Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face Kent And Akron This Week
January 24, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2000
Bowling Green, Ohio -
THIS WEEK: The Falcons will face the two teams they are battling with for the top spot in the Mid-American Conference East Division this week. Bowling Green begins the week with a Wednesday encounter with Kent on the road which begins at 7 p.m. They then return home to face Akron on Saturday in a 1 p.m. contest.
BGSU COACH DAN DAKICH: BGSU head coach Dan Dakich is in his third season after taking over the program on April 21, 1997. His team posted a 10-16 overall mark and a 7-11 record in Mid-American Conference play his first season before rebounding last season to finish 18-10 overall and 12-6 in loop action. Dakich spent 16 years at Indiana, the first four as a player for the Hoosiers, and the last 12 as an assistant coach under Bob Knight, before taking the job at Bowling Green, his first head coaching position. His teams have compiled a 42-29 record at BG.
THE RECORDS: The Falcons have won eight of their last nine and begin the week with a 14-3 overall record and a 6-1 mark in the MAC...BG has won 11 in a row at home and are 7-0 at Anderson Arena this season...BG has won 21 of its last 26 games dating back to February of last season...Kent begins the week one-half game behind the Falcons in third place in the East Division...they are 14-3 overall and 6-2 in loop action...they are 7-0 at home, 3-0 in MAC play...they had a four-game winning streak snapped in their 69-64 loss at Akron on Saturday...they have won 11 of their last 13 games...they have won 12 in a row at home...Akron, which plays at Buffalo tonight (Jan. 24), will take a 14-4 overall record and an 8-1 mark into that game...Akron has won its last two, and seven of its last eight...Akron is 5-3 on the road this season, 3-0 in MAC play...Akron begins the week in first place in the East Division, one game ahead of Bowling Green.
SERIES NOTES: Bowling Green and Kent are meeting for the 121st time with the Falcons holding a 73-47 edge...Kent has won the last two meetings, both at home, by small margins...Kent won the 1997-98 game by a 71-64 count and the game last year by a 68-63 score...the two programs have split the last 12 overall meetings...11 of the last 15 overall series games have been decided by seven points or less...down through the years, Kent has a 34-25 edge at home...Bowling Green and Akron will be hooking up for the 25th time with the Falcons holding a 16-8 edge...the two programs have split the last six meetings...each of the last five meetings have been decided by single digits with 32 points the total margin of victory in those five contests...BG has a 9-2 record in games played at home down through the years...BG was a 66-57 winner at home last season...BG is 11-4 vs. Akron since they joined the MAC in 1992-93...11 games in the series have been decided by single digits.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons opened the week with a hard-fought 77-74 decision at Central Michigan...BG controlled most of the first half leading by as many as eight points late before settling for the three-point edge at the break...CMU took their biggest lead - eight points - with 12:39 left, and after BG had come back to tie the contest, CMU led by four points with 3:12 left...after a basket and one free throw, BG trailed by one point and Anthony Stacey hit a three-pointer with 28 seconds left to put the Falcons ahead for good and help them earn the road victory...Keith McLeod led the Falcons with 17 points while Brandon Pardon added 16 as the Falcons had five players score in double figures...the Falcons came back from another eight-point deficit to defeat Miami last week at Anderson Arena by a 68-63 score...the Falcons only lead until there was a little over six minutes left in the game was 2-0 as Miami had as much as a 10-point bulge in the first half and they led 25-23 at the break...Miami increased the lead to eight points early in the second half before the Falcons fought back to tie the score at the 9:10 mark...a three-pointer by Keith McLeod at the 6:36 mark put the Falcons ahead for good...McLeod's basket was the beginning of a 15-4 BG run...BG shot 73.7% from the floor in the second half...Anthony Stacey led the Falcons with 20 points while McLeod added 14 markers and Len Matela 13 points and eight rebounds.
STACEY SETS ONE RECORD, EYEING ANOTHER: Senior forward Anthony Stacey (Elyria, Ohio/Grafton Midview) had his sights on a couple BGSU school records coming into the season and he has eclipsed one of those. Stacey became the school career leader in steals with a theft early in the Miami game on Jan. 19. He now has 205 steals in his career to surpass the previous mark of 201 set by David Jenkins (1981-84). He now has his sights set on the career scoring record. He needs 136 points (needs to average 12.4 points in remaining 11 regular season games) to move past record-holder Howard Komives (1962-64) who scored 1,834 points. Stacey begins the week with 1,699 points. He is now fifth on the BG career scoring list. He also has become one of only 14 players who have collected 600 or more rebounds with 682 in his career, ninth on the all-time BG list. He could finish his career as high as fifth on the BG career rebounding list. Stacey also ranks 11th in school history having shot 50.2% from the field. 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 17 games this season, he is averaging 15.5 points, first on the team, 5.9 rebounds, second on the team, 2.5 assists, fourth on the team, 2.0 steals, first on the squad, while shooting 46.4% from the floor, 34.9% from three-point range, and 76.8% from the charity stripe. He had 30 points in the two games last week and has averaged 17.6 points over the last five games.
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 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...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 11-2 record in the first 13 games ties them with the 1937-38 squad for the eighth-most wins by any team in school history with only two losses...the 3-0 start in MAC play was the best since the 1982-83 squad started with the same record.
TIME CHANGES: The start time for all three Bowling Green games which will be televised as part of the MAC package have been changed. The Feb. 5 game with Ohio at Anderson Arena has been changed to noon from 1 p.m. The Feb. 7 game at Toledo will now start at 8 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. and the Feb. 12 game at Miami which was originally scheduled to start at 3 p.m. will now tip off at noon.
BOWLING GREEN FAST FACTS: The Falcons have won 11 in a row at home and 26 of their last 31 against MAC foes...BG is 70-14 at home over the last six-plus seasons...BG was second in the country in the NCAA statistics last week in field goal percentage and 12th in free throw percentage...the Falcons received points in the AP national poll last week...BG has shot over 50% from the field in seven of their last nine games and are now shooting 50.6% to lead the MAC...BG is shooting an eye-popping 53.9% from the floor in MAC play...BG had their string of four consecutive games with five players in double figures come to end in the Miami win when only three scored 10 or more...sophomore Len Matela (Merrillville, Ind./Andrean) continued his strong play last week with 11 points and eight rebounds against Central Michigan and 13 points and eight rebounds against Miami...he continued his excellent shooting hitting nine-of-13 shots from the field in the two games...he is now shooting 64.3% for the season and 69.4% in MAC play...he is also shooting over 78 % from the free throw line for the season and leads the team in rebounding...he has averaged 16.1 points and 8.8 rebounds in the last eight games...sophomore Keith McLeod (Canton, Ohio/McKinley) has scored in double figures in each of the last nine games and has three contests of 20 or more points this season...he is second on the team averaging 14.4 points while he was third in the nation in three-point shooting percentage in last week's NCAA stats...he has converted 54.4% of his three-pointers this season...his 3.1 assist average is second on the team...sophomore Brandon Pardon (Van Wert, Ohio/Lincolnview H.S./Wright State) had his best scoring game as a Falcon with 16 points in the win over Central Michigan...he came back to score six points and add six assists in the Miami contest...he leads the team with 54 assists in 10 games...he is averaging over 27 minutes a game coming off the bench...senior Dave Esterkamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) continues to contribute in a number of areas...he is third on the team in scoring at 12.6 points, third on the team in rebounding (4.8) and assists (2.8), and second in steals (21)...he had 13 points and nine rebounds in the Central Michigan game last week, but saw his string of eight straight games in double figures end against Miami when he scored four points...junior Trent Jackson (Rochester, N.Y./Franklin H.S./Ohio State) scored nine points in both games last week and is still averaging in double figures for the season (10.6 ppg)...Jackson hit all three of his three-point attempts in the win over Miami to account for his nine points.
KENT NOTES: Head coach Gary Waters is in his fourth season with the Golden Flashes with his teams having compiled a record of 59-45...the Golden Flashes have four players averaging in double figures with the leading scorer, guard Trevor Huffman (6-1, So.), coming off the bench...Huffman, who averages over 27 minutes per game, is averaging 13.2 points and is second on the team with 22 three-point field goals shooting 34.4% from beyond the arc...also in double figures is starters John Whorton (6-8, Sr., center) at 12.7 points, Kyrem Massey (6-5, Jr., forward) at 11.1 points, and Demetric Shaw (6-3, So., guard) at 10.2 points...the other starters are guard Andrew Mitchell (5-11, Jr.) and forward Eric Thomas (6-4, Jr.)...Mitchell is averaging 8.4 points while Thomas is at 5.1 points...Whorton leads the rebounding efforts with a 6.4 average while Massey is averaging 5.8 caroms per game...Kent has eight players averaging 13 or more minutes per game...the top three-point shooter is guard Nate Meers (6-3, Sr.) who has 31 "triples" and is shooting 41.3% from three-point range...Whorton is shooting 58.0% from the floor to lead the MAC while Huffman is averaging 4.9 assists, fourth in the league...both Shaw and Huffman are shooting over 83% from the charity stripe...Whorton had 25 points, his season high, in their loss to Akron on Saturday to go along with 13 rebounds...he was the only player in double figures for the Golden Flashes.
AKRON NOTES: Head coach Dan Hipsher is in his fifth season with his teams having compiled a record of 60-64...the former player at Bowling Green has a career mark of 186-109...the Zips have three players averaging in double figures and normally start a lineup of four seniors and a junior...guard Jami Bosley (6-1, Sr.) leads the way averaging 17.5 points, eighth in the MAC, while he leads the team with 32 three-pointers shooting 40.0% from beyond the arc, eighth in the MAC...he is also averaging 3.9 assists, ninth in the MAC...also in double figures is forward Ryan Andrick (6-7, Sr.) at 14.5 points and guard Jimmal Ball (5-10, Sr.) at 13.3 points...forward George Phillips (6-6, Sr.) at 9.2 points and center Bruce Weinkein (6-11, Jr.) at 5.6 points rounds out the starting lineup...Andrick leads the team in rebounding at 6.1 per game while he is sixth in the MAC shooting 49.1% from the floor...Phillips is right behind Andrick at 5.9 rebounds while shooting 51.7% from the floor...Bosley is fourth in the MAC shooting 83.9% from the charity stripe...Akron has eight players averaging over 10 minutes per game and another player just under 10 per contest...top player off the bench is guard Andy Hipsher (6-8, Fr.) at 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds...he is the son of head coach Dan Hipsher...Ball leads the MAC in steals averaging 2.8 per game...Andrick had 19 points in the win over Kent on Saturday to lead the Zips...Bosley had 57 points in their two games last week, including a 41-point outburst in their overtime win at Eastern Michigan.
NEXT WEEK: The Falcons begin another busy period in the schedule as they open a stretch of four games in eight days with a Feb. 2 contest at Ball State. BG will then host Ohio on Feb. 5 at Anderson Arena.
Probable Bowling Green Starters
F - Dave Esterkamp, 6-7, 220, Sr., 12.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg F - Anthony Stacey, 6-4, 235, Sr., 15.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg C - Len Matela, 6-9, 220, So., 12.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg G - Keith McLeod, 6-2, 185, So., 14.4 ppg, 3.1 apg G - Graham Bunn, 6-1, 170, So., 3.0 ppg, 1.8 apg Off The Bench G - Brandon Pardon, 6-1, 185, So., 6.1 ppg, 5.4 apg G - Trent Jackson, 6-4, 205, Jr., 10.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg C - Brent Klassen, 6-8, 220, So., 3.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg
Compare The Teams
( ) - MAC RankBowling Green Scoring: 78.0 ppg (3) Scoring Margin: +8.6 (4) FG%: 50.6% (1) 3-Pt. FG%: 38.2% (2) FT%: 74.6% (3) Pts. Allowed: 69.4 ppg (5) FG% Defense: 43.8% (8) Reb. Margin: +1.5 (5)
Kent Scoring: 78.4 ppg (2) Scoring Margin: +12.9 (1) FG%: 45.3% (4) 3-Pt. FG%: 35.9% (6) FT%: 76.1% (2) Pts. Allowed: 65.4 ppg (2) FG% Defense: 41.9% (3) Reb. Margin: +3.6 (3)
Akron Scoring: 77.8 ppg (5) Scoring Margin: +9.5 (3) FG%: 45.6% (3) 3-Pt. FG%: 34.3% (8) FT%: 76.8% (1) Pts. Allowed: 68.3 ppg (4) FG% Defense: 41.3% (2) Reb. Margin: +0.1 (7)
BG Individuals Among MAC Leaders
Scoring 12. Anthony Stacey, 15.5 ppg 16. Keith McLeod, 14.4 ppg Rebounding 8. Len Matela, 7.6 rpg 15. Anthony Stacey, 5.9 rpg FG% 8. Anthony Stacey, 46.4% Assists none Free Throw % 7. Len Matela, 78.2% 10. Anthony Stacey, 76.8% 15. Keith McLeod, 74.7% Steals t4. Anthony Stacey, 2.0 spg 3-Pt. % 1. Keith McLeod, 54.4% 3-Pt. FG t4. Keith McLeod, 2.2/game
