Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Eastern Illinois to Open Homestand, Close 2007
December 28, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU Notes, Stats & Bios in PDF Format
BGSU vs. EASTERN ILLINOIS
Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007 • 7:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700) • Bowling Green, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 4-6 (0-0 MAC) // Eastern Illinois 1-10 (0-4 Ohio Valley)
RADIO: BGSU Radio Network - Todd Walker and Kirk Cowan
TELEVISION: BCSN (tape delay)
SERIES: BGSU leads, 3-0 // STREAK: BGSU - 3
LAST MEETING: at BGSU 87, Eastern Illinois 61 (Dec. 1, 1976)
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team, after playing seven of the season's first 10 games away from home, returns to Northwest Ohio for the next few contests ... the Falcons of head coach Louis Orr will begin a season-long three-game homestand with a Saturday (Dec. 29) game vs. Eastern Illinois University ... tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) ... following the EIU game, the Brown and Orange will close the pre-conference portion of the schedule by hosting Duquesne on Wednesday (Jan. 2, 2008), before opening the Mid-American Conference slate with a Jan. 5 game vs. Ohio.
THE OPENING TIP
• As mentioned, seven of the Falcons' first 10 games of the season were played away from home ... the Eastern Illinois game begins a three-game homestand, and also starts a stretch in which six of the next eight games are at Anderson Arena.
• The Falcons and Eastern Illinois both are looking to snap losing streaks ... BGSU has dropped the last four games, while EIU has lost 10 in a row after a season-opening win.
• Both teams are coming off five-point road losses in their most recent outings ... the Falcons lost a 62-57 contest at Indiana State last Saturday (Dec. 22) ... the Panthers have been idle since a Dec. 19 loss at Morehead State, 80-75.
• BGSU shot 46.3 percent from the field in the Indiana State game, holding the Sycamores to a FG pct. of just 43.5% ... the Falcons have had a better field-goal percentage in eight of the season's first 10 games.
I LOVE THE 70'S
The last time BGSU and Eastern Illinois met in men's basketball, Falcon head coach Louis Orr was a freshman at Syracuse ... the Falcons and Panthers last met on Dec. 1, 1976, with BG winning by an 87-61 outcome at Anderson Arena ... on that same day, Orr played in the first home game of his collegiate career, as the then-Orangemen downed Colgate, 109-63.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Eastern Illinois game with a 4-6 record on the young season, and BG is looking to snap a four-game losing streak ... BGSU is coming off a 62-57 loss at Indiana State last Saturday (Dec. 22) ... 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 a 67-58 win at Furman to close the month of November ... the losses during the current streak have come to Oakland, Northern Colorado, Illinois State and Indiana State, with none of them coming by more than 11 points.
• The Falcons are now 1-2 at home, 2-3 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games ... BGSU is shooting 46.2 percent from the field, while allowing the opponents to shoot 40.3%.
• Individually, redshirt freshman Chris Knight leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 13.6 points and 6.8 boards per game ... junior Nate Miller is second on the team in both categories, with 13.0 points and 5.5 boards per contest, and also has 2.3 assists per game.
• Junior Darryl Clements, after leading the Falcons in scoring in each of the last two games, is now averaging 8.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game ... he ranks third among active Falcons in scoring, rebounding and assists (1.9 apg) ... sophomore Marc Larson has 6.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg and 1.0 blocked shots per game ... he ranks second on the team in the latter category, and is shooting 57.5% from the field (23-of-40).
• Freshman Joe Jakubowski and soph Otis Polk are averaging 6.1 and 4.4 ppg, respectively ... Jakubowski tops all active Falcons with 2.7 helpers per contest, and he also leads the Brown and Orange with 14 three-point field goals made and a 41.2% long-range percentage (14-of-34) ... Polk leads the team with 1.2 blocks per game, and is shooting an impressive 65.5% from the floor, having gone 19-for-29 through 10 games.
• Junior Brian Moten has 3.6 ppg, and is shooting 53.6% from the field (15-of-28) and 50.0% from the three-point line (6-for-12) ... soph Ryan Sims is averaging 1.3 ppg, while freshman Cameron Madlock has seen action in two games ... sophomore Matt Karaffa made his collegiate debut in the Indiana State contest.
• Clements, Knight, Larson and Miller each have started all 10 games to date for first-year BGSU head coach Louis Orr, while Jakubowski has started the last two games ... the Falcons went 13-18 overall and 3-13 in MAC play in 2006-07.
SCOUTING EASTERN ILLINOIS
Eastern Illinois will enter Saturday's game with an overall record of 1-10 ... after a win over Harris-Stowe (85-63; Nov. 10) to open the season, the Panthers have dropped each of the next 10 contests, with the last four coming in Ohio Valley Conference play ... each of the last three losses have come by five points or fewer, with the most recent game being an 80-75 outcome at Morehead State (Dec. 19) ... EIU is 0-6 on the road entering Saturday's game ... individually, sophomore guard Romain Martin leads the team with 17.6 points per game ... his total of 38 three-point field goals made this season to date is more than the rest of the team combined (26) ... senior F/G Bobby Catchings is also in double figures in scoring, with 12.1 points per game ... of the remaining nine players on the active roster, no fewer than six are scoring from 4.5 to 5.0 points per game ... Martin, Catchings and sophomore center Ousmane Cisse (4.5 ppg, 5.2 rebounds per game) each have started all 11 games this season for head coach Mike Miller ... senior guards Julio Anthony (4.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg) and Jon'Tee Willhite (4.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg) joined those three players in the starting lineup for the Morehead State game ... Miller welcomed back 11 letterwinners, including all five starters, from last year's team that finished 10-20 overall and 6-14 in OVC action ... Miller has a record of 17-51 in his third season with the Panthers, and is 104-130 in his ninth year as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is eiupanthers.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Eastern Illinois, 3-0, in the all-time series between the teams ... BGSU has not faced the Panthers, however, in over three decades ... the teams' three prior meetings all came in the 1970s ... the Falcons posted home wins by scores of 89-71 (Dec. 8, 1973) and 87-61 (Dec. 1, 1976) ... the middle meeting came in Charleston, Ill., where BGSU downed the host Panthers by a 68-63 score (Dec. 15, 1975).
LAST TIME OUT
Gabe Moore scored 19 points, including a 9-of-10 effort from the free-throw line, as host Indiana State held off the Falcons, 62-57, Saturday (Dec. 22) ... junior Darryl Clements led BG with 12 points, while three of his teammates scored 10 points apiece ... junior Nate Miller and freshmen Joe Jakubowski and Chris Knight each joined Clements in double digits ... for the Sycamores, Marico Stinson had 17 points to join Moore in twin figures ... trailing, 11-9, the Sycamores would score the game's next eight points, and the hosts held a 29-22 lead at the half ... in that first half, the Falcons had a field-goal percentage of 45.0 percent to the Sycamores' 39.3% ... but, BGSU had 10 turnovers in the half to ISU's four ... the Falcons cut the deficit to three points with 12 minutes left in the game and got to within 41-39 with nine minutes remaining ... an 8-0 run, though, would give the hosts a 53-41 lead with just five minutes left, but the Falcons would not go away quietly ... BG would score seven points in the span of just 70 seconds, and the Falcons would get to within 53-50 with 3:04 on the clock ... two Moore free throws were the only scoring for the next two-plus minutes, as the Falcons missed four field-goal attempts and four free-throw tries during that time, and ISU made 7-of-10 free throws in those final 40 seconds, enough to get the home win ... for the game, the Falcons shot 46.3% to the Sycamores' 43.5%, and BGSU held a 35-28 rebounding advantage ... the Falcons, though, had 17 turnovers to ISU's 12.
A FEW MORE NOTES ON THE INDIANA STATE GAME
• The Falcons outrebounded ISU, 21-12, in the second half ... BGSU had 12 rebounds at the offensive end alone, matching the Sycamores' total at both ends of the court for the second 20 minutes.
• BGSU had nearly twice as many shot attempts as ISU in that second half ... the Falcons went 16-of-34 from the field after halftime, while the Sycamores were 9-of-18.
• The Falcons held a 36-16 advantage in points in the paint.
• BG lost the final game before Christmas for the first time in a decade and a half ... the Falcons had had a 14-game winning streak in 'getaway games' since a loss to Detroit in the 1992-93 season.
CLEMENTS COMING ON
Junior Darryl Clements has led the Falcons in scoring in each of the last two games ... he had 12 points at Indiana State, after scoring a career-high 18 points against Illinois State ... Clements now has four double-digit scoring outings this season and six in his career.
A FEW MORE NOTES ON #2
• Darryl Clements averaged 5.0 points per game over the season's first six contests ... in the last four games, the junior has averaged 12.8 ppg ... he has made 17 of his 32 shots from the field during that time and - including a 3-for-3 performance at Furman (Nov. 27) - is 20-for-35 (57.1%) from the floor in the last five games ... Clements has gone 9-for-15 from three-point range (60.0%) during that time.
• Clements tied his career bests in both field goals made (five) and minutes played (38) in the Indiana State game ... he had set both of those marks in BGSU's previous game, vs. Illinois State (Dec. 16)
• Clements made four of the team's eight three-pointers vs. Illinois State, doubling his previous career high ... he has hit nine triples over the last four games, after making a total of 10 during his first 54 career contests.
• Clements scored a career-high 18 points in that Illinois State game ... it marked the second time in three games that he set or matched his career standard ... the Detroit, Mich., native had tied his career best when the Falcons played near his hometown on Dec. 1, with 13 points vs. Oakland ... he scored 13 points in the second half alone in the Illinois State contest.
JOE STARTER
Freshman Joe Jakubowski made the first start of his brief collegiate career vs. Illinois State, and also was in the starting lineup for the Indiana State game ... a native of nearby Rossford, Ohio, Jakubowski scored 10 points vs. the Sycamores, the third double-digit scoring outing of his young career ... he is averaging 26.7 minutes per game this year, but has averaged 30.3 mpg over the last eight contests.
KARAFFA MAKES HIS DEBUT
Another 2007-08 newcomer, Matt Karaffa, made his collegiate debut in the Indiana State game, seeing brief action in the final minute of the second half ... Karaffa, a native of West Chester, Ohio (Lakota West H.S.), is a sophomore at BGSU ... he made the team through walk-on tryouts in October, and joined the active roster just prior to the Nov. 9 season opener.
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 eight double-digit scoring outings in his first 10 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.
• At that tournament, 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 capped the weekend with a 24-point, eight-rebound performance in a 69-67 win over UC (Nov. 11) ... 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), and had a 14-point, nine-rebound performance vs. Illinois State ... Knight added 10 points and seven boards (including five offensive rebounds) at Indiana State, and currently leads the Falcons in both scoring (13.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg).
MILLER TIME
Junior Nate Miller has been heavily involved in the Falcons' offense this season ... Miller has eight double-digit scoring games, and has scored at least eight points in every game this year ... he is averaging 13.0 points per game this season ... in the span of three games, Miller tied his career high with 21 points twice, vs. both Temple and Oakland ... that was part of a four-game span in which Miller shot 62.2% from the field, going 28-for-45 in that time ... he had a season-high eight rebounds to go along with 10 points in the Indiana State game ... Miller is second on the team in both scoring and rebounding (5.5 rpg), and leads the Falcons in steals (1.9 spg).
POLK PULLS 'EM DOWN
Sophomore Otis Polk had a career-high seven rebounds in the Indiana State game ... Polk had four of those boards at the offensive end of the court ... he had five points in the game, and tied his career standards with six field goals attempted and 25 minutes played vs. the Sycamores ... on the year, Polk has made 19 field goals, topping the total for all of his freshman season (18).
LARSON-Y
Sophomore Marc Larson had a total of 15 points as a freshman, making four field goals on the year ... this season, Larson has 23 field goals made and 68 points through 10 games ... he needed just two games to top his scoring total for all of last year ... Larson had six points (a career high at the time) in the opener against Western Carolina ... the next night, he obliterated that total, with 14 points as the Falcons defeated Belmont ... the Mattawan, Mich., native had a perfect shooting day, going 4-for-4 from the field and 6-for-6 from the line, en route to another 14-point game vs. Morehead State ... he scored 11 more points vs. Temple, and enters the Eastern Illinois game shooting 57.5% from the field (23-for-40) this season.
SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT
The Falcons have had a higher field-goal percentage than the opponent in eight of the season's first 10 games, including in all seven games played away from home... on the year, BGSU is shooting 46.2 percent from the floor, while allowing the opponents to shoot 40.3%.
FREE THROWS A DIFFERENT STORY
While the Falcons have had a better field-goal percentage than the opponent in nearly every game this season, the free-throw line has been a different story ... it's not that BGSU's free-throw rate has been poor, as the team is shooting over 72% from the stripe on the season (ranking third in the MAC) ... the problem is that the Falcons have been unable to get to the line very often ... through 10 games, the opponents have made 187 free throws, while the Falcons have attempted only 155 (making 112) ... BGSU has made fewer free throws than the opponent in nine of the 10 games, and Falcon foes have attempted more FTs in all 10 contests.
CLEANING THE GLASS
The Falcons have outrebounded the opposition four times this season, and BGSU has done so in each of the last two games ... in those two contests vs. Missouri Valley Conference foes (Illinois State and Indiana State), BGSU has averaged 33.5 rebounds to the opponents' 29.0.
LEADERS OF THE MAC
Entering the Eastern Illinois game, the Falcons rank at or near the top of the Mid-American Conference in several team categories ... BGSU leads the MAC in field-goal percentage defense (40.3%) and blocked shots (4.30 bpg) ... the Falcons are second in the league in three-point FG pct. defense (30.5%), and BG is third in free-throw pct. (72.3%) and fourth in field-goal pct. (46.2%).
UP NEXT
The Falcons continue a three-game homestand, and begin the 2008 calendar year, with Wednesday's (Jan. 2) game vs. Duquesne ... tipoff time is 7:00 p.m. at Anderson ... then, on Saturday (Jan. 5), the Falcons will open the MAC schedule with a 4:00 p.m. home contest vs. Ohio University.
