Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Zips Saturday Afternoon
February 15, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU vs. AKRON
Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008 • 2:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700) • Bowling Green, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 11-12 (6-5 MAC) // Akron 17-7 (7-4 MAC)
RADIO: Falcon Radio Network - Todd Walker and Kirk Cowan
TELEVISION: BCSN - Tom Cole and Greg Franke
SERIES: BGSU leads, 23-16 // STREAK: Akron - 6
LAST MEETING: at Akron 80, BGSU 44 (Jan. 20, 2008)
BGSU Notes, Stats & Player Bios in PDF Format
BGSU Game-by-Game Boxscores in PDF Format
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team, having played 23 different opponents in the first 23 games, now prepares for the first rematch of the 2007-08 season ... the Falcons of head coach Louis Orr return to Mid-American Conference intra-divisional play with Saturday's (Feb. 16) matinee vs. the University of Akron ... tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) ... following the UA game, the Falcons will return to the road for the next two games, beginning with a Tuesday (Feb. 19) tilt at Ohio University ... then, the Brown and Orange will break from MAC play for the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters, heading to the University of Detroit Mercy on Feb. 23.
THE OPENING TIP
• Each MAC team has played a round-robin schedule at this point, as all teams have played one game against each of the other 11 schools ... the Falcons, picked to finish sixth (i.e., last) in the East Division in the MAC's preseason poll, have a 6-5 league mark, tied for fifth overall among the 12 teams.
• In Akron, BG is meeting the opponent that dealt the Falcons their worst loss of the season to date ... the Zips posted a 36-point win over BGSU, 80-44, just over four weeks ago (Jan. 20, 2008) ... the 44 points represents a season low for the Falcons this season, while the 80 points allowed is the most BG has surrendered in a regulation MAC game.
• BGSU has at least seven games remaining in the 2007-08 season ... but, after Saturday's Akron game, the Falcons will have just one home game left.
THAT STATE UP NORTH
While the Falcons have enjoyed the contributions of the four Michigan natives on the 10-player active roster this season, BGSU has not enjoyed playing teams from the state of Michigan this year to date ... the Falcons just finished a six-game stretch against Mid-American Conference West Division teams, a stretch in which the Falcons went 3-3 ... the three losses came against the three schools from the Great Lakes State ... in fact, in MAC play to date, the Falcons are 0-3 against the Michigan schools, and 6-2 against conference teams from the other states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and New York).
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Akron with an overall record of 11-12, and BGSU is 6-5 in MAC play ... BG has dropped three of the last four games, finishing the cross-divisional swing with a 3-3 mark ... the Falcons are coming off a 10-point loss at Eastern Michigan,78-68, on Wednesday night (Feb. 13) ... that game came on the heels of a 69-58 home win over Toledo before a national-TV audience Sunday (Feb. 10) ... BGSU is 3-2 vs. MAC East Division teams, and the Falcons went 3-3 vs. the West.
• The Falcons 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 three days later (Jan. 20) ... BG posted narrow home wins over Miami (55-52; Jan. 23) and Northern Illinois (63-59; Jan. 27) before heading to Ball State and picking up a 63-53 decision (Jan. 30) ... that winning streak came to an end with a 64-50 loss at Western Michigan (Feb. 2), followed by an overtime setback to Central Michigan (81-77; Feb. 6).
• 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 7-4 at home, 3-7 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games ... BGSU is averaging 64.0 points per game to the opponents' 66.7 ppg ... the Falcons are shooting 44.8 percent from the field, while allowing the opponents to shoot just 40.6%.
• Individually, junior Nate Miller leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per game ... Miller, who had a double-double (21 points and 11 rebounds) vs. UT, also paces the Falcons in assists (2.9 apg) and steals (1.6 spg), and is second on the squad in rebounding (5.9 rpg) ... Miller has hit double digits in scoring in a team-high 18 of BG's 23 games this year.
• Redshirt freshman Chris Knight is second on the team in scoring, and leads the Falcons in rebounding ... Knight has 11.0 points and 7.1 boards per game, and is third on the team in blocked shots (1.0 bpg) ... Knight's total of 102 field goals made is second on the Falcons, behind Miller's team-leading total of 119 FGM.
• Junior Darryl Clements has 8.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game ... he ranks third on the Falcons in scoring, and is second in steals (1.3 spg), third in assists (2.3 apg) and fourth on the team in rebounding ... Clements leads the team with 23 three-point field goals made ... junior Brian Moten has 7.9 ppg ... he is shooting 52.0% from the field, ranking second on the team, and has shot a team-best 43.1% from the three-point line.
• Freshman Joe Jakubowski is averaging 6.7 points per game, and is second on the Falcons in assists, with 2.7 per outing ... Jakubowski's total of 64 helpers is three behind Miller ... the freshman is tied for second (with Moten) in three-pointers made, with 22 this year to date ... sophomores Otis Polk and Marc Larson have split time at center, and are averaging 5.8 and 4.9 points per contest, respectively ... Polk has 4.6 rpg, ranking third on the team ... he is shooting a team-leading 52.8% from the field, and also leads the Falcons in blocked shots, with 33 (1.4 bpg) ... Larson has 2.6 rpg and 1.1 blocks per game, and is shooting 50.6% from the floor ... he is second on the team in blocks and ranks third in FG pct.
• Soph Ryan Sims has played in 21 games off the bench, and is averaging 1.1 ppg, while freshman Cameron Madlock has seen action in 11 games, and has 1.1 ppg and 1.0 rpg ... sophomore Matt Karaffa made his collegiate debut in the Indiana State contest, and also saw action vs. Akron and Western Michigan.
• In MAC action, Miller leads the team in scoring, with 13.6 ppg, while Moten is also in double digits, at 11.9 ppg ... Clements has 9.6 ppg and a team-high 1.5 steals per game in MAC play ... Knight has 8.7 ppg and a team-leading 6.9 rpg, while Jakubowski has 6.6 ppg and Polk 6.0 ... Polk also has 5.0 rpg off the bench in conference games ... BGSU is shooting 44.9% from the field to the opponents' 41.2% in MAC action.
• Clements, Larson and Miller each have started all 23 games to date for first-year BGSU head coach Louis Orr ... Jakubowski has started each of the last 15 games, while Knight has started 22 times, including each of the last 12 ... that lineup has taken the floor at the beginning of all 11 MAC contests ... the Falcons went 13-18 overall and 3-13 in MAC play in 2006-07.
A WIN OVER AKRON WOULD ...
• improve BGSU's MAC record to 7-5, which would more than double the team's conference win total for all of last season (3-13 in MAC games a year ago);
• snap a six-game losing streak in the Akron series;
• give the Falcons eight home wins this year, matching last season's total (8-7 a year ago);
• give the Brown and Orange a 6-1 record in MAC home games, doubling last year's total (3-5 in conference games at Anderson Arena in 2006-07);
• put BGSU's overall mark back at .500, at 12-12; and
• make BG 14-5 all-time in home games vs. the Zips.
SCOUTING AKRON
Akron enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 17-7, and the Zips are 7-4 in MAC play ... UA is 12-1 at home, 3-5 on the road and 2-1 in neutral-site games this season to date ... in conference games, the Zips are 5-1 at home and 2-3 on the road ... Akron began the season with a 14-3 record, capped by a win over the Falcons, but the Zips have gone 3-4 since that time ... UA, like BG, is coming off a 10-point loss on Wednesday (Feb. 13), having fallen to visiting Northern Illinois by an 88-78 count ... individually, senior forward Jeremiah Wood is leading the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 13.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game ... Wood has missed the last two games due to injury, and is expected to miss the BGSU game as well ... senior guard Nick Dials has 12.7 points and a team-leading 4.4 assists per game ... he has made 59 three-point field goals this year to date ... junior forward Nate Linhart and senior guard Cedrick Middleton has 8.8 and 8.5 ppg, respectively ... senior forward Quade Milum has 7.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest ... Dials, Linhart, Middleton and Milum were joined in the starting lineup by sophomore forward Chris McKnight (5.7 ppg) for the NIU game ... head coach Keith Dambrot welcomed back 10 letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that finished 26-7 overall and 13-3 in MAC action ... Dambrot has a record of 85-34 in his fourth season with the Zips, and is 193-104 in his 10th season as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.gozips.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Akron, 23-16, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Zips have won the last six meetings ... last month (Jan. 20, 2007), Akron captured an 80-44 decision over the visiting Falcons ... UA swept last year's two games, with an 82-63 victory at Anderson Arena (Jan. 14, 2007) and a 93-87 win in the Rubber City (Feb. 24, 2007) ... the Falcons' last series win was a 77-72 triiumph at Rhodes Arena on Jan. 14, 2004 ... BG's last victory over the Zips at Anderson came on Jan. 18, 2003, a 74-60 decision ... BGSU is 13-5 in home games, 9-10 in road games and 1-1 in neutral-site contests vs. the Zips ... the complete list of BGSU-UA series results can be found on page 59 of the 2007-08 BGSU media guide (available in pdf format here at BGSUFalcons.com), as well as in the pdf version of these notes.
LAST TIME OUT
Carlos Medlock scored 26 points, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point land, to lead Eastern Michigan to a 78-68 victory over the Falcons ... redshirt freshman Chris Knight had 15 points to lead three double-digit scorers for the visitors ... juniors Brian Moten and Nate Miller added 14 and 13, respectively ... the Eagles made 10-of-19 three-point tries on the night, and held a 35-24 rebounding advantage ... Eastern went to the free-throw line 37 times, making 32 (86.5 percent), while the Falcons were 11-for-17 from the stripe ... the early stages of the game featured three ties and three lead changes ... with the game deadlocked at 6-6, Moten drilled a right-side three-pointer off Knight's pass at the 15:19 mark, and freshman Joe Jakubowski lobbed a pass to Knight for a turnaround layup and an 11-6 lead ... but, the Eagles then would go on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good ... the hosts led by a 34-28 count at halftime ... BG got the EMU lead down to three points on three occasions in an early second-half span ... but, each time, Eastern came right back with triples to double the lead ... the Eagles took a 10-point lead, capped by Medlock's long-distance shot at 10:35 ... the Falcons rallied to within two points, 58-56, after Moten's triple with 6:45 on the clock ... BG had several possessions with a chance to tie or take the lead, but could not get over the hump ... Medlock hit a back-breaking triple to give the hosts an eight-point lead with under two minutes left, and the Falcons could not recover.
BLOCK PARTY, HOSTED BY OTIS
Sophomore Otis Polk tied his career high with four blocked shots in Sunday's win over Toledo ... Polk now has 33 blocks this year, the ninth-highest single-season total in school history ... the Detroit native is 11 rejections shy of third place on the list, a spot currently held by Ed Colbert (44 in 1990-91) ... Cornelius Cash holds the record, with 59 blocks in 1973-74.
BLOCK PARTY II: CHRIS AND MARC MIGHT STOP BY, TOO
Sophomore Otis Polk, as mentioned, is ninth on the BGSU single-season list for blocked shots ... classmate Marc Larson and redshirt freshman Chris Knight are close to adding their names to the top-10 on that same list ... Larson has 26 blocks this year to date, just five shy of tying for 10th place ... Knight has 24 rejections in 2007-08.
MILLER TIME
Junior Nate Miller has emerged as a go-to player for the Falcons ... Miller had a pair of 20-point games last week, with 20 vs. Central Michigan and 21 more - tying his career high - vs. Toledo ... he added 13 points and a game-high six assists at Eastern Michigan ... Miller leads the Falcons in scoring, with 13.6 points per game, and has a team-high 18 double-digit games this season to date ... Miller scored 11 of 14 points for the Falcons during a key stretch of the CMU game, with four of BG's final seven points of regulation, and BG's first seven points of the overtime period ... vs. Toledo, he had a double-double, with 11 rebounds, and also had five assists in the win ... Miller was 9-of-13 from the field in that game.
KNIGHT TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME
Redshirt freshman Chris Knight scored a team-high 15 points at Eastern Michigan, tying his season best with three assists ... Knight has hit double digits in scoring in 14 games this year, and is averaging 11.0 points per game ... he is second in scoring, and leads the Falcons in rebounding, with 7.1 per contest ... Knight has hit double digits in rebounding four times this year, and has had nine boards on five other occasions this year ... his three 20-point games include a 24-point outing in his hometown, in a win at Cincinnati.
BIG OTIS
Sophomore Otis Polk had 12 points in the win over Toledo, tying his career high with four blocked shots ... eight of Polk's 12 points came during a key 10-0 run late in the second half ... those eight points included an emphatic tomahawk dunk with just under five minutes remaining ... that was followed by a pair of free throws with 3:03 left, and a layup half a minute later ... the layup capped the 10-0 run and gave BG a 60-48 lead, and the Rockets could get no closer than seven points thereafter ... Polk, who has four double-digit games this season to date, scored nine points - going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field - at Eastern Michigan ... he leads the team in field-goal percentage, at 52.8%.
HOME (AND ROAD) IMPROVEMENT
With at least seven games remaining this season, the Falcons have matched or surpassed last year's win totals in numerous categories ...
• The Falcons have a MAC record of 6-5 this year ... BGSU has doubled the team's conference victory total from all of last season ... the Falcons went 3-13 in MAC play a year ago.
• After the win over Toledo, BGSU now has a 5-1 home record in MAC games ... the Falcons went 3-5 in conference games at Anderson Arena last year.
• The Falcons have a record of 3-7 in all road games this season, matching the win total for all of last year ... BG went 3-10 in away contests in 2006-07.
MOTEN OFFENSE
Junior Brian Moten has provided the Falcons with an offensive spark this season, especially since the 2008 calendar year began ... Moten has hit double digits in scoring 10 times, including nine times in the last 12 games ... he is averaging 7.9 points per game this season, and is second on the team in scoring in MAC games, with 11.9 ppg vs. conference opposition.
NOTIN' MOTEN
• Junior Brian Moten is shooting a team-best 52.8 percent from the field in MAC play, and leads the team with 15 three-point field goals made in conference games ... he is shooting 42.9% from long distance (15-for-35) against MAC foes, good for third in the entire league.
• Moten has given the Falcons valuable minutes off the bench, with season-high totals in three consecutive games ... he played 33 minutes at Ball State, 34 at Western Michigan and a career-high 38 minutes vs. Central Michigan ... Moten is averaging 29.7 minutes per game in MAC play.
• Moten shot 64.0% from the field in the six games vs. MAC West-Division foes ... that stretch included an 8-fof-9 performance in the win at Ball State and a 6-for-8 night vs. CMU.
• The Saginaw, Mich., native is ranked among the MAC leaders in several categories ... in league games, Moten is 17th in scoring, eighth in field-goal percentage, and, as mentioned, third in the MAC in three-point FG pct.
PHALCON PHRESHMAN PHENOMS
Several first-year Falcons are at the top of their class when it comes to the MAC statistics ... Chris Knight leads all MAC freshmen in scoring (11.0 ppg, tie-20th in MAC) and rebounding (7.1 rpg; tie-sixth), and is also the MAC's top freshman shot-blocker (1.04 bpg; seventh) ... Joe Jakubowski paces all league frosh in assists (2.78 apg; tie-12th).
LEADERS OF THE MAC
The Falcons continue to lead the Mid-American Conference in several team defensive categories ... BGSU paces the MAC in field-goal percentage defense (40.6%) and blocked shots (4.74 bpg), and BG is second in the league in three-point FG pct. defense (31.8%).
BLOCK IT OUT
As mentioned, the Falcons lead the MAC in blocked shots, averaging 4.77 per game ... individually, the Falcons have three players among the top-six blockers on that list ... sophomore Otis Polk is second in the MAC, while classmate Marc Larson and redshirt freshman Chris Knight are sixth and seventh, respectively.
DOUBLE(-DOUBLE) TROUBLE
• Junior Nate Miller had his third double-double of the season in the Toledo game, with game-high totals of 21 points and 11 rebounds ... Miller's other two double-doubles this year came during the Falcons' three-game homestand that ended calendar year 2007 and began 2008 ... Miller had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Ohio (Jan. 5) ... the Springfield, Ohio, native had 17 points and 14 boards in the Eastern Illinois game (Dec. 29) ... Miller now has eight 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.
• Sophomore Otis Polk had his first career double-double in this year's Buffalo game, scoring 13 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds ... it marked the fourth time in five games that a Falcon player had recorded a double-double.
• Redshirt freshman Chris Knight has had two double-doubles this year to date ... he had a double-double in his collegiate debut, in his hometown, no less ... the Cincinnati native had 16 points and 10 boards in his first game at BGSU, against Western Carolina (Nov. 9) at the Peggy Cronin Classic on the UC campus ... his other double-double came in the Duquesne game (Jan. 2), as he had 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds vs. the Dukes.
ORR EARNS A MIDSEASON MENTION
On Feb. 5, the MAC Report Online web site (www.macreportonline.com) announced its midseason awards ... BGSU head coach Louis Orr was listed as the site's MAC Coach of the Year at the midway point ... among other things, the article stated, 'halfway through the season, Orr is the clear leader for Coach of the Year honors in the MAC."
BGSU TO FACE DETROIT IN BRACKETBUSTERS
The Falcons will play at the University of Detroit Mercy in a 2008 O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBusters game ... BGSU will play the Titans at UDM's Calihan Hall on Saturday, Feb. 23, with tipoff time set for 4:05 p.m. ... the 2007-08 season marks the sixth year of the event, and BGSU has a 7-3 record in BracketBusters-related games ... earlier this season (Nov. 17), the Falcons defeated Morehead State, 86-70, in a return game from the 2007 BracketBusters event ... BGSU has also had home-and-home series with UIC, Youngstown State, Arkansas-Little Rock and Wright State through BracketBusters.
ORR, FALCONS GO 2-0 VS. OTHER FIRST-YEAR MAC COACHES
Louis Orr is one of three first-year head coaches in the MAC ... BGSU recently completed back-to-back games against the other two teams coached by first-year MAC mentors, winning both ... Orr and the Falcons picked up a win over Ricardo Patton's Northern Illinois squad (63-59; Jan. 27), then downed Billy Taylor's Ball State team, 63-53 (Jan. 30).
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 include 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 ... Sunday's home game vs. Toledo was shown on ESPNU, and Wednesday's (Feb. 13) contest at Eastern Michigan was 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.
