Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons To Host Western Michigan
January 13, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2005
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Western Michigan (11-3, 4-0) at Bowling Green (10-2, 4-0)
Saturday, January 15 - 2 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700)
Series Record: BGSU leads 66-36
Last Meeting: Western Michigan 70, at BGSU 58 (3/1/04)
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 (.578) and fifth all-time in wins with a 126-92 record. He and his family were honored by the Red Cross prior to the NIU game for raising $1,777 for victims of the recent tsunami disaster overseas.
With a 75-55 MAC record, he ranks 11th all-time in conference game winning percentage and is 11th in MAC history in overall winning percentage. He also is one of just 19 MAC coaches to ever win 125 games or more at his institution and his 75 league wins are the 15th most in the history of the conference.
Senior John Reimold was named MAC West Co-Player of the Week last week after averaging 21.5 points in victories against Marshall and Northern Illinois and his 24-point effort against Eastern Michigan continued his strong showing against the MAC (20.5 ppg., 63% FG %). He is sixth in the MAC averaging 17.1 points, and ranks second in the league in field goal percentage (58.4%) and first in three-point field goal percentage (52.1%). He has scored 1,450 points as a collegian (1,048 at BGSU and 402 at Loyola-Maryland as a freshman).
Senior Josh Almanson leads the MAC averaging 18.8 points on 63.8% (9th in the nation) shooting from the field. He made all seven of his field goal attempts against Eastern Michigan. 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 10.8 points per game to his scoring average this season compared to last year. He also is ninth in the league in blocked shots with 11. Twice this season, he has been named MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week. He holds a 3.14 GPA in integrated social studies.
The Falcons lead the MAC and are ranked eighth in the country shooting 51.8% from the field this season. BGSU also leads the league in free throw percentage (74.2%) and assists (18.5).
The Falcons have shot 57.3% at home this season from the field and 45.7% from three-point range in the first six games in Anderson Arena. Opponents have shot just 42.5% from the field and 32.8% from long distance on their visits.
BGSU is rated #72 in the latest RPI. BGSU is ranked #60 in the country in the Jeff Sagarin Basketball Ratings. The MAC is the 11th highest rated conference in the country according to Sagarin.
Junior Steven Wright has more than doubled his scoring average from last season averaging 13.2 points per game, after contributing 6.5 ppg., last season.
Junior Mawel Soler is averaging 11 points and seven rebounds in the last two games off the bench. He is shooting 85.7% from the field (18/21) this season.
Junior John Floyd is second in the league in assists averaging 6.0 assists per game. He had a career-high 12 assists and just one turnover at Eastern Michigan. The Falcons are second in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.19.
Bronco Bits
The defending MAC Champions have not missed a beat and have won 11 of 12 and five in a row. The Broncos have the top defense in the MAC allowing just 63 points on 40.4% shooting. They also lead the league in rebound margin, grabbing six more boards per game than their opponents. Senior Levi Rost (17.9 ppg.) and senior Ben Reed (17.8 ppg.) are ranked second and third in the MAC in scoring. Western Michigan has won the last four meetings with BGSU, including two straight at Anderson Arena.
BGSU and Western Michigan are a combined 4-0 on the road in the MAC. The rest of the league is 3-22 away from home in league play. In addition, members of the East Division are 1-13 on the road in conference games this season.
Numbers Watch
BGSU is 4-0 in the MAC for just the second time since the 1967-68 season when the Falcons started 5-0 under Coach Bill Fitch. BGSU also was 4-0 in the MAC in 2002-03. BGSU is 23-1 since the 2000-01 season when holding an opponent to 59 points or less. BGSU is 30-3 when shooting over 50% in a game since the 2000-01 season. BGSU is 18-0 when scoring 90 points or more since the 1997-98 season. BGSU also is 15-1 over the last two-plus seasons when scoring 80 or more. Over the last three-plus years, BGSU is 15-3 when it has had to play defense with a one or two-point lead in the final minute of a game. This year, BGSU is 9-0 when outrebounding its opponent, 7-0 when its opponent has committed more turnovers and 10-1 when leading at the half. Since the 1998-99 season, BGSU is 72-15 at Anderson Arena (.828).
BGSU is 4-2 on the road after winning just two games on an opponents home floor last season. From 1998-2002, BGSU averaged eight wins away from home each season and 19.7 victories overall.
Both times that BGSU has led the league in field goal percentage under Coach Dakich (2002 and 2002) they have won 20 games or more.
