Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Men's Basketball Completes Non-League Schedule
December 27, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 1999
THIS WEEK: Bowling Green completes the non-league portion of its 1999-2000 schedule in the next week while beginning Mid-American Conference action just after the new year. Bowling Green will host Urbana on Wednesday (Dec. 22) before making the trip to Little Rock, Ark. for the second meeting of the season with Arkansas-Little Rock. The game will be played Dec. 30 with tipoff scheduled for 5:15 p.m.(central time). The Falcons then open MAC play at home against Marshall on Jan. 2 with the contest tipping off at 3:30 p.m.
THE RECORDS: The Falcons will look to put an end to a two-game losing skid which has dropped their overall record to 6-2...the Falcons started the season winning their first six games...BG is 2-0 at home this season, 2-2 on the road...Urbana will bring a 1-7 record into the game with the Falcons on Wednesday...Urbana has lost its last six games and they are 0-3 on the road...Arkansas-Little Rock will take a 3-5 overall record into a game tomorrow (Dec. 21) at Georgia...UALR has won its last two games and is 3-2 at home this season...Marshall will take a 7-0 record into their MAC opener tonight (Dec. 20) at Western Michigan...the Thundering Herd will also host UNC-Asheville on Dec. 28 and Central Michigan on Dec. 30 before the meeting with the Falcons.
SERIES NOTES: Bowling Green and Urbana have played three times, twice in the 1925-26 season, and last year...Urbana won both games in 1925-26 while the Falcons posted a 91-62 victory at home last season...BG's only previous meeting with Arkansas-Little Rock came about a month ago (Nov. 27) when the Falcons earned a 91-84 decision...the Falcons lead the series with Marshall by a 24-21 count...Marshall won both games in the 1997-98 season, the first meetings between the two programs since the 1980-81 season, before the Falcons turned the tables last season taking both meetings...the Falcons have a 15-7 record at home in the series having won six of the last eight meetings...BG won 81-67 at home last season and 78-72 in Huntington.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons dropped their only contest, a 100-54 decision at West Virginia...the game was played in Charleston, W. Va. due to renovations being done to WVU's home facility in Morgantown...WVU sprinted out to a 16-3 lead early on the strength of a 13-1 run...the Falcons fought back to close the gap to six points at 24-18 with 8:25 left in the first half...but, from there it was all West Virginia as the Mountaineers scored the next nine points to build a 15-point cushion which they enjoyed at halftime...they built their lead to 20 points in the first five minutes of the second half, and 17 straight points later in the half put the game away building an 85-48 lead at the 5:19 mark...the Falcons shot only 25.8% from the floor for the game while WVU was converting at a 55.2% clip...WVU had a 53-31 edge on the boards and blocked 12 BG shots...Trent Jackson led the Falcons with 12 points while Anthony Stacey added 10 points and seven rebounds.
STACEY EYEING RECORDS: Senior forward Anthony Stacey (Elyria, Ohio/Grafton Midview) comes into his final season with a chance to put his name among the elite who have played at Bowling Green. Stacey, a first-team All-MAC selection last season, needs just 265 points (13.3 average in the 20 remaining regular season games) to become the career scoring leader and just 12 steals to take over the top spot in that category. The least amount of points he has scored in any of his three previous full seasons was 433 and the smallest number of steals he has had in a season was 36. He is now sixth on the BG career scoring list with 1,570 points while his 190 steals are third on that list. He also has become one of only 14 players who have collected 600 or more rebounds with 643 in his career, 10th on the all-time BG list. Stacey also ranks 11th in school history having shot 50.4% from the field. He could finish his career as high as fifth on the BG career rebounding list. A second-team all-district pick of the coaches last season, he averaged 18.5 points and 5.6 rebounds with 13 efforts of 20 or more points. Stacey was a first-team preseason All-MAC selection and has been tabbed by several preseason magazines as the Player of the Year in the conference. Through eight games this season, he is averaging 14.9 points, leads the team, 7.0 rebounds, leads the team, 2.3 assists, tied for third on the team, 2.1 steals, first on the squad, while shooting 44.0% from the floor, 43.5% from three-point range, and 79.5% from the charity stripe.
FAST START: The 6-0 start by the Falcons this season was the fifth-best start in school history and the best since the 1947-48 squad started with seven wins in a row...the other four best starts all occurred in the 1940s...the Falcons went into their game Dec. 11 against Northern Iowa as one of only 22 (there are 318 programs across the country) Div. I program left without a loss...the six-game win streak was the longest since 1991-92 when that team also won six in a row in the middle portion of the season.
BOWLING GREEN FAST FACTS: Junior Trent Jackson (Rochester, N.Y./Franklin H.S./Ohio State) in the early going this season is one of the most improved players in the country..he is second on the team in scoring, 13.8 points, while shooting 61.8% from the floor, the best figure in the MAC...one of the top defensive players on the team, Jackson has started seven games this season averaging 25.5 minutes...last season he averaged just over 10 minutes per game seeing action in 18 games making one start...he scored a total of 44 points (2.4 avg.) and shot just 32.6% from the floor...he played a total of only 11 minutes in the last four games of the season last year...an explosive leaper with excellent quickness, Jackson has 11 dunks this season...he has made 37 of his 57 shots (64.9%) from the floor in the last six games averaging 16.7 points...he led the team with 12 points in the loss to West Virginia...he also leads the MAC shooting 86.7% from the charity stripe...sophomore Keith McLeod (Canton, Ohio/McKinley) has hit 12 of his 19 attempts (63.2%) from three-point range in the last four games...he is fourth in the MAC in three-point percentage shooting 51.5% for the season while he is ninth in three-pointers made per game...senior Dave Esterkamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) continues to be one of the best all-around players in the MAC...he is averaging 9.9 points, fourth on the team, 4.6 rebounds, third on the team, and he is second on the team with 28 assists and 13 steals...he has hit 24 of his 42 (57.1%) two-point shots this season...Esterkamp has 11 dunks this season...the Falcons were fifth in the nation in the NCAA statistics last week in field goal percentage at 50.7%...that figure has dropped to 47.0% after the West Virginia game...Bowling Green has yielded 83 or more points in four of its games this season, 60 or fewer in the other four...BG's last two opponents have shot over 50% from the field, something that had occurred only four times in the previous 34 games...sophomore Brandon Pardon (Van Wert, Ohio/Lincolnview H.S./Wright State) played in his first game on Saturday at West Virginia after sitting out the last year...he is a transfer from Wright State...Pardon started in the game and scored two points in 27 minutes of action...he averaged 6.1 points at Wright State in his only season there after finishing third for Mr. Basketball in the state of Ohio averaging 21.3 points as a prep senior.
URBANA NOTES: Head coach Kennon Braun is in his second season with the Blue Knights compiling a 7-25 mark in his first compaign...their lone win this season was an 85-82 victory over Wesley College...they have lost their six games this season by an average margin of over 26 points per contest...guard Robbie Sichina (6-0, So.) is averaging in double figures at 10.9 points...Sichina has a high of 21 points against the College of Mount St. Joseph...other starters include forward Bradley Smith (6-3, Fr., 6.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg), center Mike Hutchings (6-4, Fr., 1.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg), guard Chris Adkins (6-3, Fr., 5.9 ppg), and guard Jeff Fraley (6-3, Fr., 11.9 ppg)...Fraley scored 30 points in the loss to Point Park College on Saturday hitting 10-of-14 shots from the field, including six-of-eight from three-point range...he also has 14 "threes" this season and is shooting 63.6% (14-of-22) from beyond the arc...top players off the bench include Rashad Wright (8.0 ppg) and guard Lamont Hampton (6-1, So., 4.1 ppg)...Sichina is the top three-point shooter having hit 14 "triples" while shooting 35.0% from beyond the arc...10 different Urbana players have made a three-point shots this season...Urbana has been guilty of almost twice as many turnovers as they have assists this season...Urbana has two starters and three letterwinners returning from their team a year ago.
ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK NOTES: Head coach Sidney Moncrief is in his first season...he is the former five-time NBA all-star...UALR and Bowling Green played about a month ago with the Falcons posting a 91-84 win at Anderson Arena...since then, the Trojans have split their six games beating Alcon State (75-68), Grambling (81-74), and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (86-64) all at home...they have lost games to Missouri-Kansas City (86-60) and Oklahoma (80-56) on the road and a home contest to Centenary (63-49)...they have three players averaging in double figures and a fourth, guard Michael Lovitt (6-2, Sr.), who scored 11 points in his first action of the season in their win over Pine Bluff over the weekend...forward Stan Blackmon (6-6, Jr.) leads the team averaging 19.4 points and 7.6 rebounds...he is shooting 57.1% from the field and had 24 points in the previous game with the Falcons...Blackmon has one other game of over 20 points and he had 33 in their win over Grambling hitting 14-of-17 shots from the field...also in double figures is guard Laverne Smith (6-3, Jr.) and guard Alan Barksdale (6-4, Sr.)...Smith is averaging 13.5 points shooting 49.4% from the floor with a high of 19 in their win over Pine Bluff while Barksdale is by far the top three-point shooter on the team with 21 "triples" while shooting 33.9% from beyond the arc...Barksdale had his season high of 28 points in the game against Bowling Green hitting eight-of-15 from the beyond the arc...nine different Trojan players have started games this season with Smith and forward Troy Moore (6-7, Jr.) the only players to start all eight games...UALR has 43 more turnovers than assists this season while their opponents are +14 in the same category.
MARSHALL NOTES: Head coach Greg White is in his fourth season having compiled a record of 54-36...his career mark stands at 173-190...Marshall has posted impressive non-league wins over Massachusetts (65-55 on the road) and Georgia (89-79 at home)...guard Tamar Slay (6-8, So.) has been the offensive leader averaging 19.0 points, fifth in the MAC, while shooting 56.0%, second in the MAC, from the floor and 51.1%, fourth in the MAC, from three-point range...he leads the MAC averaging 3.3 three-pointer per game...also in double figures is center J.R. VanHoose (6-10, So.) at 18.2 points, seventh in the MAC, and 9.7 rebounds, tied for second in the MAC, guard Travis Young (6-0, Jr.) at 11.6 points and guard Cornelius Jackson (6-4, Jr.) at 12.1 points...Jackson leads the MAC in assists averaging 6.9 per game while Young leads the league in steals with an average of 3.1 per contest...senior Derrick Wright is the fifth starter and he is averaging 6.1 points...Marshall leads the MAC shooting 43.3% from three-point range as a team while they are second in three-pointers made per game averaging over eight per contest...guard Joda Burgess (6-6, Jr.) is the top player off the bench averaging 9.6 points...he is shooting 51.6% (16-of-31) from beyond three-point range to rank second in the MAC...Marshall is forcing over 21 turnovers per game...they have outscored their opponents thus far this season by a 599 to 449 count.
NEXT WEEK: The Falcons host Northern Illinois in a 7 p.m. game on Jan. 5 before taking to the road for a Jan. 8 game at Buffalo which tips off at 7:30. Both contests are MAC games.
Probable Bowling Green Starters
F - Dave Esterkamp, 6-7, 220, Sr., 9.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg F - Anthony Stacey, 6-4, 235, Sr., 14.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg C - Len Matela, 6-9, 220, So., 9.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg G - Keith McLeod, 6-2, 185, So., 13.6 ppg, 3.6 apg G - Brandon Pardon, 6-1, 185, So., 2.0 ppg, 1.0 apg Off The Bench G - Trent Jackson, 6-4, 205, Jr., 13.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg G - Graham Bunn, 6-1, 170, So., 4.4 ppg, 1.3 apg C - Brent Klassen, 6-8, 220, So., 3.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg
Compare The Teams
( ) - MAC RankBowling Green Scoring: 71.6 ppg (8) Scoring Margin: +1.4 (9) FG%: 47.0% (3) 3-Pt. FG%: 31.7% (9) FT%: 75.4% (3) Pts. Allowed: 70.3 ppg (10) FG% Defense: 44.2% (10) Reb. Margin: -1.6 (7)
Urbana Scoring: 66.9 ppg Scoring Margin: -22.9 FG%: 37.9% 3-Pt. FG%: 31.4% FT%: 64.4% Pts. Allowed: 89.8 ppg FG% Defense: 51.0% Reb. Margin: -9.3
Arkansas-Little Rock Scoring: 69.4 ppg Scoring Margin: -7.8 FG%: 46.6% 3-Pt. FG%: 30.9% FT%: 67.5% Pts. Allowed: 77.4 ppg FG% Defense: 49.3% Reb. Margin: +1.6
Marshall Scoring: 85.6 ppg (1) Scoring Margin: +21.4 (1) FG%: 49.0% (1) 3-Pt. FG%: 43.3% (1) FT%: 68.4% (6) Pts. Allowed: 64.1 ppg (t5) FG% Defense: 40.8% (5) Reb. Margin: +3.9 (4)
BG Individuals Among MAC Leaders
Scoring 13. Anthony Stacey, 14.9 ppg Rebounding 10. Anthony Stacey, 7.0 rpg FG% 1. Trent Jackson, 61.8% Assists 14. Keith McLeod, 3.6 apg Free Throw % 1. Trent Jackson, 86.7% 7. Dave Esterkamp, 81.5% 8. Anthony Stacey, 79.5% Steals 9. Anthony Stacey, 2.1 spg 3-Pt. % 4. Keith McLeod, 51.5% 3-Pt. FG 9. Keith McLeod, 2.1/game
