Bowling Green State University Athletics
Conference Leaders Tangle in Bracket Buster Game
February 18, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2005
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Ark.-Little Rock (16-8, 8-4 Sun Belt) at Bowling Green (15-7, 9-5 MAC) Saturday, February 19 - 1 p.m. ESPN Full Court (Michael Reghi, Mark Adams) Anderson Arena (4,700) Series Record: BGSU leads 2-0 Last Meeting: BGSU 66, at UALR 53 (12/30/99)
Bracket Buster Saturday
BGSU enters Bracket Buster Saturday with a one-game lead in the loss column in the race for the MAC West title. The Falcons are 9-5 with four games left and are ahead of Western Michigan (9-6) and Toledo (8-6).
The Trojans are 16-8 overall and 8-4 in the Sun Belt Conference where they moved into a tie for the lead in the East Division after beating Western Kentucky on the road, 55-53, Thursday night.
BGSU is 75-17 at Anderson Arena since the 1998-99 season. BGSU is 29-3 all-time against non-conference foes at home since Dan Dakich became head coach in 1997-98.
The Falcons are in their eighth season under head coach Dan Dakich. Dakich is second all-time at BGSU in winning percentage (.575) and fifth all-time in wins with a 131-97 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 an 80-60 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 80 league wins rank 12th all-time in MAC history.
The Falcons lead the MAC and are ranked ninth in the country shooting 49.8% from the field this season. BGSU also ranks 11th in the nation and leads the league in assists at 17.3 per game. BGSU also is seventh nationally and leads the league in free throw shooting at 76.3%. The Falcons are second in the league in blocked shots at 4.0 per game.
Senior Josh Almanson is tied for second in the MAC averaging 17.5 points on a league-best 61.2% (13th in the nation) shooting effort from the field. He also is eighth in the league in blocked shots (1.0). He is the ninth most improved player in the country in scoring average adding 9.5 points per game to his total from a year ago. He had 20 points and made a career-high four three-pointers against Ball State. Last week at Kent State, he became the 34th BGSU player to eclipse the 1,000-point mark in his career. He now has 1,023 career points scored.
Senior John Reimold also is second in the MAC averaging 17.5 points and ranks second in the league in field goal percentage (53.8%) and third in three-point field goal percentage (46.9%). He tied his season-high with 28 points against Ball State. His three-point field goal percentage is fifth nationally this week. He has scored 1,631 points as a collegian (1,229 at BGSU and 402 at Loyola-Maryland as a freshman).
Entering this week, BGSU was rated 81st in the latest RPI, while UALR was rated 74th entering this week.
UALR takes 55-53 win over Western Kentucky
Four Trojans scored in double figures, Darius Eason threw down a dunk with 4.8 seconds left in the game and UALR took a 55-53 win over Western Kentucky Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Richard Hardman led the Trojans (16-8, 8-4 Sun Belt) with 12 points, Zack Wright scored 11 and Eason and Brandon Freeman contributed 10 points each. Eason also notched eight rebounds and one blocked shot.
Western Kentucky (18-6, 8-4) went up by seven, 49-42, with 8:02 left in the game on a three-pointer by Ty Rogers. Wright made the front end of a one-and-one to cut the Hilltopper lead to six, 49-43, with 6:49 remaining. Wright then made two more free shots at the 5:43 mark to pull the Trojans to within four, 49-45.
A jumper from Columbus Willis with 4:58 left cut the lead to two, and Freeman tied the game at 49-49 with two free throws at 3:39.
Wright's jumper with 2:51 left gave UALR a 51-49 lead, but Western Kentucky's Anthony Winchester answered with a jumper of his own 29 seconds later to tie the game once again.
With 55 seconds remaining, Hardman missed a jumper. Wright grabbed the rebound and missed the put-back, but Eason was able to fight his way to the basket and tip the miss back in to put UALR up 53-51 with 53 seconds to play.
WKU's Antonio Haynes, who led the Hilltoppers with 13 points, worked his way inside for a layup with 35 seconds left to tie the score for the sixth time, 53-53.
UALR brought the ball up court and stalled until Wright broke free into the lane. He took a step back, pivoted and saw Eason on the baseline and breaking toward the basket. Wright drilled a pass to Eason for a strong dunk with 4.8 seconds left.
WKU coach Darrin Horn called a 30-second timeout with 4.6 seconds left to set up an inbounds play. UALR, mindful of the 35-foot shot Winchester hit for a Western Kentucky win at North Texas last week, set up its defense at midcourt. The Hilltoppers got the ball into the front court and called another timeout, this one coming with 1.7 seconds left. WKU then indbounded the ball in front of its bench to Courtney Lee, whose jumper glanced off the back left corner of the basket as time expired.
BGSU/UALR GAME IS ONE OF 11 TELEVISED MATCHUPS
The BGSU men's basketball team is one of six league teams selected to participate in one of 11 televised games on ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday, February 19. The Falcons will host Arkansas-Little Rock at 1 p.m. with the game being shown on ESPN Full Court. BGSU will play a game next year at UALR as part of the agreement for participating in the Bracket Buster series. The Falcons are 3-1 in Bracket Buster related games having split two games with Illinois-Chicago and winning two games with Youngstown State since the event began two years ago. The Falcons played UALR twice during the 1999-2000 season winning in Bowling Green, 91-84, and in Little Rock, 66-53.
Pairings For 11 Televised Bracket Buster Games:
Wichita State at Miami, Noon (ESPN2) Arkansas-Little Rock at Bowling Green, 1 p.m. (Full Court) Vermont at Nevada, 2 p.m. (ESPN2) Western Michigan at Northern Iowa, 4 p.m. (ESPN2) Drexel at Ball State, 5 p.m. (Full Court) Murray State at Rice, 5 p.m. (Full Court) Southern Illinois at Kent State, 6 p.m. (ESPN2) Buffalo at Fresno State, 7 p.m. (Full Court) Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Hawai'i, 8 p.m. (ESPN2) Illinois State at Wisconsin-Green Bay, 9 p.m. (Full Court) UTEP at Pacific, Midnight (ESPN)
