Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face Flashes Saturday
January 10, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Coach Orr's Thursday Press Conference
Jan. 10, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
BGSU at KENT STATE
Saturday, Jan. 12, 2008 • 7:00 p.m.
M.A.C. Center (6,327) • Kent, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 6-7 (1-0 MAC) // Kent State 12-3 (1-0 MAC)
RADIO: Falcon Radio Network - Todd Walker
SERIES: BGSU leads, 77-61 // STREAK: Kent State - 3
LAST MEETING: Kent State 77, at BGSU 64 (March 1, 2007)
BGSU Notes, Stats & Player Bios in PDF Format
2007-08 Falcon men's basketball articles/clips
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team, after a home win to open the Mid-American Conference schedule, now begins the road portion of the MAC slate ... the Falcons of head coach Louis Orr will head to Northeast Ohio for a Saturday (Jan. 12) game vs. Kent State University ... tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Memorial Athletic & Convocation Center (6,327) ... following the KSU game, the Brown and Orange will return to venerable Anderson Arena for a Thursday (Jan. 17) game vs. Buffalo.
THE OPENING TIP
• The Falcons posted a solid team win the last time out, downing Ohio by a 52-49 count on Saturday (Jan. 5) ... BGSU shot just over 30.2 percent from the field, but outrebounded the Bobcats, forced 20 Ohio turnovers and got to the free-throw line 22 times to the visitors' none.
• Junior Nate Miller led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points in that game ... Miller also paced the Falcons in rebounds (10) and assists (five) in the win ... the double-double was his second in three games.
• As a 'reward' for their win over Ohio, the Falcons now head to one of the league's toughest venues, Kent State's M.A.C. Center ... the Golden Flashes have a record of 63-14 in their building during the Jim Christian head-coaching era ... believe it or not, BGSU has won three of five games at the M.A.C. Center during that time, with a one-point loss and an eight-point loss in the other two meetings in that span ... last year, the Flashes posted a narrow 62-61 win over the Brown and Orange at KSU.
FIELD-GOAL PCT. DOES NOT HAVE TO DICTATE SUCCESS
Falcon head coach Louis Orr has repeatedly stressed to his team that their field-goal percentage does not need to dictate their success ... in other words, there are other things the team can do to win games, even if the shots are not falling ... it would appear that the coach knows of what he speaks ... in the Falcons' last two wins, over Eastern Illinois (Dec. 29) and Ohio (Jan. 5), BGSU has had field-goal percentages of 29.1% and 30.2%, respectively ... those are the team's lowest shooting rates of the season thus far ... BGSU won those games by doing the little things - outrebounding the opponent, getting to the foul line more than the other team, playing solid defense and making the hustle plays that don't necessarily show up on the stat sheet ... in the last game, for example, BG outrebounded Ohio by a 39-33 count, and got to the free-throw line 22 times to the Bobcats' nine.
IN CASE WE HAVEN'T RAMBLED ENOUGH ...
A few more tidbits to drive the 'FG pct. need not dictate success' point home ...
• The Falcons have had their lowest season totals for both points scored and field goals made in the Eastern Illinois and Ohio games ... BG made exactly 16 field goals and scored exactly 52 points in each of those two games, but won both contests.
• Ironically, the Falcons have lost each of the last three games in which they have shot better than 45.0% from the field (including a 54.2% field-goal rate in the Oakland game), but BG has gone 2-0 when shooting less than 31.0% this year to date.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Kent State game with a 6-7 record on the season, and BGSU is off to a 1-0 start in MAC play ... BG is coming off a 52-49 home win over Ohio on Saturday (Jan. 5) ... the Falcons won two of three games on the just-completed homestand, with a 52-48 win over Eastern Illinois (Dec. 29) and a 96-78 loss to Duquesne (Jan. 2) at Anderson Arena ... the EIU win had snapped a four-game losing streak.
• The Falcons opened the season with a three-point loss to Western Carolina, before posting a three-game winning streak ... those wins came over Belmont, Cincinnati and Morehead State ... Temple snapped that streak with a win over BG, before the Brown and Orange bounced back with a 67-58 win at Furman to close the month of November ... the losses during the Falcons' four-game streak came to Oakland, Northern Colorado, Illinois State and Indiana State, with none of them by more than 11 points.
• The Falcons are 3-3 at home, 2-3 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games ... BGSU is averaging 65.5 points per game to the opponents' 67.3 ppg ... the Falcons are shooting 43.7 percent from the field, while allowing the opponents to shoot just 39.9%.
• Individually, junior Nate Miller leads the team in scoring ... Miller, who had a double-double in the win over Ohio, is averaging 13.5 points per game, and is second on the team with 6.6 rebounds per contest ... he leads the team in steals (1.8 spg) and is second among active Falcons in assists (2.5 apg).
• Redshirt freshman Chris Knight is second on the team in scoring, and leads the Falcons in rebounding ... Knight, who had a double-double in the Duquesne game, has 12.9 points and 7.2 boards per game to date ... he leads BG with 67 field goals made.
• Junior Darryl Clements has 7.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game ... he ranks third among active Falcons in scoring, is also third in assists (1.9 apg) and is fourth on the team in rebounding ... freshman Joe Jakubowski is averaging 6.6 points per game ... he tops the Falcons with 3.0 assists per game, and also leads the Brown and Orange with 15 three-point field-goals made.
• Sophomores Marc Larson and Otis Polk have split time at center ... Larson has 6.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg and 1.2 blocked shots per game ... he is shooting 51.9% from the field (27-of-52) ... Polk has 5.3 ppg ... the sophomore, who scored a career-high 17 points vs. Duquesne, is tied with Larson for the lead in blocks (1.2 bpg) ... he is shooting 54.2% from the floor to date.
• Junior Brian Moten has 4.7 ppg, and is shooting 45.8% from the field (22-of-48) and 42.1% from the three-point line (8-for-19) ... soph Ryan Sims is averaging 1.5 ppg, while freshman Cameron Madlock has seen action in four games ... sophomore Matt Karaffa made his collegiate debut in the Indiana State contest.
• Clements, Larson and Miller each have started all 13 games to date for first-year BGSU head coach Louis Orr ... Jakubowski has started each of the last five games, while Knight has started 12 times, including each of the last two ... the Falcons went 13-18 overall and 3-13 in MAC play in 2006-07.
SCOUTING KENT STATE
Kent State will enter Saturday's game with an overall record of 12-3, and the Golden Flashes are off to a 1-0 start in the MAC ... KSU, the lone team to play a midweek game this week, downed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 61-50, Wednesday night (Jan. 9), moving to 9-0 in home games this year to date ... the Flashes topped Buffalo on Sunday (Jan. 6) to begin the MAC slate ... individually, senior forward Mike Scott leads the team in scoring, with 13.9 points per game, and has 6.9 rebounds per contest to rank second on the Flashes ... junior guard Al Fisher has 11.3 points and a team-leading 4.7 assists per outing, while senior forward Haminn Quaintance has 10.7 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds ... sophomore guards Chris Singletary and Mike McKee have 7.9 and 7.6 ppg, respectively ... Scott and Quaintance each have started all 15 games to date, while McKee has started 12 and Fisher 11 ... Singletary rounds out the probable starting lineup for head coach Jim Christian's team ... Christian welcomed back nine letterwinners, including all five starters, from last year's team that finished 21-11 overall and 12-4 in MAC action ... Christian has a record of 122-54 in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Flashes ... the school's athletics web site is www.kentstatesports.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Kent State, 77-61, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Golden Flashes have won the last three meetings ... KSU swept last season's two matchups, with a 62-61 win in Kent (Jan. 20, 2007) and a 77-64 decision in Bowling Green (March 1, 2007) ... BGSU's last series win came at the M.A.C. Center two years ago, a 79-74 victory on Jan. 26, 2006 ... the Falcons have won two of the last three meetings at the M.A.C. Center ... overall, BGSU won 12 of 16 meetings during a span that extended through much of the 1990s ... but, the Flashes have won 16 of the last 20 meetings since then, spanning roughly a decade ... the complete list of BGSU-KSU series results can be found on page 60 of the 2007-08 BGSU media guide (available in pdf format at BGSUFalcons.com), and a list of the most recent meetings can be found in the PDF at the top of the page.
FALCONS AT THE M.A.C. CENTER
As mentioned earlier, Kent State has enjoyed great success at the M.A.C. Center in recent years ... the Golden Flashes have a record of 62-14 in the building during the Jim Christian head-coaching era ... only seven of those 14 losses have come against MAC opposition ... BGSU, however, has given KSU three of those losses, having gone 3-2 vs. the Flashes in the venue during that time ... Akron (two wins) is the only other team to win more than once at the M.A.C. Center in that stretch ...
BGSU-KSU MEETINGS IN KENT, LAST FIVE YEARS
Jan. 20, 2007 -- Kent State 62, Bowling Green 61
Jan. 26, 2006 -- Bowling Green 79, Kent State 74
Feb. 12, 2005 -- Bowling Green 77, Kent State 73
Feb. 14, 2004 -- Kent State 80, Bowling Green 72
Jan. 11, 2003 -- Bowling Green 78, Kent State 74
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons opened the MAC schedule on a successful note, posting a three-point win over Ohio ... junior Nate Miller led a balanced BG effort with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds ... Miller led the Falcons in both categories, as well as in assists (five) ... redshirt freshman Chris Knight scored 11 points, while juniors Darryl Clements and Brian Moten had 10 apiece ... Leon Williams led the Bobcats with 14 points, and tied for team honors with nine boards ... Bubba Walther joined Williams in double figures with 13 points ... the outcome was not determined until the final seconds, as two potential game-tying shots by Walther bounced off the rim ... Walther, who had made two other three-pointers in the final minute of play, missed a long triple try with the game clock winding down, but Williams grabbed the rebound and whipped a pass to Walther in the left corner ... Walther's try was just long, caroming off the rim as the final horn sounded ... the Falcons shot just 30.2 percent from the field, but owned a 39-33 rebounding advantage, forced 20 Ohio turnovers and got to the free-throw line 22 times to the Bobcats' nine ... BG held Ohio to a field-goal percentage of 38.8%, including a 7-for-21 (33.3%) second-half performance from the floor ... the Falcons held the 'Cats without a field goal for stretches of 6:23 and 7:48 in the second half ... from the 18:19 mark until just 1:13 remained in the game, the visitors made a total of two baskets.
HOLDING THEM UNDER 50
The Falcon defense has held the opposition to fewer than 50 points in two of the last three games, after doing so only twice in the previous four-plus seasons ... BG's defensive play was an integral part of the wins over Eastern Illinois (52-48; Dec. 29) and Ohio (52-49; Jan. 5) ... prior to this season, BG had kept an opponent to less than 50 points just twice in the previous four-plus years ... the Falcons held one team under 50 points last season, one team in 2005-06, and BGSU had no such games in either 2004-05 or '03-04 ... BG has not held more than two opponents under 50 points since the 1991-92 team did so in five games.
FALCONS HIT THE BOARDS
The Falcons outrebounded their opponent just twice in the season's first eight games, but BGSU has won the rebounding battle in each of the last five games ... in those five contests - vs. Illinois State, Indiana State, Eastern Illinois, Duquesne and Ohio - BGSU has a rebounding margin of +7.8, having averaged 40.2 boards to the opponents' 32.4 ... on the season, the Falcons now have a rebounding margin of +0.5, with 459 total rebounds to the foes' 452.
SUCCESS IN MAC HOME OPENERS
The win over Ohio means that the Falcons now have captured the MAC home opener in each of the last six seasons, and in 12 of the last 13 years.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Junior Nate Miller had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Ohio ... the double-double was his second of the season, with both coming in the last three games ... the Springfield, Ohio, native had 17 points and 14 boards in the Eastern Illinois game ... Miller now has seven career double-doubles, the most among current Falcons ... that total includes a triple-double (20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) at Buffalo last Feb. 13.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE-TROUBLE
Nate Miller's double-double vs. Ohio was the third by a Falcon in as many games ... in addition to Miller's two during that time, redshirt freshman Chris Knight had 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in the Duquesne game ... for Knight, the double-double was his second of the season ... the Cincinnati native had 16 points and 10 boards in his collegiate debut, against Western Carolina at the Peggy Cronin Classic in his hometown.
MILLER TIME
Junior Nate Miller has been an integral part of the Falcons' offense all season long ... Miller has 11 double-digit scoring games in BG's 13 contests, and has scored at least eight points in every game this year ... he is averaging a team-high 13.5 points per game ... 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 ... over the last four games (Indiana State, Eastern Illinois, Duquesne and Ohio), Miller is averaging 13.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per outing ... for the season, Miller is second on the team in rebounding (6.6 rpg), and he leads the Falcons in steals (1.8 spg).
MOTEN DETECTOR
Junior Brian Moten scored a season-high 12 points in the Duquesne game, and followed that up with a 10-point game vs. Ohio ... the latter game marked his third double-digit outing of the season and the eighth of his career ... Moten, who had gotten to the free-throw line just twice in the first 11 games this year, has gone 8-for-10 from the stripe over the last two games ... he was a perfect 5-for-5 from the line vs. the Dukes, tying his career best for FTM.
JOE OF ALL TRADES
Freshman Joe Jakubowski has gotten some valuable on-the-job training in his first few months in a Falcon uniform, and has helped his new team in multiple ways ... Jakubowski dished out seven assists, the most of his young career, against Duquesne, and set a new standard with three steals in the Ohio game ... he had 10 points, his fourth double-digit scoring game of the season, against DU, one game after just missing a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds (vs. EIU) ... the Rossford, Ohio native made his first start vs. Illinois State, and has been in the lineup ever since ... he has played 28.5 minutes per game this year, but has averaged a team-leading 35.0 mpg over the last six contests.
FOR BGSU, MAC SCHEDULE HAS EAST-WEST-EAST FEEL
The 2007-08 season is the second utilizing the current MAC scheduling format for men's basketball ... each of the 12 schools will play 16 league games, opening conference action with five intra-divisional games ... then, after six cross-divisional contests, each school will play five more intra-divisional games to close the regular season ... so, BGSU plays five games vs. East Division schools to begin and end the season, with six games vs. the West Division teams in the middle of the conference schedule ... each of the 12 MAC schools will interrupt the league slate long enough to play a game in the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters event on the weekend of Feb. 22-23.
OTIS PLAYS BIG
• Sophomore Otis Polk has displayed some solid play off the bench this season, and has blossomed over the last few weeks ... the Detroit, Mich., native had a career game vs. Duquesne (Jan. 2) ... Polk had a career-high 17 points vs. the Dukes, and tied his career rebounding best (since broken) with seven boards ... Polk played 31 minutes, also a career high, in the game ... he scored just two points vs. Ohio Saturday (Jan. 5), but contributed to the Falcons' win in other ways ... he had a career-high nine rebounds, including six at the offensive end, and hit the deck several times to track down a loose ball.
• Polk also set career standards in field goals made (six) and attempted (10) and free throws made (four) in the Duquesne game ... his previous scoring high was 10 points, in this season's opener vs. Western Carolina (Nov. 9, 2007) ... Polk had established a new career best by halftime of the DU game ... he had 11 points, going 5-for-7 from the field before the intermission.
• Polk has set or matched his career rebounding best three times in the last four games ... he had seven boands in the Indiana State game (Dec. 22), and grabbed five more in just nine minutes vs. Eastern Illinois (Dec. 29) ... Polk had seven more rebounds in the DU contest, before his nine-rebound performance vs. Ohio ... he has averaged 7.0 rebounds per game over the last four contests.
• Polk has had a total of 18 offensive rebounds over that four-game span ... he had posted as many as three offensive boards in a game twice in his first 37 career contests, but has had at least three ORs in each of the last four games ... his total of six offensive rebounds on Saturday was a career high.
• On the year, Polk has made 26 field goals, has scored 69 points (5.3 ppg) and has pulled down 59 rebounds (4.5 rpg), topping his totals for all of last year ... as a freshman, Polk had totals of 18 FGM, 41 points (1.5 ppg) and 55 boards (2.0 rpg).
A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE OHIO GAME
• BGSU now leads Ohio, 66-56, in the all-time series between the teams ... the win snapped a two-game home losing streak, and a five-game overall losing streak, to the Bobcats.
• As a team, the Falcons had 17 offensive rebounds on Saturday, after pulling down 18 in each of the prior two games.
• The Falcons forced Ohio into 20 turnovers on the day ... in the second half, BG committed six turnovers, but forced the 'Cats into 12 ... BG had an 11-0 second-half advantage in that category.
• Ohio's total of 20 turnovers matched a season high for a BGSU opponent ... the Falcons had a season-high 13 steals.
MANY WAYS TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• All BGSU men's basketball games are aired on the Falcon Sports Radio Network, with Todd Walker calling the action ... former Falcon standout Kirk Cowan provides color commentary at home games ... stations on the network in the greater Bowling Green area include WCWA-AM 1230 (Toledo) and WPFX-FM 107.7 (Findlay).
• Student station WBGU-FM 88.1, the flagship for BG hockey and women's basketball, carries men's basketball games when there is not a conflict with one of the aforementioned sports ... the announcers vary by game.
• Nearly every home game is televised in the Toledo area by the Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN) ... a number of BGSU's other 2007-08 games are scheduled to be televised as well ... the Falcons' Feb. 10 home game vs. Toledo will be shown on ESPNU ... BG's Feb. 13 contest at Eastern Michigan is scheduled to be aired by Comcast Local ... the Feb. 19 game at Ohio will be part of the ESPN Full Court package, and the Falcons' final regular-season game, at Miami on March 9, will be aired by FSN Ohio and has been changed to a noon start.
KARAFFA MAKES HIS DEBUT
Walk-on 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.
LUCKY 13
The Falcons allowed Eastern Illinois to score just 13 points in the first half of the teams' Dec. 29 game ... BG had not held an opponent to so few points in a half in nearly four years, since the Falcons took a 31-13 halftime lead in a win over Northern Illinois on Feb. 18, 2004, an eventual 69-52 BGSU win ... as always, past single-game records are sketchy, but the Falcons have not held an opponent to fewer than 13 points in a half in over two decades ... such an event has not occurred since at least the 1983-84 season.
FRIES FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• Something will have to give in Saturday's game ... the Falcons enter the Kent State contest leading the Mid-American Conference in field-goal percentage defense ... BGSU has allowed opponents to shoot just 39.9% from the field this year to date ... but, KSU leads the MAC in field-goal percentage, having shot 46.8% from the floor.
• In addition to FG pct. defense, the Falcons also lead the MAC in blocked shots, with 4.23 per game ... BG is second in the conference in three-point FG pct. defense (30.2%).
• In the Ohio game, the Falcons held the Bobcats without a field goal for stretches of 6:23 and 7:48 in the second half ... from the 18:19 mark until just 1:13 remained in the game, the 'Cats made a total of two baskets ... BG allowed Ohio's leading scorer, Leon Williams, to attempt only one field goal during the entire second half.
• The Falcons attempted 22 free throws in the Ohio game, after shooting 33 in both the Eastern Illinois and Duquesne games ... BGSU's total of 88 FTA in those three games was higher than in the prior six games (69) combined.
• The Ohio game marked only the second time this season that the Falcons have had more free throw attempts than the opponent ... the Eastern Illinois game was the first such contest ... BG has converted more FTs than the opponent three times (Western Carolina, EIU and Ohio).
FALCONS PICKED FOR SIXTH
The Falcons have been picked to finish sixth in the Mid-American Conference's East Division in the 2007-08 preseason poll ... the poll is the result of voting by members of the MAC News Media Association ... BGSU received 47 points in the poll, five fewer than Buffalo ... Kent State was the voters' choice to win the East Division, narrowly beating out Miami for that honor ... Ohio and Akron were tabbed to place third and fourth, respectively, followed by UB and BGSU ... Western Michigan was picked to win the West Division, nearly 30 points ahead of Toledo ... KSU received seven votes to win the MAC Tournament, while WMU received six and Ohio and Miami five apiece ... the Falcons received one vote to win the league tourney, which will be held at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland from March 12-15, 2008.
UP NEXT
Following the Kent State game, the Falcons will return home to face the University at Buffalo ... that game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start on Thursday, Jan. 17, at venerable Anderson Arena ... after a trip to Akron (Jan. 20), BGSU will face Miami (Jan. 23) and Northern Illinois (Jan. 27) in back-to-back home games.
