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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Morehead State Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
November 16, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU vs. MOREHEAD STATE
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007 • 4:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700) • Bowling Green, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 2-1 (13-18 in 2006-07) // MSU 1-1 (12-18 in 2006-07)
RADIO: WBGU-FM 88.1 - Anthony Bellino and J.D. Duran
SERIES: Tied, 3-3 // STREAK: BGSU - 1
LAST MEETING: Bowling Green 90, at Morehead State 72 (Feb. 17, 2007)
Falcon Notes, Stats & Bios in PDF Format
FALCONS FACE MOREHEAD STATE IN HOME OPENER
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team, after posting a 2-1 record to begin the 2007-08 season, now prepares for the home opener ... the Falcons of head coach Louis Orr start a two-game homestand with a Saturday (Nov. 17) game vs. Morehead State University ... tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) ... following the MSU game, the Brown and Orange will host Temple University (Nov. 24) before hitting the road for three-straight contests in three different states.
THE OPENING TIP (STORYLINES)
• Redshirt freshman Chris Knight had a successful opening weekend, to say the least ... Knight, a native of Cincinnati, was named the MVP of the Peggy Cronin Classic in his hometown, as the Falcons went 2-1 on the weekend ... Knight averaged 20.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game as the Falcons rebounded from a three-point loss to Western Carolina to post wins over Belmont and host Cincinnati.
• Senior Ryne Hamblet also was named to the all-tournament team at the Peggy Cronin Classic ... Hamblet scored in double digits in all three games ... he averaged 11.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and a team-leading 6.0 assists per game in Cincinnati.
• Knight is not the only native of the Queen City on the Falcon roster ... his head coach, Louis Orr, and assistant coach George Jackson also hail from Cincinnati ... all three are graduates of Withrow High School.
HOLDING ON TO THE BALL
A big part of the Falcons' 69-67 win over Cincinnati Sunday night (Nov. 11) was the team's ability to take care of the basketball ... BGSU turned the ball over just six times against the Bearcats, including only once in the entire first half ... the total of six turnovers was the Falcons' lowest since a four-turnover game against Michigan Tech last season (Dec. 27, 2006) ... BG had not had so few turnovers in a game against a Division-I team in over a decade, since a five-turnover game vs. Central Michigan on Feb. 7, 1996.
KNIGHT FEVER
As mentioned, Chris Knight had a pretty good weekend in his hometown ... the Cincinnati native opened his collegiate playing career as BG played at the Peggy Cronin Classic ... Knight was named the MVP of the three-day, four-team tournament, and on Monday (Nov. 12), was named the MAC Player of the Week for his efforts ... he averaged 20.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, shooting 56.8 percent from the field.
KNIGHT GAME BY GAME
• Chris Knight had a double-double in his collegiate debut, with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the Falcons' narrow loss to Western Carolina Friday (Nov. 9).
• The redshirt freshman had the first 20-point game of his brief career the following night (Nov. 10), making eight of his 13 shots from the field en route to 20 points in BGSU's 78-67 win over Belmont ... Knight also had three boards, three assists and a pair of steals in the win over the Bruins, a 2007 NCAA Tournament team.
• Knight capped the weekend with a 24-point, eight-rebound performance in a 69-67 win over Cincinnati ... he was 10-of-16 from the field, including a 2-for-3 performance from three-point range in that win.
HOMETOWN HEROES
Two members of the Falcons' coaching staff, as mentioned, are natives of Cincinnati as well ... head coach Louis Orr and assistant coach George Jackson each are graduates of Withrow H.S., and got their first BGSU win in their hometown ... Orr, Jackson and the Falcons followed up Saturday's victory over Belmont with a Sunday triumph over the host school, Cincinnati.
BLOCK PARTY
The Falcons blocked a total of eight shots in the season opener vs. Western Carolina (Nov. 9) ... that is the team's highest single-game total since an overtime game at Buffalo last season (eight blocks on Feb. 13, 2007) ... BG had nine blocked shots in last year's win over Michigan Tech (Dec. 27, 2006) ... the Falcons' eight blocked shots vs. WCU, however, was the team's highest total in a regulation game vs. a Division-I team since Feb. 7, 2005 (nine blocks in a win over Ohio).
LARSON-Y
Sophomore Marc Larson needed just two games to top his scoring total for all of last season ... Larson, who scored a total of 15 points as a freshman, had a career-high six points against Western Carolina ... the next night, he obliterated that total, with 14 points as the Falcons defeated Belmont ... Larson had set a new career best by halftime, with eight points in the opening period ... he is averaging 6.7 points per game through the first three contests.
TWO-HEADED MONSTER
Otis Polk has provided a solid complement to Marc Larson, as the two sophomore post players have split time over the first three games ... Polk had a career-high 10 points, on perfect 4-for-4 shooting, in the season opener vs. Western Carolina ... the sophomore also had five rebounds and three blocked shots in that game ... on the year, Polk is shooting 81.8% from the floor, having gone 9-of-11 to date ... he and Larson have combined for a 75.0% success rate (a combined 15-for-20) and 14.0 points per game to date.
DE-FENSE!
The Falcons have held each of the first three opponents of the season to a field-goal percentage of under 37 percent ... BGSU has shot 44.7% from the floor this season to date, while holding the opposition to a 35.5% rate ... Belmont's 33.9% field-goal shooting vs. the Falcons represented the team's lowest percentage since the 2006 NCAA Tournament against UCLA, a stretch of 34 games.
EVERYONE PLAYS A PART
The Falcons have gotten contributions from a number of different players over the first three games ... freshman Joe Jakubowski had 10 points, including the first two three-point field goals of his career, in the win over Cincinnati ... junior Darryl Clements had six points, six boards and four assists in the victory over Belmont ... senior Ryne Hamblet, as mentioned, has hit double digits in scoring in all three games to date, and had seven assists in each of the first two contests ... junior Nate Miller has averaged 10.3 points and 5.0 boards this year, while classmate Brian Moten is shooting 77.8% from the field (7-for-9) and had two three-pointers in each of the last two games ... soph Ryan Sims has seen action in each contest this year as well.
ROSTER UPDATE
Head coach Louis Orr announced several roster changes just prior to the start of the season ... junior Dusan Radivojevic is no longer with the program, while sophomore Matt Karaffa was added to the active roster ... Radivojevic, a native of Cacak, Serbia & Montenegro, averaged 3.4 points per game in his two seasons with the Falcons ... Karaffa, a 6-3 guard/forward from West Chester, Ohio (Lakota West H.S.), made the team through walk-on tryouts ... he made the trip to Cincinnati with the team, and was in uniform when the Falcons opened the season on Nov. 9.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons returned a total of eight letterwinners from last season's team, including five of the top-seven scorers and three starters from the lineup that BGSU used down the stretch ... the group of returnees combined for 63.0 percent of the team's scoring and 71.3% of the Falcons' rebounding total last winter ... Ryne Hamblet, the lone senior on the 2007-08 squad, led the Falcons in both assists and steals a year ago, and averaged 10.4 points per game ... junior Nate Miller is the top-returning scorer, averaging 14.1 ppg a season ago en route to All-MAC Honorable Mention ... Darryl Clements, Erik Marschall and Brian Moten round out the junior class, and are joined among the returning group by sophomores Marc Larson, Otis Polk and Ryan Sims ... Chris Knight enters his first playing season after sitting out the 2006-07 campaign at BGSU, while sophomore Matt Karaffa made the team during walk-on tryouts ... freshmen Joe Jakubowski and Cameron Madlock complete the 12-player roster for coach Louis Orr and his staff ... that staff includes assistant coaches LaMonta Stone, George Jackson and Andy Moore and director of operations Rick Palmer.
A BGSU WIN WOULD ...
• give the Falcons a victory in the home opener for the 16th consecutive year, and the 21st time in the last 22 seasons (BGSU's last home-opening loss came against Findlay in the 1991-92 season);
• improve BGSU's record to 3-1 after four games for the first time in three seasons (since the 2004-05 team lost the season opener, then won the next six games); and
• give the Falcons three wins in the month of November for the first time since 2001-02 (4-1).
SCOUTING MOREHEAD STATE
Morehead State is 1-1 on the young season ... the Eagles suffered a season-opening loss at Houston (83-54, Nov. 9) before bouncing back with Tuesday's (Nov. 13) 61-49 win over Western Illinois ... freshman F/C Kenneth Faried leads a balanced scoring attack with 11.0 points per game, and also paces the Eagles with 8.5 rebounds per contest ... both junior guard Leon Buchanan and sophomore forward Maze Stallworth had 9.5 ppg, while senior guard Jamyron Steward has 8.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per outing ... Buchanan, Steward, freshman guard John Lamb (4.5 ppg) and senior guard Nikola Stojakovic (2.0 ppg, 4.0 assists per game) each have started both games to date ... Faried joined that quartet in the starting lineup vs. WIU Tuesday ... Donnie Tyndall is 13-19 in his second year as a collegiate head coach, both with MSU ... the school's athletics web site is www.msueagles.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons and Morehead State are tied, 3-3, in the all-time series between the teams ... Saturday's game is the return match from last season's BracketBusters meeting in Morehead, Ky. ... in that game (Feb. 17, 2007), the visiting Falcons posted a 90-72 victory, shooting a season-high 60.0% from the field and tying their season scoring high ... that marked the teams' first meeting in over two decades ... the Falcons are 2-0 in home games vs. MSU, posting December wins in 1981 (89-64) and 1984 (66-60) at Anderson Arena ... BG has won three of the last four meetings in the series.
UP NEXT
The Falcons will conclude a two-game homestand by facing Temple University on Saturday, Nov. 24 ... tipoff time for that game will be 2:00 p.m. at "The House That Roars."
