Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Huskies in Sunday Action at Anderson
January 26, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2008
Coach Orr Thursday Press Conference
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008 • 2:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700) • Bowling Green, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 8-9 (3-2 MAC) // NIU 5-12 (2-3 MAC)
RADIO: Falcon Radio Network - Todd Walker and Kirk Cowan
SERIES: NIU leads, 25-23 // STREAK: NIU - 3
LAST MEETING: at Northern Illinois 73, BGSU 51 (Feb. 7, 2007)
BGSU Notes, Stats & Player Bios in PDF Format 
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team, after playing five games against Mid-American Conference East Division teams to begin the league schedule, now begins a stretch of cross-divisional games ... the Falcons of head coach Louis Orr will play the first of six games vs. West Division schools Sunday (Jan. 27), hosting Northern Illinois University ... tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) ... following the NIU game, the Falcons will play two-straight road games, beginning with a Wednesday (Jan. 30) game at Ball State University.
THE OPENING TIP
• The Falcons improved to 3-2 in MAC play after a 55-52 home win over Miami Wednesday (Jan. 23) ... juniors Nate Miller and Darryl Clements scored 15 points apiece in the win, which concluded BGSU's first swing through the East Division.
• With Wednesday's win, BGSU has matched the team's MAC victory total for all of last season ... the Falcons are currently 3-2 in league play, after going 3-13 in MAC action last winter.
• One of the Falcons' most lopsided losses of last season came against Saturday's opponent, NIU ... last Feb. 7, the Huskies - who entered the game on an eight-game losing streak - posted a 73-51 victory over BGSU in DeKalb ... the 22-point margin marked the Falcons' most lopsided loss in the 48-game series vs. Northern.
FALCONS TIED FOR THIRD
After the first round of intra-divisional play, the Falcons have a MAC record of 3-2 ... BGSU - picked to finish last in the six-team East Division in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll - is currently tied for third, just a game out of first ... Akron and Kent State each are 4-1 in conference play heading into the weekend, while Ohio, like BGSU, has a 3-2 league record ... this weekend begins a six-game stretch of cross-divisional play, before teams return to intra-divisional action for the final five MAC regular-season games.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Northern Illinois game with an 8-9 overall record on the season, and BGSU is 3-2 in MAC play ... the three MAC wins have come at Anderson Arena, while the two league losses each were on the road ... BG opened the league schedule with a 52-49 win over Ohio (Jan. 5), before losing at Kent State, 63-49 (Jan. 12) ... the Brown and Orange rebounded with an 83-70 victory against Buffalo (Jan. 17), but suffered an 80-44 setback at Akron last Sunday (Jan. 20) ... BG posted a three-point win over Miami, 55-52, Wednesday (Jan. 23).
• The Falcons opened the season with a 4-2 record, including a 2-1 mark at the season-opening Peggy Cronin Classic at Cincinnati ... the wins in that tourney came over Belmont and host UC ... the Falcons' other victories over the first six games of the year came against Morehead State and at Furman ... then, however, the Brown and Orange suffered a four-game losing streak ... three of those losses came on the road, and none by more than 11 points.
• The Falcons won two of three games on the homestand that bridged the New Year, with a 52-48 win over Eastern Illinois (Dec. 29), a 96-78 loss to Duquesne (Jan. 2) at Anderson Arena and the MAC-opening victory over Ohio.
• The Falcons are 5-3 at home, 2-5 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games ... BGSU is averaging 63.7 points per game to the opponents' 67.1 ppg ... the Falcons are shooting 43.7 percent from the field, while allowing the opponents to shoot 40.8%.
• Individually, junior Nate Miller leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.1 points per game ... he is second on the team with 5.7 rebounds per contest ... Miller leads the Falcons in steals (1.7 spg) and now leads the team in assists (2.6 apg).
• Redshirt freshman Chris Knight is second on the team in scoring, and leads the Falcons in rebounding ... Knight has 11.7 points and 7.2 boards per game to date, and is shooting 46.0% from the field ... Knight's total of 81 field goals made is just three behind Miller's team-leading total.
• Junior Darryl Clements has 8.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game ... he ranks third on the Falcons in scoring, and is second in steals (1.4 spg), third in assists (2.1 apg) and fourth on the team in rebounding ... freshman Joe Jakubowski is averaging 6.1 points per game ... he is second on the team in assists, with 2.5 per game ... Jakubowski's total of 43 helpers is just one behind Miller ... the freshman leads the Brown and Orange with 17 three-point field-goals made.
• Junior Brian Moten, who led the Falcons in scoring in two of the first five MAC games, has 5.9 ppg ... he is shooting 44.2% from the field and 40.0% from the three-point line ... sophomores Marc Larson and Otis Polk have split time at center, and are averaging 5.6 and 5.4 points per contest, respectively ... Larson also has 2.6 rpg and 1.1 blocked shots per game, and is shooting a team-best 52.5% from the floor ... Polk, who posted a double-double in the Buffalo game, has 4.9 rpg, ranking third on the team, and leads the Falcons in blocked shots, with 21 (1.2 bpg) this season to date.
• Soph Ryan Sims has played in all 17 games off the bench, and is averaging 1.4 ppg, while freshman Cameron Madlock has seen action in six games ... Madlock had six points and seven rebounds at Akron, and is averaging 1.3 ppg and 1.7 rpg ... sophomore Matt Karaffa made his collegiate debut in the Indiana State contest, and also saw action vs. Akron.
• In MAC action, Miller leads the team in scoring, with 12.2 ppg, while Clements and Moten have 10.2 and 10.0 ppg, respectively ... Knight has 8.4 ppg and a team-high 7.0 rpg, while Jakubowski and Polk have 4.8 ppg each ... Polk also has 6.8 rpg off the bench.
• Clements, Larson and Miller each have started all 17 games to date for first-year BGSU head coach Louis Orr ... Jakubowski has started each of the last nine games, while Knight has started 16 times, including each of the last six ... the Falcons went 13-18 overall and 3-13 in MAC play in 2006-07.
A WIN OVER NORTHERN ILLINOIS WOULD ...
• give the Falcons a two-game winning streak, BG's first since the Falcons won three consecutive games in mid-November;
• even BGSU's overall record at 9-9, putting the team at the .500 mark for the first time since Dec. 6 (4-4);
• make BGSU a perfect 4-0 in MAC home games, topping the team's home conference win total for all of last year (3-5 in home MAC games last year);
• put the Falcons at 4-2 in the MAC, besting the league win total for all of last season (3-13 in 2006-07); and
• ensure the Brown and Orange - picked for sixth in the East Division in the preseason coaches poll - no worse than a third-place tie after six league games.
SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois enters Sunday's game with a 5-12 overall record ... the Huskies are 2-3 in MAC play after a 60-58 win over Ball State on Tuesday night (Jan. 22) ... Northern's other league win came over Toledo (78-62; Jan. 13) ... the Huskies have gone 5-6 after opening the season on a six-game losing streak ... NIU is 5-2 at home, 0-8 on the road and 0-2 in neutral-site matches this year to date ... in MAC action, the Huskies are 2-1 at home and 0-2 at opposing venues ... individually, junior guard Jarvis Nichols leads the team in scoring, with 10.3 points per game ... senior forward Shaun Logan and freshman guard Darion Anderson have 8.9 ppg apiece ... Logan has 5.5 rebounds per game, while Anderson is averaging 4.2 boards per contest ... senior forward Egan Grafel has 7.4 ppg and a team-leading 5.6 rpg ... he also paces the Huskies in assists, with 2.5 per game ... Logan has started all 17 games, while Grafel has made 13 starts this year to date ... Nichols, Anderson and junior forward Sean Smith (6.4 ppg) join them in the probable starting lineup for head coach Ricardo Patton ... Patton, in his first season at the Huskie helm, has seven returning letterwinners, including two starters, from last year's team that finished 7-23 overall and 4-12 in MAC action ... Patton, who spent 11-plus seasons at the helm at the University of Colorado, has an overall mark of 189-172 as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.niuhuskies.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Northern Illinois, 25-23, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU is looking to snap a three-game losing streak to the Huskies ... in last year's meeting, Northern posted a 73-51 win in DeKalb (Feb. 7, 2007) ... the Huskies picked up a one-point victory, 75-74, in the teams' last game at Anderson Arena two years ago (Jan. 11, 2006) ... a tip-in with just four seconds left gave the Huskies the win ... the Falcons' last victory over Northern was a 78-67 decision three years ago (Jan. 9, 2005) ... BGSU is 16-9 in home games, 6-14 in road contests and 1-2 in neutral-site affairs against NIU ... the teams have split the last four meetings at Anderson, after the Falcons had won four home games in a row from 1997-98 to 2001-02 ... overall, the Falcons are 10-5 against the Huskies since Northern rejoined the MAC ... the complete list of BGSU-NIU series results can be found on page 61 of the 2007-08 BGSU media guide (available in pdf format at BGSUFalcons.com), as well as in the pdf o' these notes.
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons battled back from an 11-point first-half deficit to post a 55-52 win over Miami ... the win enabled BGSU to match the MAC victory total for all of last season (3-2 after going 3-13) ... juniors Nate Miller and Darryl Clements had 15 points apiece for the Falcons, while redshirt freshman Chris Knight scored 11 points and tied for game honors with nine rebounds ... for the visitors, Tim Pollitz had 15 points and nine rebounds, playing all 40 minutes ... Miller had a game-high four assists, with two of those helpers coming at key times, late in each half ... after Miller started the game's scoring, the RedHawks then scored the next 12 points ... after scoring those 12 points in the first 3:57, however, the RedHawks would score only nine more in the remaining 16:03 before the intermission ... BG trailed by a 17-6 count with 11:16 left before halftime, but the Falcons then began to come back ... a 13-0 run gave BG a 24-19 lead, and the Falcons finished the half on a 20-4 streak to take a 26-21 lead at the break ... MU went 8:54 without a field goal during one first-half stretch ... the Falcons never trailed in the second half, but the game was close throughout ... Miami was within 44-40 with just under six minutes left when Miller took over ... he scored the Falcons' next eight points, including a pair of three-pointers ... the RedHawks chipped away at BG's lead, getting within a single point before Miller fed Knight for a key basket with 23.3 seconds left ... a three-point try by the RedHawks fell short of the mark as the final horn sounded.
A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE MIAMI GAME
• BGSU has won two consecutive games in the Miami series, and the Falcons have captured 10 of the last 11 home games vs. the RedHawks.
• Juniors Nate Miller and Darryl Clements had very similar stat lines in the game ... both players scored 15 points and had three rebounds, and each player was 3-for-5 from three-point range ... Miller and Clements each had two steals to tie for team honors.
• Miami began the game by making its first five field-goal attempts, while holding the Falcons to a 1-for-7 performance during that same span ... MU was 6-for-7 to start the game, but went just 2-for-17 over the remainder of the first half ... the RedHawks were just 1-for-13 over the final 11-plus minutes of the period.
• After getting off to that 1-for-7 start, BGSU ended the first half with a higher FG perfcenntage than Miami ... the Falcons shot 39.1% from the floor in the opening half, going 9-for-23, to MU's 33.3% (8-of-24) ... on the night, BG had an overall FG pct. of 45.5% to the visitors' 39.2%.
MILLER TIME
Junior Nate Miller has been an integral part of the Falcons' offense all season long ... Miller, after being held to a season-low seven points at Akron (Jan. 20), bounced back with 15 points in the Miami game Wednesday (Jan. 23) ... he took the game over in the second half, scoring eight-straight BGSU points ... Miller began that stretch by hitting a three-pointer with a defender in his face ... the junior adjusted his shot in midair, adding some arc, and hit the triple to give BG a 47-40 lead ... he converted a transition jumper, then hit another trey ... Miller, who had had an assist on a basket at the end of the first half, drew the defense to him and fed redshirt freshman Chris Knight for a jumper with 23.3 seconds left in the game, giving the Falcons a three-point lead ... Miller tied for game scoring honors, and led the home team in both assists (four) and steals (two - tied for team lead) ... he hit a career-high three three-pointers in Wednesday's win ... Miller has 13 double-digit scoring games in BG's 17 contests, and is averaging a team-high 13.1 points per game.
FALCONS GETTING TO THE LINE ...
In three of the Falcons' five MAC games to date, BG has allowed the opponent (Ohio, Akron and Miami) to make only six free throws ... in league play to date, the Falcons have made more free throws (65) than the opponents have attempted (60).
... AND CONVERTING ONCE THEY GET THERE
BG is 65-for-109 (59.6%) at the free-throw line in MAC play, while the opponents have gone 40-for-60 (66.7%) ... after shooting less than 50.0% from the stripe in two of the previous three games, the Falcons went 8-for-11 (72.7%) in the Miami contest, including a perfect 5-for-5 in the first half ... on the year, the Falcons are shooting 65.8% from the stripe, having gone 217-for-330.
O IS FOR OTIS, AND FOR OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS
Sophomore Otis Polk has stepped up his play over the past few weeks ... in his first 37 games as a Falcon (through this season's Illinois State game), the Detroit native had a total of 86 career rebounds (2.3 rpg), including 35 (0.9 per game) at the offensive end ... in that 37-game span, Polk had as many as three offensive boards just twice ... over the last eight games, however, Polk has had a total of 53 rebounds (6.6 rpg), and has averaged 3.6 offensive boards per game during that time ... Polk had at least three offensive rebounds in each of seven-straight games, through the Akron contest ... not surprisingly, his scoring production has increased as well during that time ... Polk's scoring and rebounding breakdowns (with per-game averages) during his first 37 games and his last eight ...
FRIES FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
The Falcons enter the NIU contest with a record of 5-3 in home games this season ... BGSU is 3-0 in MAC games at Anderson Arena to date ... junior Nate Miller tied his career high with three three-point field goals made against Miami ... Miller had made two treys on two occasions, the most recent being the Kent State game (Jan. 12, 2008) ... the Falcons committed just eight turnovers against Miami, the second-lowest total of the year ... BG had only six turnovers in another win vs. another Southwest Ohio team, Cincinnati (Nov. 11, 2007) ... for their part, the RedHawks had only seven turnovers, tying a season low for a BG opponent (Akron and Morehead State) ... with a total of 136 points this year to date, junior Darryl Clements as topped his point total for his first two seasons combined (129) ... Clements had 42 points as a freshman and 87 points last winter ... redshirt freshman Chris Knight has 19 blocked shots this season to date, second on the team behind sophomore Otis Polk (21) ... Knight has a team-leading 10 blocks in the Falcons' five MAC games.
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 have included WCWA-AM 1230 (Toledo), WPFX-FM 107.7 (Findlay/North Baltimore) and WBUK-FM 106.3 (Ottawa).
• 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.
FALCONS PICKED FOR SIXTH
The Falcons were 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 NIU game, the Falcons will hit the road for the next two games, beginning with Wednesday's (Jan. 30) contest at Ball State ... after a Saturday (Feb. 2) game at Western Michigan, the Brown and Orange will return to venerable Anderson Arena to meet Central Michigan (Feb. 6) and Toledo (Feb. 10).
