Bowling Green State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Travels To Ball State
January 17, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Bowling Green (10-3, 4-1) at Ball State (7-5, 2-2)
Tuesday, January 18 - 7 p.m.
Worthen Arena (11,500) -
Series Record: BGSU leads 34-31
Last Meeting: Ball State 81, at BGSU 71 (2/28/04)
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 (.576) and fifth all-time in wins with a 126-93 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 75-56 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.
The Falcons lead the MAC and are ranked eighth in the country shooting 50.9% from the field this season. BGSU also leads the league in assists at 18.3 per game. The Falcons are second in scoring margin (+7.3) and third in scoring defense (65.8), free throw percentage (73.8) and third in three-point field goal percentage defense (31.6).
Senior Josh Almanson leads the MAC averaging 18.7 points on 61.6% (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 10.7 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.
Senior John Reimold is sixth in the MAC averaging 16.8 points, and ranks second in the league in field goal percentage (58.6%) and first in three-point field goal percentage (51.4%). He has scored 1,463 points as a collegian (1,061 at BGSU and 402 at Loyola-Maryland as a freshman).
Freshman Perrick Robinson is coming off a career-high seven-point five-assist performance off the bench against Western Michigan. he had scored just 10 points int he first 12 games.
Junior Steven Wright has nearly doubled his scoring average from last season averaging 12.8 points per game, after contributing 6.5 ppg., last season.
Junior Mawel Soler is averaging eight points and 4.5 rebounds in the last three games off the bench. He is shooting 82.6% from the field (19/23) this season.
Junior John Floyd is second in the league in assists averaging 5.6 assists per game. He had a career-high 12 assists and just one turnover at Eastern Michigan. The Falcons lead the MAC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.22.
BGSU is rated #72 in the latest RPI. BGSU is ranked #77 in the country in the Jeff Sagarin Basketball Ratings. The MAC is the 11th highest rated conference in the country according to Sagarin.
About The Cardinals
Since January 6, the Falcons have played four games (at Marshall, Northern Illinois, at Eastern Michigan and home against Western Michigan), while the Cardinals have played just one game (at Toledo, January 12) during that same time frame. Ball State is 6-0 at home and is led by super soph Peyton Stovall who is averaging 17.2 points per game and is ranked fifth in the league in scoring. Senior Terrance Chapman is ninth in the league in scoring (15.6 ppg.) and second in rebounds (9.8). The Cardinals won both meetings last year, but have split the last six meetings with the Falcons since the 2002 MAC Tournament.
Being Home Has Its Advantages
Seven teams in the MAC are undefeated at home this season, while six teams have either one or zero road wins entering this week. In addition, members of the East Division are 1-15 on the road in conference games thus far.
Early Conference-Games Only Notes
Through five MAC games, BGSU leads the league in scoring (76.4), field goal percentage (51.1%), assists (19.6), turnover margin (+2.80) and assist to turnover ratio (1.51). Junior John Floyd is second in assists (6.0). Senior Josh Almanson is fourth in scoring (19.4) and second in field goal percentage (61.8%), while senior John Reimold is sixth in scoring (19.0) and first in field goal percentage (63.0%).
