Bowling Green State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Heads to Buffalo
February 24, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2006
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Bowling Green (9-17, 5-10) at Buffalo (16-11, 6-9)
Sunday, February 26, 2 p.m.
Alumni Arena (6,100)
Series Record: BG leads 10-2
Last Meeting: Buffalo 76, at BGSU 73 (1/24/06)
Radio: BGSU Radio Network (Todd Walker)
FIGHTING FOR HOME COURT
The Falcons will be looking for a win so it can remain in the hunt for a home court berth for the first round of the MAC Tournament on March 6. The Falcons have won four of the five previous meetings in Alumni Arena, but the Bulls captured the last contest in New York, 82-64 in December, 2003. Toledo (7-8), Buffalo (6-9), BGSU (5-10) and Ball State (5-10) are fighting for seeds seven thru 10. Ohio (9-6), Western Michigan (9-6) and Northern Illinois (9-6) need one win to clinch a first round home game. Kent State(13-2) has clinched a first round bye and Akron (12-3) and Miami (12-3) need one win to advance straight to Cleveland. The MAC West Champion (UT, WMU or NIU) also will earn a first round bye. Eastern Michigan (2-13) and Central Michigan (1-14) are battling for the 11th and 12th seed respectively.
AGAINST THE BULLS
BGSU won the first nine meetings in the series, but the Bulls have captured two of the last three meetings, including a 76-73 win in Bowling Green on January 24. In that game, UB led 38-24 at halftime, but the Falcons cut the lead to 74-73 with 10 seconds to go. A last second three-pointer but junior Martin Samarco hit the back of the rim as time expired. In that game, Samarco scored 30 points and senior Mawel Soler added 19 for BGSU.
FALCONS CLOSE IN ON SCHOOL RECORD
The Falcons need 10 more three point field goals made to break the school record of 204 set by the 1996-97 squad. BGSU leads the MAC and is 29th in the country in three point field goal percentage at 39.2%.
PLAYER NOTES
Junior Martin Samarco is second in the MAC (19th nationally) averaging 18.9 points per game and is ranked eighth in the country in three-point field goals made per game (3.48) and ninth overall in three-point field goal percentage (45.3%)... he also is third in the MAC in free throw percentage (85.6%) ... in league games only, he has made a MAC-best 90.3% (56 of 62) free throws and 49% of his three-pointers (55/109, 2nd in the league)... he has led the team in scoring 16 times this season and had a career-high 35 points at Eastern Michigan, 30 against Buffalo and 28 versus Ohio... he also had 27 in back-to-back games earlier this year against Bradley and Florida State... his 87 three pointers is the second most in a single season at BGSU and he needs three more triples to break Keith McLeod's single-season record of 89 set in 2001-02... in the last six games, junior John Floyd has averaged 15.0 points on 52.1% shooting from the field and 50.0% marksmanship from long distance... he had a team-high 19 points at Akron and had 17 points against Toledo ... he had 22 points and seven assists against Ohio after he had 21 points and set a career-high with three steals against Miami... he had 14 points, including 11 in the second half against Kent State... his three-pointer as the shot clock expired late in the game extended a Falcon lead from four to seven points... he had a career-high 23-point effort, making five of seven three-pointers against Western Michigan... he is sixth in the league in three-point field goal percentage at 45.5%... senior Mawel Soler broke out of a slump and had 15 points and five rebounds at home against Kent State... he made six of eight shots in that game... he had his first career double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds at Kent State and made a career-high 13 free throws in 13 attempts... has made a team-high 63.8% of his shots from the field and is averaging 7.6 points and 4.9 rebounds... he is shooting 67.3% from the floor during his two seasons with the Falcons... he also is third on the team with 67 assists and tied his career high with three steals against Wright State... freshman Erik Marschall is a contender for the All-Freshman team in the MAC averaging 7.3 points and 4.4 rebounds ... he had 14 points in back-to-back games against Kent State and against Wright State and tied a career-high with seven field goals made against the Raiders... he has scored in double figures eight times this season and leads the team in blocked shots with 15... he had a career-high three steals against Buffalo earlier this season... junior Matt Lefeld (Business, 3.96 GPA) was named CoSIDA Academic All-District and is looking to become the school's first men's basketball Academic All-American since Steve Martenet earned third team honors in 1988... he had his ninth double digit scoring effort this season with 11 points against Toledo... he is shooting 50.0% from the field in MAC play... has now made 23 of his last 27 free throw attempts... is arguably the most improved player in the MAC... last year he scored just 14 points all season, but equaled that in his first game this year against Western Carolina... despite sore feet which limit his practice time, Lefeld is averaging 7.7 points and 3.6 rebounds ... junior guard Patrick Phillips has made three starts this season... he had a career-high 10 points and six rebounds against Ohio in a career-high 19 minutes... he also provided a huge lift to the Falcons when he scored four second half points against Buffalo... he had a career-high seven points against Notre Dame and added two rebounds and a steal in seven minutes of action... sophomore guard Perrick Robinson is one of the Falcons top defenders... Robinson leads the team with 30 steals and is fourth in assists with 46... had five points at Akron, breaking a seven-game scoreless streak... he is the only Falcon to start the season opener in each of the last two seasons ... freshman Dusan Radivojevic is out due to a sprained right knee... he is averaging 2.8 points and is shooting 36.7% from three-point range... freshman Brian Moten joined the team against Florida State and played a season-high 21 minutes against Kent State... he is averaging 2.5 points... he had a season-high nine points against Central Michigan... freshman Darryl Clements scored his first career points in the MAC with three at Akron... he is averaging 2.1 points and 1.6 rebounds... he had seven points against Oakland... freshman walk-on Brian Guerin made two free throws at Akron... he missed a month earlier this season due to mono... sophomore walk-on Alvin Freeman is in his second year with BGSU and had three points against Urbana... he had his longest MAC playing stint when he logged four minutes at Miami.
TEAM TRENDS
BGSU leads the MAC in three-point field goal percentage (38.6%) and is 19th in the country in that category... BGSU finished 4-4 against the MAC West this year... BGSU is 24-5 when it has had to play defense with a one possession lead in the final minute since the 2001-02 season... BGSU outrebounded Toledo, 30-28, winning the battle of the boards for the first time against a MAC opponent this year... the Falcons improved to 37-8 since 2000-01 when making half of its shots or better in a game... BGSU shot 23 of 46 from the field against EMU... the Falcons scored a season-high 90 points against Ohio (previous high was 85 against Urbana)... it marked the first time in 19 games under Dan Dakich that the Falcons lost a game when they scored 90 points or more... the last BGSU loss when it scored 90 points or more came in Jim Larranaga's last game with the Falcons, a 98-95 loss in the NIT to West Virginia... against Ohio, the Falcons also tied a season-high with 30 made field goals and attempts with 61... BGSU also racked up a season-high 22 assists... the Ohio game was the first double-overtime game for Bowling Green since playing at Detroit on November 29, 1995... it marked the first back-to-back overtime home games since BGSU defeated Kent State (83-81) on February 2, 1977 and lost to Ohio (69-68) on February 5 of that season... it was the first home double-overtime tilt since February 1, 1969 when the Falcons lost to Western Michigan, 88-87... when BGSU fell to Akron last week, the Falcons lost a home overtime game for the first time since December 12, 1985 against Defiance when it fell 66-64... BGSU also has led in every MAC game this season... against Buffalo and Kent State, BGSU shot 50.0% from the field in back-to-back games for the first time this season... Kent State was held to a 29.4% effort from three-point range, the eighth team this season to shoot below 30% from beyond the arc against the Falcons this year... BGSU is 83-24 at home since the 1998-99 season... BGSU has played six one-point games in the last year and are 4-2 in those contests... BGSU is 28-3 since the 2001 season when holding an opponent under 60 points... against Virginia Tech, the Falcons won their road opener for the third time in Dakich's nine seasons (1999-00 at Hawaii; 2001-2002 at Duquesne)... four teams have shot below 30 percent from the field against BGSU including Urbana (25.5%), CMU (26.2%), Troy (27.8%) and Western Carolina (28.9%).
