Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Illinois State Sunday
December 13, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU vs. ILLINOIS STATE
Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007 • 2:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700) • Bowling Green, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 4-4 (0-0 MAC) // Illinois State 6-3 (0-0 Missouri Valley)
RADIO: BGSU Radio Network - Todd Walker and Kirk Cowan
SERIES: Illinois State leads, 2-1 // STREAK: ISU - 1
LAST MEETING: at Illinois State 83, BGSU 73 (Dec. 6, 2000)
BGSU Notes, Statistics & Player Bios in PDF Format
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team, after playing six of the season's first eight games away from home, now begins a stretch in which four of the next five contests are at venerable Anderson Arena ... the Falcons of head coach Louis Orr will begin that stretch with a Sunday (Dec. 16) game vs. Illinois State University ... tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Anderson (4,700) ... following the ISU game, the Brown and Orange will play at Indiana State on Dec. 22, before returning home for a season-long three-game homestand just after Christmas.
THE OPENING TIP (STORYLINES)
• The Illinois State game will be the Falcons' first in a week and a half ... BGSU's last game was on Thursday, Dec. 6, a 64-60 overtime loss at Northern Colorado ... the 10-day span between games is/was due to fall semester exams.
• The Northern Colorado game, as mentioned, closes a season-opening stretch in which the Falcons played six of eight games away from home ... now, beginning with the ISU game, the Brown and Orange will play four of the next five contests within the friendly confines of Anderson Arena.
• Despite struggling from the free-throw line in the UNC game, the Falcons continue to lead the Mid-American Conference in FT pct. ... BGSU is shooting 74.3 percent from the stripe, having made 101 free throws in 136 attempts.
• BGSU also leads the MAC in field-goal percentage defense (39.4%) and blocked shots (4.62 bpg) ... the Falcons are second in the conference in three-point FG pct. defense (28.8%) and third in both field-goal pct. (47.0%) and assists (14.75 apg).
CONSISTENCY FROM THE START
Head coach Louis Orr has utilized the same starting lineup - senior Ryne Hamblet, juniors Darryl Clements and Nate Miller, sophomore Marc Larson and redshirt freshman Chris Knight - in each of the season's first eight games ... by contrast, the 2006-07 Falcons used eight different lineups over the first eight games of the year ... in fact, BG used 11 different combinations in the first 11 games last year, and the Falcons did not start the same lineup in back-to-back games until the 14th and 15th games of the '06-07 season ... BGSU used 23 different starting lineups in last season's 31 games.
CONSISTENCY FROM THE START II
As mentioned above, the Falcons have utilized the same starting lineup in each of the season's first eight games ... BGSU had not used the same starters for as many consecutive games since the 2001-02 season ... that year, the lineup of Erik Crawford, Brent Klassen, Len Matela, Keith McLeod and Brandon Pardon started at least 10 consecutive games on two occasions (13-straight games from Nov. 28, 2001 to Jan. 23, 2002; 10-straight games from Jan. 30, 2002 to Feb. 27, 2002).
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Illinois State game with a 4-4 record on the young season, and BG is looking to snap a two-game losing streak ... BGSU, as mentioned, has not played since a 64-60 overtime loss at Northern Colorado on Dec. 6 ... that concluded a three-game road stretch in which the Brown and Orange had a 67-58 win at Furman (Nov. 27) before suffering a 90-80 loss at Oakland (Dec. 1) ... the Falcons lost a three-point game to Western Carolina to open the season, before posting a three-game winning streak ... those wins came over Belmont, Cincinnati and Morehead State.
• Temple snapped that streak by downing BG, 72-55 (Nov. 24), before the Brown and Orange bounced back with the win at Furman ... the Falcons are 1-1 at home, 2-2 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games ... BGSU is shooting 47.0 percent from the field, while allowing the opponents to shoot just 39.4%.
• Individually, redshirt freshman Chris Knight leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 14.0 points and 6.5 boards per game ... junior Nate Miller is second on the team in both categories, with 13.9 points and 5.4 boards per contest, and also has 2.5 assists per game ... Ryne Hamblet, the team's lone senior, has 12.6 points, 3.9 caroms and a team-leading 5.4 assists per contest to date.
• Sophomore Marc Larson has 7.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg and 1.3 blocked shots per game ... he leads the team in the latter category, and is shooting 58.8% from the field (20-of-34) ... junior Darryl Clements has 6.4 points per game, and is also averaging 3.8 rebounds ... he ranks fourth on the team in both rebounds and assists (2.0 apg).
• Freshman Joe Jakubowski and soph Otis Polk are averaging 5.9 and 4.4 ppg, respectively ... Jakubowski is third on the Falcons with 2.4 helpers per contest, and he leads the Brown and Orange with 12 three-point field goals made and a 44.4% long-range percentage (12-of-27) ... Polk is tied with Hamblet for second on the BG blocked-shots list ... Polk is shooting an impressive 75.0% from the floor, having gone 15-for-20 through eight games.
• Junior Brian Moten has 3.4 ppg, and is shooting 50.0% from both the field (11-of-22) and the three-point line (5-for-10) ... soph Ryan Sims is averaging 1.6 ppg ... freshman Cameron Madlock has seen action in two games.
• Clements, Hamblet, Knight, Larson and Miller each have started all eight games to date for first-year BGSU head coach Louis Orr ... 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 Falcons went 13-18 overall and 3-13 in MAC play in 2006-07.
SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT
The Falcons have had a higher field-goal percentage than the opponent in seven of the season's first eight games ... on the year, BGSU is shooting 47.0 percent from the floor, while allowing the opposition to shoot just 39.4%.
LOOKING FORWARD TO SOME HOME COOKIN'
The Falcons' game at Northern Colorado was the team's sixth away from home in the season's first eight contests ... beginning with Sunday's Illinois State game, the Brown and Orange will play four of the next five games at venerable Anderson Arena ... after a Dec. 22 game at Indiana State, BGSU will return to Northwest Ohio for a season-long three-game homestand, hosting Eastern Illinois (Dec. 29), Duquesne (Jan. 2) and Ohio (Jan. 5) over an eight-day span.
LAST TIME OUT
Northern Colorado battled back from an eight-point second-half deficit to down BGSU in overtime (Dec. 6) in Greeley, Colo. ... the Falcons had a better shooting percentage for the night, and BG hit a season-high 10 three-point field goals ... but, the Brown and Orange committed a total of 24 turnovers in the game, also a season high ... senior Ryne Hamblet led the Falcons with a game-high 23 points, while freshman Joe Jakubowski had 11, the most of his brief career to date, off the bench ... junior Nate Miller scored 10 points to round out the Falcons' trio of double-digit scorers ... for the Bears, Jabril Banks had 15 points to lead a balanced scoring effort ... Jefferson Mason and Thanasi Panagiotakopoulos had 14 points apiece, while Will Figures added 12 ... UNC scored the last seven points of the first half to take a 27-26 lead ... a 9-0 second-half run, though, gave BG a 48-40 lead with six minutes remaining ... a Hamblet three-pointer gave the Falcons a 53-44 advantage with 3:44 left ... but, the Bears chipped away, scoring the next eight points ... the last three came on a long-distance shot by Mason that bounced in with 40.2 seconds left ... the hosts got the ball back on an over-and-back call with 26.0 seconds remaining, but the Falcons' defense held until Mason's straightaway triple try bounced off the rim and out of bounds with 1.1 seconds left ... BG's home-run pass was intercepted as the clock ran out ... UNC never trailed in overtime, making just two field goals in the period, but going 7-for-11 from the stripe.
SENIOR STEPS UP
Ryne Hamblet, the Falcons' lone senior, has provided consistent numbers for the Falcons over the first eight games ... Hamblet has posted seven double-digit scoring contests in that time, including a season-high 23 points in the Northern Colorado game ... he has had at least five assists in seven of the eight contests as well ... Hamblet leads the Falcons - and the Mid-American Conference - with 43 assists (5.4 per game), and also paces the team in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.87 - sixth in the MAC).
KNIGHT FEVER
Redshirt freshman Chris Knight has had a successful start to his BGSU career, to say the least ... after sitting out all of last season, he shook off the rust rather quickly ... Knight has had six double-digit scoring outings in his first eight collegiate contests, including three games of at least 20 points ... the Cincinnati native opened his collegiate playing career in his hometown as BG participated in the Peggy Cronin Classic (Nov. 9-11) ... Knight was named the MVP of the three-day, four-team tournament, and was named the MAC Player of the Week (Nov. 12) 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 had a double-double in his collegiate debut, with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the Falcons' narrow loss to Western Carolina (Nov. 9) ... he 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 win over Belmont ... Knight also had three boards, three assists and a pair of steals ... he capped the weekend with a 24-point, eight-rebound performance in a 69-67 win over UC ... he was 10-of-16 from the field, including a 2-for-3 performance from three-point range in that win ... Knight began the month of December with a 23-point game at Oakland (Dec. 1).
KNIGHT FEVER II
Currently, Chris Knight is one of five players - and is the only freshman - to rank in the top-10 in the MAC in both scoring and rebounding ... Knight is tied for ninth in scoring and deadlocked for seventh in rebounding ... Akron's Jeremiah Wood, Miami's Tim Pollitz and Ohio's Jerome Tillman and Leon Williams join Knight in the top-10 of both lists.
MILLER TIME
Junior Nate Miller has been heavily involved in the Falcons' offense this season ... Miller has seven double-digit scoring games, including each of the last six ... he is averaging 13.9 points per game this season, including 16.0 ppg over the last three contests ... in that span, he has tied his career high with 21 points twice, vs. both Temple and Oakland ... Miller, who shot just 27.0% from the field over the first three games, has shot 58.2% in the last five contests, going 32-for-55 in that time.
D-TOWN
Junior Darryl Clements, a native of Detroit, Mich., had a solid game when the Falcons played near his hometown on Dec. 1 ... Clements tied his career high with 13 points vs. Oakland, going 4-for-6 from the field ... Clements, who has started all eight games this year, played a career-high 37 minutes in the Oakland contest ... he followed that up with a eight-point performance at Northern Colorado, going 3-for-4 from the field and tying his career high with two three-point field goals made.
TWO-HEADED MONSTER
The Falcons' two sophomore post players, Marc Larson and Otis Polk, have proven to be a successful duo in the season's early going ... Larson and Polk have split time in the lineup, for the most part, averaging a combined 34.6 minutes per game ... despite a lesser amount of playing time in the Oakland contest, as both were saddled with foul trouble, the two have combined to average 11.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots per game ... and, Larson and Polk have combined to shoot 64.8 percent from the field through eight games ... Larson ranks second in the MAC in blocked shots, while Polk is tied with senior Ryne Hamblet for fourth in the league.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
Illinois State brings a 6-3 record to Anderson Arena, and the Redbirds have won three of the last four games ... most recently, ISU downed Cincinnati by a 62-52 final on Dec. 8 ... the Redbirds are a perfect 6-0 at home this season, and are 0-1 in road games and 0-2 in neutral-site affairs ... ISU has played two MAC teams to date, losing to Kent State (59-65, Nov. 24) and Eastern Michigan (63-72, Dec. 4) ... individually, sophomore guard Osiris Eldridge leads the team in scoring, with 16.8 points per game, and also has 5.2 rebounds per contest ... senior forward Anthony Slack has 11.3 points and a team-leading 6.6 rebounds per game ... he also leads the Redbirds in blocked shots (2.4 bpg) ... senior center Levi Dyer rounds out the double-digit scorers with 10.8 ppg, while senior guard Dominitrix Johnson has 7.8 ppg ... sophomore forward Dinma Odiakosa is averaging 6.8 points per contest ... Johnson, Odiakosa, Slack and senior guard Boo Richardson (4.3 ppg, a team-leading 4.1 assists per game) each have started all nine games to date for head coach Tim Jankovich, while Eldridge has made eight starts ... Jankovich has nine letterwinners, including four starters, back from last year's team that finished 15-16 overall and 6-12 in Missouri Valley Conference play ... Jankovich is in his first year with the Redbirds, and his seventh as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is GoRedbirds.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Illinois State, 2-1, in the all-time series between the teams ... BGSU has met the Redbirds once at home, once on the road and once at a neutral site ... in the lone previous meeting at Anderson Arena, the Brown and Orange posted a 20-point win, 80-60, eight years ago (Dec. 1, 1999) ... the following year, ISU picked up an 83-73 victory over the Falcons at Redbird Arena (Dec. 6, 2000) ... the first-ever meeting between the schools came in December of 1982, at the Illini Classic in Champaign, Ill., with ISU pulling out an overtime win, 61-57.
COMMON OPPONENTS
Both BGSU and Illinois State have registered victories over Cincinnati this season ... the Falcons posted a 69-67 road win over UC in the season's opening weekend (Nov. 11), while the Redbirds' most recent game was a 62-52 home win over the Bearcats (Dec. 8) ... ISU has already played MAC institutions Kent State and Eastern Michigan this season, and the Redbirds' next game will be at MAC member Ball State ... the Falcons' next game will be at Indiana State, a school that Illinois State - as a fellow Missouri Valley Conference member - will meet twice.
DIFFERENT PLAYERS STEPPING UP
No fewer than eight different BGSU players have had at least one double-digit scoring game this year to date ... senior Ryne Hamblet and junior Nate Miller each have hit double figures in seven of the eight games, while redshirt freshman Chris Knight has six double-digit outings and sophomore Marc Larson three ... junior Darryl Clements and freshman Joe Jakubowski each have scored in double figures twice this season, while junior Brian Moten and soph Otis Polk each have one such game this year.
SHARING THE WEALTH
BGSU has enjoyed success on offense in the season's early going, in no small part because of the Falcons' penchant for sharing the ball ... BG has had at least four double-digit scorers in five of the season's first eight games, including the Morehead State win (Nov. 17), where each of the Falcons' five starters scored at least 10 points apiece.
IN THE FOUR WINS THIS SEASON ...
• BGSU has shot 52.6 percent from the field;
• the Falcons have held the opponents to a FG pct. of just 35.5%;
• BG has turned the ball over just 10.8 times per game; and
• the Falcons have shot 78.7% from the free-throw line.
IN THE FOUR LOSSES ...
• BGSU has shot 41.8% from the field, while the opponents have shot 43.2%;
• the Falcons have turned the ball over 17.5 times per game; and
• BG has shot 68.9% from the free-throw stripe.
FRIES FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
(A few additional Falcon notes)
• The Falcons currently lead the Mid-American Conference in several team statistical categories ... BGSU is atop the conference lists in field-goal percentage defense (.394), free-throw percentage (.743) and blocked shots (4.62 bpg).
• Individually, senior Ryne Hamblet paces the MAC in assists (5.38 apg), while the Falcons have three of the league's top-five shot blockers to date ... sophomore Marc Larson ranks second in the league in that category (1.25 bpg), while Hamblet and soph Otis Polk are tied for fourth (1.12 bpg apiece).
• BGSU's field-goal percentage of 66.7% in the win over Morehead State (Nov. 17) is the best single-game rate for a MAC team this season to date ... the Falcons made 28 shots in 42 attempts in that game ... that marked the team's highest field-goal pct. in a game in nearly 13 years (since a 67.8% shooting effort vs. Central Michigan in 1994-95) ... the school single-game record is 70.2%, on Feb. 12, 1979, against Duquesne.
• The trip to Northern Colorado was the Falcons' longest of the season, in terms of distance ... Greeley, Colo., is approximately 1215 miles from Bowling Green, Ohio ... BGSU's three-game swing to Furman, Oakland and UNC saw the team travel a total of 1923 miles.
• BGSU entered the season having gone more than two years without blocking as many as eight shots in a regulation game vs. a Division-I opponent ... the Falcons accomplished that feat twice in the first six games of the year ... BG's total of 10 blocks at Furman is the team's highest total vs. a D-I program in at least 13 seasons (at Perry Stadium East, game-by-game records are difficult to find for some years) ... the Falcons had eight blocks in the season-opening game vs. Western Carolina (Nov. 9) ... BG had recorded eight blocks in an overtime game at Buffalo last season (Feb. 13, 2007), and the Falcons had had nine rejections in last year's win over Michigan Tech (Dec. 27, 2006).
• BGSU's 86-70 win over Morehead State (Nov. 17) extended a lengthy streak ... the Falcons have won the home opener in 16 consecutive seasons and in 21 of the last 22 years ... BG's last home-opening loss came against Findlay in the 1991-92 campaign.
