@Akron 71, Binghamton 51

Binghamton lost its third straight game tonight, a 71-51 decision in Akron, Ohio, the home of junior guard Dwayne Jackson.

Right off the bat, I must give credit where credit is due: BU Zoo guru Bradley Small called a 20-point Akron win right before tip, and fellow Pipe Dream writer Randy Benjenk gave me a 19-point spread.

Turns out I was wrong with my 34-point prediction, thanks in large part to an ice-cold first half by both teams. Listening in to Roger Neel on WNBF, it sounded a lot like Binghamton played a good first half and a bad first half.

That first half finished with BU down eight points, but it felt closer than that. Akron hit a three-pointer in the final seconds to stretch the lead from five to eight, which is a big difference at the half. Instead of being right on the brink of closing the gap coming out of the break, Binghamton never really seemed to be in the game again, as the lead kept growing and growing. BU committed five turnovers in the first four minutes of the second half. Ouch.

Lazar Trifunovic again played well, working particularly well on the glass, but when the Bearcats miss put-backs and lay-ups, even great rebounding won't help.

"Maybe they're just not used to being that open," Broadus said on WNBF after the game. That sounded a bit like a pot shot at the previous coaching administration, but I'd try and look through that quote: the guys are missing wide-open shots. As the coach added, of their 1-for-13 streak mid-first half, seven of those misses were lay-ups. That's nothing to be proud of, no matter how open you are.

In other conference news, I was pretty surprised to see Northeastern 70, @Maine 57 -- I also would've anticipated a bigger spread in that contest.