Bowling Green State University Athletics
Motown-Bound Falcons Prepare for BracketBusters Game
February 22, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU at DETROIT
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 • 4:05 p.m.
Calihan Hall (8,295) • Detroit, Mich.
O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters
RECORDS: BGSU 11-14 (6-7 MAC) // Detroit 7-19 (3-13 Horizon League)
RADIO: Falcon Radio Network - Todd Walker
SERIES: UDM leads, 21-11 // STREAK: BGSU - 2
LAST MEETING: BGSU 57, at Detroit 51 (Dec. 4, 2004)
Falcon Notes, Stats & Player Bios (28 pages!!!) in PDF Format
BGSU Game-by-Game Boxscores & Recaps (13 more pages) in PDF Format
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team steps outside of Mid-American Conference play for one final time in the 2007-08 regular season ... the Falcons of head coach Louis Orr head to the Motor City to face the University of Detroit Mercy on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 23), as part of the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters weekend ... tipoff is set for 4:05 p.m. at Calihan Hall (8,295) ... following the UDM contest, the Brown and Orange will have a week off before the final home game of the season, a March 1 contest vs. Kent State University ... that game will begin at 12:30 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700).
THE OPENING TIP
• The 2007-08 season marks the sixth year of BracketBusters, and BGSU has a 7-3 record in games related to the event ... earlier this season (Nov. 17), the Falcons defeated Morehead State, 86-70, in a return game from the 2007 BracketBusters ... BG has also had home-and-home series with UIC, Youngstown State, Arkansas-Little Rock and Wright State as a result of the event.
• Saturday's game will be video streamed live on the Horizon League Network at www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv ... the game will feature a minimum of three camera angles ... registration is required, but all games on the HL package are free ... the direct link to the BGSU-at-UDM game is ...
http://www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv/live.aspx?ScheduleID=1171
BRACKETBUSTERS GAME ON THE HORIZON
As mentioned, the 2007-08 season marks the sixth year of the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters event ... of BGSU's six opponents for the event, four are members of the Horizon League ... the Falcons have met the HL's UIC, Wright State and Youngstown State in prior events, and meet UDM this year.
BGSU IN BRACKETBUSTERS-RELATED GAMES
2/22/03 -- at Illinois-Chicago 83, BGSU 72
2/21/04 -- at BGSU 76, Youngstown State 64
11/24/04 - at BGSU 63, Illinois-Chicago 51 (R)
12/11/04 - BGSU 81, at Youngstown State 59 (R)
2/19/05 -- at BGSU 74, Arkansas-Little Rock 66
12/10/05 - at Arkansas-Little Rock 68, BGSU 60 (R)
2/18/06 -- Wright State 70, at BGSU 51
12/16/06 - BGSU 59, at Wright State 56 (R)
2/17/07 -- BGSU 90, at Morehead State 72
11/17/07 - at BGSU 86, Morehead State 70 (R)
(R) - return game
Otis Polk (45), assistant coach LaMonta Stone (second from right) and Darryl Clements (2) all are natives of the Motor City (BGSU Photo Services)  |
|
The Falcons, as mentioned earlier, are 7-3 in BracketBusters-related games ... BGSU is 3-2 in actual BracketBusters contests, 4-1 in return matches, 4-1 in home games and 3-2 in away games ... the Falcons are 4-2 against Horizon League schools in BracketBusters action.
BGSU-DETROIT TIES
Saturday's BracketBusters game is a homecoming for three members of the Falcon program ... junior Darryl Clements, sophomore Otis Polk and assistant coach LaMonta Stone all hail from the Motor City ... for Clements and Polk, the game will be their first in their hometown as collegians ... the Falcons won a 57-51 decision at Calihan three years ago (Dec. 4, 2004), in Stone's fourth game with the program.
BGSU-DETROIT TIES II
The Titans' roster features a surname familiar to BGSU fans ... UDM sophomore Josh Samarco is the younger brother of former Falcon Martin Samarco, who scored over 1,000 points in two years at BG ... Josh Samarco is in his first season with the Titans, after spending a year at Schoolcraft College ... he has played in all 26 games this year, making one start.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Detroit game with an overall record of 11-14, and BGSU is 6-7 in MAC play ... BG has dropped five of the last six games ... the Falcons are coming off a 69-48 loss at Ohio Tuesday night (Feb. 19) ... BGSU is looking to reverse a three-game losing streak, including a 10-point setback at Eastern Michigan, 78-68 (Feb. 13), and a nine-point home loss to Akron, 65-56, last Saturday afternoon (Feb. 16) ... the EMU game came on the heels of a 69-58 home win over Toledo before a national-TV audience (Feb. 10) ... BGSU is 3-4 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 OU (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 UA three days later (Jan. 20) ... after that 2-2 MAC start, BG then won three-straight games, posting 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 7-5 at home, 3-8 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games ... BGSU is averaging 63.1 points per game to the opponents' 66.7 ppg ... the Falcons are shooting 44.4 percent from the field, while allowing the opponents to shoot just 40.7%.
• Individually, junior Nate Miller leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.5 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 (1.5 spg), and is second on the squad in rebounding (6.1 rpg) ... Miller has hit double digits in scoring in a team-high 20 of BG's 25 games this year.
• Redshirt freshman Chris Knight is second on the team in scoring, and leads the Falcons in rebounding ... Knight has 10.7 points and 7.2 boards per game, and is third on the team in blocked shots (1.0 bpg) ... Knight had a double-double vs. Akron, his third of the season ... he is tied with Miller for the team lead in that category.
• Junior Brian Moten has moved into third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.2 ppg ... he is shooting 50.3 percent from the field, ranking second on the team, and has shot a BG-best 42.2% from the three-point line ... Moten leads the Falcons with 27 three-pointers made ... classmate Darryl Clements has 7.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game ... he ranks fourth on the Falcons in scoring, and is second in steals (1.2 spg), third in assists (2.2 apg) and fourth on the team in rebounding ... Clements is third on the Falcons with 24 three-point FG made.
• Freshman Joe Jakubowski is averaging 6.8 points per game, and is second on the Falcons in assists, with 2.7 per outing ... Jakubowski's total of 68 helpers is four behind Miller's total ... the freshman is second in three-pointers made, with 26 this year to date ... sophomores Otis Polk and Marc Larson have split time at center, and are averaging 5.4 and 4.6 points per contest, respectively ... Polk has 4.3 rpg, ranking third on the team ... he is shooting a team-leading 52.7% from the field, and also leads the Falcons in blocked shots, with 40 (1.6 bpg) ... Larson has 2.7 rpg and 1.2 blocks per game, and is shooting 49.4% from the floor ... he is second on the team in blocks and ranks third in FG pct.
• Soph Ryan Sims has played in 23 games off the bench, and is averaging 1.4 ppg, while freshman Cameron Madlock has seen action in 13 games, and has 1.1 ppg and 0.9 rpg ... sophomore Matt Karaffa has played in four games, all on the road ... Karaffa made his collegiate debut in the Indiana State contest, and also saw action at Akron, Western Michigan and Ohio.
• In MAC action, Miller leads the team in scoring, with 13.5 ppg, while Moten is also in double digits, at 11.9 ppg ... Miller paces the Falcons in assists in MAC play, with 3.5 apg ... Clements has 8.7 ppg and 1.3 steals per game in MAC play, and is tied with Miller for the team lead in the latter category ... Knight has 8.5 ppg, and has a team-leading 7.2 rpg, while Jakubowski has 7.0 ppg and Polk 5.3 ... Polk also has 4.5 rpg off the bench in conference games ... BGSU is shooting 44.0% from the field to the opponents' 41.2% in MAC action.
• Clements, Larson and Miller each have started all 25 games to date for first-year BGSU head coach Louis Orr ... Jakubowski has started each of the last 17 games, while Knight has started 24 times, including each of the last 14 ... that lineup has taken the floor at the beginning of all 14 games in calendar year 2008 ... the Falcons went 13-18 overall and 3-13 in MAC play in 2006-07.
A WIN OVER DETROIT WOULD ...
• give BG a three-game winning streak in the series with Detroit, along with a two-game winning streak at Calihan Hall;
• break a seven-game losing streak to teams from the state of Michigan (with six of those losses coming by 10 points or less);
• be the Falcons' fourth road win of the year, topping last season's total (3-10); and
• conclude BG's non-conference portion of the schedule with a 6-7 record.
SCOUTING DETROIT
Detroit enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 7-19, and the Titans are 3-13 in Horizon League action ... UDM suffered a 13-game losing streak that lasted through the entire month of December and nearly all of January, but the Titans have gone 3-4 since then, with none of the four losses coming by more than seven points ... UDM won home games against UIC (68-60; Feb. 14) and Loyola (56-53; Feb. 16), before suffering a last-second loss at Wright State Wednesday night (58-59; Feb. 20) ... Detroit is 6-9 in home games and 1-10 in road contests to date ... two of the team's wins have come against MAC teams, including a win over MAC-leading Kent State (61-60; Nov. 10) in the season opener ... BG will be the fifth MAC squad to meet the Titans this season ... individually, senior guard Jon Goode leads the team in scoring, with 19.3 points per game ... he also paces the Titans in assists, with 2.7 helpers per game ... junior forward Chris Hayes is also scoring in double digits, with 10.5 ppg, and has a team-leading 6.3 rebounds per outing ... sophomore guards Woody Payne, Josh Samarco and Eulis Stephens round out the team's top-five scorers ... Payne has 6.3 ppg and Samarco and Stephens 6.2 ppg apiece ... senior guard Zach Everingham (5.1 ppg) and junior forward Michael Harrington (2.3 ppg) have joined Goode, Hayes and Stephens in the starting lineup in each of the last two games for interim head coach Kevin Mondro ... Mondro, the team's associate head coach, took over as interim head coach when coach Perry Watson took an indefinite leave of absence beginning on Jan. 7 ... the Titans welcomed back 10 letterwinners, including two starters, from last year's team that finished 11-19 overall and 6-10 in the Horizon League ... the school's athletics web site is www.detroittitans.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Detroit, 21-11, in the all-time series between the teams, but BGSU has emerged victorious in the teams' last two meetings ... the Falcons and Titans have not met for three years ... BG captured the last game, 57-51, at Calihan (Dec. 4, 2004) ... that win snapped a 12-game road losing streak for the Falcons in the series ... prior to that game, BG had not won a road contest vs. the Titans since December of 1956 ... the Falcons are 8-7 in home games, 3-13 in road games and 0-1 in neutral-site meetings with the Titans ... the complete list of BGSU-UDM series results can be found in the pdf version of these notes.
LAST TIME OUT
Host Ohio opened the second half with a huge run, which broke open a tie game and propelled the Bobcats to a 69-48 win Tuesday night (Feb. 19) in Athens ... the teams were tied, 22-22, at halftime, and exchanged buckets early in the second half ... but, the 'Cats then scored nine-straight points as part of a 22-3 run, taking a 19-point lead midway through the half ... Jerome Tillman scored 14 points to lead a balanced Ohio attack ... Allen Hester and Bubba Walther also were in double digits for the hosts, with 12 and 10 points, respectively ... for the Falcons, junior Nate Miller and freshman Joe Jakubowski scored 12 points apiece ... BGSU made a season-high 11 three-point field goals ... however, the Falcons made a total of just five field goals from inside the arc ... BG's total of 16 field goals made tied a season low ... Ohio shot 56.7 percent in the second half, making 17-for-30, en route to a 44.1% field-goal rate for the game ... the Falcons shot 35.6% on the evening ... BG held an early lead, 15-7, before going seven and a half minutes without a basket ... back-to-back three-point plays by Hester gave the home team an 18-15 advantage ... the game was tied several more times over the remainder of the first half, and once in the second half ... but, a Hester triple sparked the 9-0 run and gave the Bobcats the lead for good ... Ohio had a 38-31 rebounding margin, including a 21-12 edge in the second half.
THE HIGHEST HIGHS, AND THE LOWEST LOWS
BGSU made a season-high 11 three-point field goals in the Ohio game Tuesday ... however, the Falcons made a total of just five field goals from inside the arc ... BG's total of 16 field goals made in the game tied a season low.
BLOCK PARTY, HOSTED BY OTIS
Sophomore Otis Polk tied his career high with four blocked shots in both the Toledo and Ohio games, and had three more against Akron ... Polk now has 40 blocks this year, tying him with Kevin Netter (2003-04) for the fourth-highest single-season total in school history ... the Detroit native is four 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 ... with 70 career blocks, Polk is five shy of 10th place on that BG chart.
BLOCK PARTY II: CHRIS AND MARC MIGHT STOP BY, TOO
Sophomore Otis Polk, as mentioned, is tied for fourth 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 30 blocks this year to date, just one shy of tying for 10th place ... Knight has 25 rejections in 2007-08.
FALCONS HOPE TO PICK UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
The Falcons hope one trend from Tuesday's (Feb. 19) Ohio game continues ... BGSU was 6-for-6 from three-point land to end the game ... five of those triples came in the final 3:52 of the contest.
A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE OHIO GAME
* Freshman Joe Jakubowski's four three-point field goals made represented the most of his brief career ... he had made three triples on three prior occasions this season.
* Sophomore Matt Karaffa, a first-year walk-on, saw action in his fourth game as a Falcon, playing the final minute and 14 seconds ... Karaffa had the first assist of his BGSU career, with a kick-out to Jakubowski for the freshman's final three-pointer of the night.
* Freshman Cameron Madlock had the second blocked shot and the third assist of his brief career.
* Sophomore Ryan Sims had a season-high seven points, going 2-for-2 from three-point range ... his two triples made also represented a season best.
* The Falcons held Ohio's leading scorer and rebounder, Leon Williams - who entered the game averaging a double-double - to just five points and three rebounds in 27 minutes on the night.
PHALCON PHRESHMAN PHENOMS
Several first-year Falcons are at the top of their class when it comes to the MAC statistics ... Chris Knight is making his case for league freshman-of-the-year honors ... Knight leads all MAC freshmen in rebounding (7.2 rpg; fifth) and field-goal percentage (45.0%, 15th), and is also the MAC's top freshman shot-blocker (1.00 bpg; seventh) ... Knight is second among MAC frosh in scoring (10.7 ppg, 21st) ... Joe Jakubowski paces all league freshmen in assists (2.72 apg; 12th).
MILLER TIME
Junior Nate Miller has emerged as a go-to player for the Falcons ... he leads the team in scoring, assists and steals, and ranks second in rebounding this season, with averages of 13.5 points, 6.1 boards, 2.9 helpers and 1.5 steals per outing.
• Miller paced the team in scoring (tied for lead), rebounding and assists in Tuesday's Ohio game, the second time he has led the Falcons in all three categories against the Bobcats.
• The junior has led or tied for the team lead in scoring 10 times this season ... he has paced BG in rebounding in 12 games this year and in assists eight times.
• Miller had back-to-back 20-point games, with 20 vs. Central Michigan and 21 more - tying his career high - vs. Toledo ... he had a double-double in the latter game, with 11 rebounds (plus five assists) in the win over the Rockets ... Miller has a team-high 20 double-digit games this season to date, including four games of 20 points or more.
KNIGHT TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME
Chris Knight is a candidate for MAC Freshman-of-the-Year honors ... Knight scored a team-high 15 points at Eastern Michigan, tying his season best with three assists ... then, he had a double-double, with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds against Akron ... Knight has hit double digits in scoring in 15 games this year, and is averaging 10.7 points per game ... he is second in scoring, and leads the Falcons in rebounding, with 7.2 per contest ... Knight has three double-doubles this season - the highest total of any freshman in the MAC ... he has hit double digits in rebounding five 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.
MOTEN OFFENSE
Junior Brian Moten was finally held to single digits on Tuesday, scoring nine points at Ohio ... 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 11 times this year, including 10 times in the last 14 games ... he is averaging 8.2 points per game this season, and is second on the team in scoring in MAC games, with 11.9 ppg vs. conference opposition.
MUCH IMPROVED
With over three quarters of the MAC schedule elapsed, the Falcons - picked to finish sixth (i.e., last) in the East Division in the league's preseason poll - have a 6-7 league mark, tied for sixth overall among the 12 teams ... BGSU has doubled the team's MAC win total for all of last season (Falcons went 3-13 in conference play in 2006-07).
ORR A C-O-Y CANDIDATE
Falcon head coach Louis Orr has performed one of the top coaching jobs in the MAC this season ... taking over a team that lost two starters, including the league's leading scorer from a year ago, Orr lost one of his top big men (Erik Marschall) to injury on the eve of the 2007-08 season ... then, one of the team's top playmakers, Ryne Hamblet, was declared academically ineligible on the eve of the conference season ... still, BGSU has doubled the MAC win total for all of last season ... on Feb. 5, Orr was listed as the site's MAC Coach of the Year at the midway point when the MAC Report Online web site (www.macreportonline.com) announced its midseason awards ... among other things, the article stated, 'halfway through the season, Orr is the clear leader for Coach of the Year honors in the MAC."
LEADERS OF THE MAC
The Falcons continue to lead or rank near the top of the Mid-American Conference in several team defensive categories ... BGSU paces the MAC in three-point field-goal percentage defense (32.0%) and blocked shots (4.92 bpg), and BG is second in the league in overall FG pct. defense (40.7%).
BLOCK IT OUT
As mentioned, the Falcons lead the MAC in blocked shots, averaging 4.92 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.
FALCONS PICKED FOR SIXTH
The Falcons were picked to finish sixth (i.e., last) 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 UDM game, the Falcons will have a week off from competition, before the final home game of the season ... BG will host league-leading Kent State on March 1 at venerable Anderson Arena, with tipoff at 12:30 p.m. ... the Falcons end the regular season with games at Buffalo (March 4) and Miami (March 9), and the MAC Tournament begins on March 12.
