Bowling Green State University Athletics
Men's Basketball To Host Ohio
February 03, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2006
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Ohio (12-6, 6-4) at Bowling Green (8-12, 4-6)
Saturday, February 4, 2 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700)
Series Record: BG leads 65-51
Last Year: at Ohio 72, BGSU 69 (1/29/05)
BGSU 78, Ohio 63 (2/7/05)
Radio: BGSU Radio Network (Todd Walker and Kirk Cowan)
FALCONS LOOK TO GET BACK ON TRACK
The BGSU men's basketball team will conclude a stretch of five straight games against the MAC East when it hosts Ohio. BGSU is coming off a 77-60 loss at Miami at home, while Ohio dropped its third straight game, a 73-60 home loss to Kent State. BGSU has had four MAC losses by a combined 10 points (NIU (1), BSU (1), UB (3) and Akron (5 in OT).
AGAINST THE BOBCATS
The Falcons have won seven of the last nine meetings with the Bobcats, including five in a row in Anderson Arena. Last year, Ohio won 72-69 in Athens, while nine days later, BGSU captured a 78-63 triumph in Bowling Green.
FALCON SHOOTING NUMBERS
The Falcons made 11 of 24 (45.8%) from three-point range against Miami and lead the MAC in overall three-point field goal percentage at 38.2%. BGSU also has made a league-leading 40.0% from long distance in 10 MAC games. BGSU also leads the league in free throw shooting in MAC only games connecting on 75.5% of its charity tosses. In MAC games, senior Mawel Soler ranks first in field goal percentage (63.3%) and second in three-point field goal percentage (55.6%). Junior Martin Samarco is making 48.6% of his trey attempts in MAC games and is third in the league.
PLAYER NOTES
Samarco has averaged 22.7 points in the last six games and is the top scorer in the MAC averaging 19.2 points. He also leads the league in three-point field goals made (3.42) and is third in free throw percentage (85.7%) and third in three-point field goal percentage (44.2%)... in league games only, he has made a MAC-best 93.5% (43 of 46) free throws... he has led the team in scoring 12 times this season and had a career-high 35 points against Eastern Michigan and 30 against Buffalo... he also had 27 in back-to-back games earlier this year against Bradley and Florida State and had 26 against Akron... senior Mawel Soler posted career-high scoring efforts in three of his last seven games... he had his first career double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds against Kent State and made a career-high 13 free throws in 13 attempts... Soler also had 19 points on eight of nine shooting from the field against Buffalo... has made a team-high 65.9% of his shots from the field and is averaging 8.2 points and 5.0 rebounds... he is shooting 68.8% from the floor during his two seasons with the Falcons... he also is second on the team with 50 assists... his play has stepped up in the MAC and he is averaging 9.6 points against the league ... senior Steven Wright suffered a broken foot in the preseason and missed the first six games of the season ... his play has been better off the bench where he has averaged 15.0 points in six games off the bench as opposed to 8.7 points per game as a starter... he had a season-high 21 points against Akron and made a career-best five three-pointers... he had 13 points and four rebounds against Kent State... he added 17 points, five rebounds and five assists against Eastern Michigan and 16 points, five rebounds and three assists against Ball State... he is shooting 53.7% from the field in his last four games off the bench... junior John Floyd 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 had eight points and a season-high eight assists against Buffalo... he is 10th in the league in assists at 3.25 per game... freshman Erik Marschall did not play at Miami due to a sprained left ankle... he had six points and tied a season-high with eight rebounds against Akron... he played a season-high 36 minutes... he had five points and made both of his field goal attempts against Kent State... is among the top freshman in the MAC averaging 7.4 points and 4.7 rebounds... he has scored in double figures six times this season and leads the team in blocked shots with 14... he had a career-high three steals against Buffalo... junior Matt Lefeld had eight points against Kent State... he 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 8.3 points and 3.8 rebounds and is shooting 51.2% from the floor in the last 13 games ... freshman Dusan Radivojevic had five points off the bench against Miami... he had eight points against Eastern Michigan making three of five shots, including two of four from long distance... he had a season-high nine points at Troy... he missed the first four games of the season due to a foot injury ... sophomore guard Perrick Robinson is one of the Falcons top defenders... Robinson leads the team with 23 steals and is third in assists with 40... he is the only Falcon to start the season opener in each of the last two seasons ... freshman Brian Moten joined the team against Florida State and played a season-high 21 minutes against Kent State where he had three points... he also had three points in 16 minutes against Akron and five in 17 minutes at Miami... he had four points at Ball State and had a season-high nine points against Central Michigan... junior guard Patrick Phillips provided a huge lift to the Falcons when he scored four second half points against Buffalo... he came off the bench again and had two points and two rebounds in six minutes against Akron... he had a career-high seven points against Notre Dame and added two rebounds and a steal in seven minutes of action... he also hit his first career three-pointer against CMU... freshman Darryl Clements saw his most extensive MAC action with nine minutes against Miami... he is averaging 2.5 points and 1.9 rebounds... he had seven points against Oakland... freshman walk-on Brian Guerin returned to game action against Notre Dame after missing more than a month 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
In the last three games, BGSU has shot 45.3% from three-point range (29/64) and made 62 of 77 free throws (80.5%)... when BGSU fell to Akron, the Falcons lost a home overtime game for the first time since December 12, 1985 against Defiance when it fell 66-64... BGSU had been involved in six home overtime games since that time in the past 20 years, the last coming in 2004 when the Falcons defeated Toledo, 79-76... BGSU has won on three of its last four trips at Kent State where the Flashes are 34-6 at home in MAC play since 2002... BGSU is 4-4 in road games this season... BGSU also has led in every MAC game this season... the Falcons improved to 36-7 since 2000-01 when making half of its shots or better in a game... against Buffalo and Kent State, BGSU shot 50.0% from the field in back-to-back games for the first time this season... the Falcons also shot 53.8% from three-point range at KSU, the third time this season they have made more than half of their long distance shots this season (NIU and Urbana)... 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 82-22 at home since the 1998-99 season... BGSU improved to 9-0 in home openers under Dan Dakich... BGSU has played six one-point games in the last year and are 4-2 in those contests.. BGSU also is 7-2 in MAC openers under Dakich... BGSU is 28-3 since the 2001 season when holding an opponent under 60 points... the Falcons are 17-1 over the last three-plus seasons when scoring 80 points or more... 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)... BGSU is 23-4 when it has had to play defense with a one possession lead in the final minute since the 2001-02 season... 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%).
