social media
Twitter - @BGAthletics and @BGSUMBB
Instagram - 'bgfalcons' and 'bgsumhoops'
Facebook - 'BGSU Athletics'
YouTube - 'Falcon Athletics'