Bowling Green State University Athletics
BG Has Two Important Tests At Home This Week
February 14, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2000
Bowling Green, Ohio -
THIS WEEK: The Falcons begin the next-to-last week of the regular season with their final two home contests. On Wednesday they host Kent in a 7 p.m. contest while Eastern Michigan will provide the opposition for the Falcons Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Kent contest will be a key game in the MAC East Division race as the Golden Flashes start the week with a one-game lead in the division over Akron and a 1 1/2 game lead over the Falcons.
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 44-32 record at BG.
THE RECORDS: The Falcons have won 12 of their last 16 and begin the week with an 18-6 overall record and a 10-4 mark in the MAC...BG has won 14 in a row at home and are 10-0 at Anderson Arena this season...BG has won 25 of its last 33 games dating back to February of last season...Kent will come to town with a 20-4 overall mark and a 12-3 league record...the Golden Flashes have won their last five contests and are 7-3 on the road this season, 5-2 in MAC play...Eastern Michigan, which plays at Central Michigan tonight (Feb. 14), will take a 12-11 overall mark and a 6-8 league record into that contest...EMU has lost its last three games and four of its last five...they are 5-7 on the road this season, 3-4 in MAC play.
SERIES NOTES: Bowling Green and Kent are meeting for the 122nd time with the Falcons holding a 73-48 edge...Kent has won the last three meetings, all at home...Kent won the 1997-98 game by a 71-64 count, the game last year by a 68-63 score, and the game earlier this season by an 82-64 score...the two programs have split the last 14 overall meetings...11 of the last 16 overall series games have been decided by seven points or less...down through the years, Bowling Green has a 45-13 edge at home...BG has won the last five meetings in Anderson Arena and nine of the last 10...the Falcons own a slim 35-33 edge in the series with Eastern Michigan after winning last year's only meeting on the road...Bowling Green's win at Eastern Michigan last season broke a string of nine consecutive wins in the series by the home team...the two programs have split the last 18 overall meetings...BG has a 22-7 record at home down through the years and has won the last five meetings, and seven of the last nine...overall, 10 of the last 17 games have been decided by single digits.
LAST WEEK: Bowling Green began the week losing a 79-68 decision at Toledo on Monday...Bowling Green led most of the first 15 minutes of the game before Toledo took control...UT took the lead for good at the 4:48 mark of the first half and when they scored the first eight points of the second half, the Rockets led by 11 points at the 17:49 mark...Toledo led by double digits for most of the rest of the game with the Falcons closing to as close as eight points with 2:48 left...but, Toledo scored nine of the next 11 points to secure the win...Keith McLeod led four players in double figures with 17 points...BG was outrebounded by a 41-21 count and received only three points from its bench...in a 77-68 win over Buffalo Wednesday night at home, the Falcons looked to take control early in the second half scoring eight the first 12 points to open up a 10-point lead...but, Buffalo came right back to run off the next 11 points to regain the lead...but, the Falcon defense was the difference limiting the Bulls to just five points in the last 11:41 of the game...BG took the lead for good at the 9:39 mark and six points was as close as Buffalo would get in the late going...Dave Esterkamp led the way with 23 points, 20 in the first half, while Anthony Stacey added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Len Matela 14 points and 11 caroms...the Falcons earned an important road victory to close out the week posting a 66-60 win over Miami on Saturday...BG took control early making its first six shots from the field to take a 13-0 lead...they would stay hot form the field making 13 of their first 15 shots to build a 36-20 advantage with just over five minutes left in the first half...it was the biggest lead of the game...the Falcons would lead by 12 points early in the second half when Miami went on a 15-3 run to tie the score at 47-all with 9:35 left...but, that would be as close as the RedHawks would get as BG scored the next four points and would never relinquish the lead...six straight points built an eight-point Falcon cushion with 2:51 left and secured the win...Anthony Stacey led the Falcons with 19 points, 13 in the second half, while Len Matela added 12 points and Dave Esterkamp 10 markers...Trent Jackson added 10 rebounds as the Falcons held Miami to just 34.9% shooting from the floor for the game.
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 216 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 13 points to move past record-holder Howard Komives (1962-64) who scored 1,834 points. Stacey begins the week with 1,822 points. He is now second on the BG career scoring list. He also has become one of only 14 players who have collected 600 or more rebounds with 728 in his career, seventh on the all-time BG list. He could finish his career as high as fifth on the BG career rebounding list. Stacey also ranks 12th in school history having shot 49.6% 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 24 games this season, he is averaging 16.1 points, first on the team, 6.1 rebounds, second on the team, 2.3 assists, fourth on the team, 1.9 steals, first on the squad, while shooting 44.7% from the floor, 33.8% from three-point range, and 79.7% from the charity stripe. He is averaging 17.1 points in MAC play. Stacey has scored in double figures in each of the last 16 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.
BOWLING GREEN FAST FACTS: The Falcons have won 14 in a row at home and 29 of their last 34 against MAC foes...BG is 74-14 at home over the last six-plus seasons...BG was fifth in the country in the NCAA statistics last week in field goal percentage and 10th in free throw percentage...BG has shot over 50% from the field in 12 games and are now shooting 49.8% to lead the MAC...BG is shooting 51.0% from the floor in MAC play...sophomore Len Matela (Merrillville, Ind./Andrean) continues to play as well as any center in the MAC averaging 15.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in league play while shooting 66.7% from the floor...for the season, Matela is shooting 64.2% from the floor, which was the top figure in the country in the NCAA statistics last week...Matela had 14 points and 11 rebounds off the bench in the Buffalo game last week, his seventh double-double in the last 15 games...he has scored in double figures in each of the last 12 contests, and 14 of the last 15...junior Trent Jackson (Rochester, N.Y./Franklin H.S./Ohio State) had a strong week starting all three games...he had seven points in the loss to Toledo, 10 points and seven rebounds in the win over Buffalo, and five points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the win over Miami...Jackson is shooting 55.6% from the field for the season...he has started 16 contests this season...senior Dave Esterkamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) will become the 30th player to score 1,000 points in a career this week needing just eight markers to reach the milestone...he scored in double figures in each of the three games last week highlighted by a 23-point effort in the win over Buffalo...he scored 20 of those points in the first half hitting eight-of-nine shots from the field, including all four three-point attempts...he is shooting 57.6% from the field for the season...sophomore Brandon Pardon (Van Wert, Ohio/Lincolnview H.S./Wright State) started one game last week, the Miami game, but had a total of 22 assists...he leads the team with 90 assists in 15 games while committing only 32 turnovers...he is averaging 28.7 minutes per game having started only three of the 15 games he has played in...sophomore Brent Klassen (Kimball, Neb./Kimball H.S./New Hampton Prep School) equalled his career high with nine points in the win over Miami...he hit all three of his shots from the field and all three free throws in 15 minutes of action...that was one-third of his total points for the season in MAC play.
KENT NOTES: Head coach Gary Waters is in his fourth season with his teams having compiled a record of 65-46...the defending MAC Tournament champions feature the most balanced and deepest team in the MAC...Kent has eight players averaging 14 or more minutes per game in MAC play with seven of those players averaging six or more points...the top scorer for Kent has come off the bench in all 24 games this season...guard Trevor Huffman (6-1, So.) is averaging 14.0 points and is fifth in the MAC averaging 4.6 assists per game...he is second on the team with 33 three-point field goals...also in double figures is center John Whorton (6-8, Sr.) at 12.3 points and forward Kyrem Massey (6-5, Jr.) at 10.8 points...the leading three-point shooter is guard Nate Meers (6-3, Sr.) with 40 "triples" while shooting 40.0% from beyond the arc...junior Andrew Mitchell (5-11) and sophomore Demetric Shaw (6-3) form the starting backcourt...Mitchell is averaging 8.8 points and Shaw 8.3 points...Shaw is second on the team averaging 4.9 rebounds behind only Whorton at 5.8 caroms per game...Kent is +42 in assist-turnover ratio for the season while their opponents are -125 in the same category...they are outscoring their MAC opponents thus far this season by almost 10 points per game...after the game with Bowling Green, Kent has only two league games remaining - a Feb. 19 game at home with Akron and a Feb. 26 contest at Ohio...Kent has averaged over 80 points per game in winning its last three contests.
EASTERN MICHIGAN NOTES: Head coach Milton Barnes is in his fourth season with his teams having compiled a record of 59-51...the Eagles have 10 players averaging 10 or more minutes per game and have three players averaging in double figures...forward Calvin Warner (6-7, So.) leads the team averaging 15.3 points per game shooting 54.2% from the field...he is second on the team averaging 7.4 rebounds per game...also in double figures is guard Corey Tarrant (6-4, Sr.) at 10.7 points and forward Antonio Gates (6-3, So.) at 10.4 points...Gates leads the team averaging 7.8 rebounds...forward Adam Hess (6-7, Fr.) and guard C.J. Grantham (5-9, Fr.) round out the starting lineup...Hess is averaging 9.3 points and is tied for the team lead with 27 three-pointers...Grantham is averaging 8.0 points and 3.5 assists...guard Larry Fisher (6-4, Sr.) is the other Eagle player with 27 three-pointers...nine of the 10 players averaging 10 or more minutes per game have started at least one game this season...EMU is shooting just 42.3% from the field as a team, but they lead the MAC allowing the opposition to shoot just 40.7%...despite being just one game above .500, EMU has outscored the opposition by a total of 16 points for the season...EMU has played four overtime games this season, splitting those four games, with one a double overtime and another lasting three overtimes...two of those have been in MAC play.
NEXT WEEK: The Falcons finish out the regular season with a pair of what should be important MAC games on the road. BG travels to Akron on Feb. 24 for a 7:30 game and finishes the regular season at Marshall on Feb. 26 in a 7 p.m. contest.
Probable Bowling Green Starters
F - Dave Esterkamp, 6-7, 220, Sr., 12.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg F - Anthony Stacey, 6-4, 235, Sr., 16.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg C - Len Matela, 6-9, 220, So., 13.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg G - Keith McLeod, 6-2, 185, So., 13.3 ppg, 3.0 apg G - Trent Jackson, 6-4, 205, Jr., 9.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg Off The Bench G - Brandon Pardon, 6-1, 185, So., 5.7 ppg, 6.0 apg C - Brent Klassen, 6-8, 220, So., 2.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg G - Graham Bunn, 6-1, 170, So., 2.5 ppg, 1.5 apg
Compare The Teams
( ) - MAC RankBowling Green Scoring: 76.0 ppg (4) Scoring Margin: +5.8 (4) FG%: 49.8% (1) 3-Pt. FG%: 36.6% (4) FT%: 74.8% (3) Pts. Allowed: 70.2 ppg (7) FG% Defense: 43.8% (9) Reb. Margin: +0.5 (6)
Kent Scoring: 76.5 ppg (3) Scoring Margin: +11.5 (1) FG%: 45.3% (3) 3-Pt. FG%: 35.8% (5) FT%: 75.6% (2) Pts. Allowed: 65.0 ppg (2) FG% Defense: 42.3% (4) Reb. Margin: +2.1 (4)
Eastern Michigan Scoring: 71.5 ppg (8) Scoring Margin: +0.7 (10) FG%: 42.4% (11) 3-Pt. FG%: 32.8% (1) FT%: 64.7% (12) Pts. Allowed: 70.8 ppg (9) FG% Defense: 40.7% (1) Reb. Margin: +3.6 (3)
