Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Begin MAC Season Against Buffalo
December 31, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2004
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Buffalo (7-2, 0-1) at Bowling Green (6-2, 0-0) Sunday, January 2 - 2 p.m. Anderson Arena (4,700) Series Record: BGSU leads 9-1 Last Meeting: at Buffalo 84, BGSU 62 (12/3/03)
The Opening Tip
The Falcons are in their eighth season under head coach Dan Dakich. Dakich is second all-time at BGSU in winning percentage (.570) and fifth all-time in wins with a 122-92 record. BGSU is 6-1 in MAC home openers and 5-2 in the first game of the league season under Dakich.
BGSU is 27-3 when shooting over 50% in a game since the 2000-01 season. Despite shooting a season-low 28.6% against Oakland, the Falcons still lead the MAC shooting 50.7% from the field.
BGSU is rated #57 in the latest RPI. BGSU is ranked #96 in the country in the Jeff Sagarin Basketball Ratings. The MAC is the 11th highest rated conference in the country according to Sagarin.
BGSU is 23-1 since the 2000-01 season when holding an opponent to 59 points or less. BGSU is second in the MAC in scoring defense (63.0) and field goal percentage defense (40.7%), while holding teams to a league-low 28.0% effort from three-point range. BGSU is third in the league in free throw percentage at 72.2%. BGSU is shooting 81.3% from the line in the last three games
Since the 1998-99 season, BGSU is 70-15 at Anderson Arena (824.).
After allowing just 59 points per game in the first six games, BGSU has allowed 73.5 points per game in the last two contests.
Senior Josh Almanson leads the MAC averaging 18.3 points on 61.5% shooting from the field. He has scored in double figures in every game this season after never scoring in double-digits in more than three straight games prior to this season. He has added 10.3 points per game to his scoring average this season compared to last year.
Senior John Reimold is eighth in the MAC averaging 16.9 points, and ranks fourth in the league in field goal percentage (55.7%) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (46.5%). He needs 34 points to become the 33rd player in BGSU history to score 1,000 points or more with the Falcons.
Junior Steven Wright has doubled his scoring average from last season averaging 13.8 points per game, after contributing 6.5 ppg., last season.
Freshman Scott Vandermeer is sixth in the league in blocked shots at 1.12 per game. He has averaged 4.4 points in the last three games.
Junior John Floyd is second in the league in assists averaging 5.6 assists per game.
The MAC On Sunday
Buffalo at BGSU, 2 p.m. Kent State at Ball State, 2 p.m. Central Michigan at Marshall, 2 p.m. Toledo at Eastern Michigan, 4 p.m. Western Michigan at Northern Illinois, 5 p.m. Ohio at Akron, 7 p.m.
Buffalo is the preseason favorite to win the MAC's East Division. After winning 26 games from 1999-2003, the Bulls have gone 24-11 since beating BGSU, 82-64, on December 3, 2003.
BGSU holds a 9-1 lead in the series, including a 5-0 advantage in Anderson Arena. The Bulls are 3-1 on the road this season and are coming off a 72-70 win at Penn State, December 21. Buffalo will endure an 11-day stretch between games.
The Bulls have won four straight by an average margin of four points and have played three overtime games already this season.
Senior forward Mark Bortz leads the Bulls with a 14.8 scoring average, while All-MAC guard Turner Battle is averaging 14.0 points. Junior Calvin Cage is averaging 10.7 points and sophomore Yassin Idbihi is contributing 10.3 points.
