Analysis: Comparing Halves

Since I, like most of the country, was only able to watch the last minute of the 1st half and most (but not all) of the 2nd half of the Boston College game, I thought I'd break down the box score into efficiencies and four factors by half.

Stat	1st	2nd	Full
Pace	27	25	52
OEff	96.8	145.2	120.0
eFG%	41.7%	50.0%	46.2%
TO%	18.6%	20.2%	19.4%
OR%	33.3%	63.2%	50.0%
FTM/FGA	25.0%	28.6%	26.9%
DEff	111.7	100.8	106.5
eFG%	53.8%	34.5%	43.6%
TO%	21.9%	11.8%	17.1%
OR%	43.8%	42.9%	43.2%
FTA/FGA	19.2%	20.7%	20.0%

Coming into the game, we had heard that Boston College had a nice offense, especially when their big 3 of Dudley (PPWS: 1.46, 1.11, 1.23 [1st, 2nd, full]), Rice (1.71, 1.12, 1.38) and Marshall (1.00, 0, 0.60) are going off. Since the rest of the team only accounted for 5 pts (all by Blair), the 2nd half shut down of Marshall (0-6 FG, 1 OR, 1 TO) caused the improvement in the Hoyas' defensive efficiency, although it also helped that Rice stopped hitting 30-ft. shots. The only significant improvement in the four factors is the drop in eFG%.

We had also heard that BC was not a great defensive team, but after starting the game 5-5, BC's switch to a 1-3-1 defense put the kibosh on G'town's vaunted offense, keeping them well below their season average efficiency. What changed in the 2nd half was a domination of the offensive boards (rebounding nearly 2/3 of missed own shots), which kicked the offensive efficiency into the stratosphere.

A growing concern is defensive glass, where Georgetown has once again allowed a team to rebound well above their season average; BC came in getting 38% off. rebounds. Vanderbilt is a lousy rebounding team, (OR = 29.7%, Rank = 282), but have rebounded above average, and better than their opponents, in their 2 tourney wins. That aspect will bear watching.