Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host No. 23/24 Kent State Saturday
February 29, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 29, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU vs. #23/24 KENT STATE
Saturday, March 1, 2008 • 12:30 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700) • Bowling Green, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 12-14 (6-7 MAC) // Kent State 23-5 (11-2 MAC)
RADIO: Falcon Radio Network - Todd Walker and Kirk Cowan
TELEVISION: BCSN (tape delay) - Tom Cole and Greg Franke
SERIES: BGSU leads, 77-62 // STREAK: KSU - 4
LAST MEETING: at Kent State 63, BGSU 49 (Jan. 12, 2008)
BGSU Notes, Stats & Player Bios in PDF Format
2007-08 Game-by-Game Boxscores & Recaps in PDF Format
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team, for the first time in nearly a decade, plays host to a nationally-ranked opponent at venerable Anderson Arena ... the Falcons of head coach Louis Orr, after a week off from competition, close the home portion of the schedule by hosting Mid-American Conference leader Kent State ... tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m. at Anderson (4,700) ... following the KSU contest, the Brown and Orange will close the regular season with games at Buffalo (March 4) and Miami (March 9) ... the MAC Tournament begins on Wednesday, March 12, in Cleveland.
THE OPENING TIP
• The Falcons are coming off a 16-point win, 81-65, at Detroit Saturday (Feb. 23), in the teams' O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters contest ... guards Brian Moten and Joe Jakubowski combined for 35 points in that road win, while Chris Knight had a double-double ... BGSU is now 8-3 in games related to the BracketBusters event.
• Kent State will enter Anderson Arena ranked in both the Associated Press (#23) and USA Today/ESPN (#24) top-25 polls ... the Falcons have not faced a nationally-ranked team in over six years, since a game vs. #2 Alabama in Mobile, Ala. (Dec. 14, 2001) ... BGSU has not hosted a nationally-ranked opponent in more than nine years, since Charlie Coles, Wally Szczerbiak and the Miami RedHawks came to Anderson Arena on Feb. 20, 1999 ... the Falcons won that game by a 69-58 final.
GIANT KILLERS AT THE HOUSE THAT ROARS
As mentioned, Kent State enters Anderson Arena ranked in the top 25 ... the Falcons enter Saturday's game having won three consecutive home games vs. nationally-ranked opponents ... BGSU beat fifth-ranked Michigan State (all rankings according to Associated Press) in December of 1990, topped #23 Eastern Michigan on Valentine's Day, 1996; and most recently, defeated #25 Miami in February of 1999 ... BGSU's last home loss to a top-25 opponent came nearly three decades ago, to #16 Marquette on Dec. 6, 1978 ... since the Associated Press begin conducting a poll on Jan. 20, 1949, the Falcons have a record of 21-47 against nationally-ranked foes ... BGSU is 12-9 all-time in home games vs. AP Top-25 opponents, including a 6-5 mark since Anderson Arena opened for the 1960-61 season.
SEASON WINDING DOWN, TOURNEY FIELD SHAPING UP
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) ... if the regular season ended today, the Falcons would be the eighth seed for the First Energy MAC Tournament, and would face ninth-seeded Toledo in the first round on Wednesday, March 12, with the winner taking on Kent State the following day.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Kent State game with an overall record of 12-14, and BGSU is 6-7 in MAC play ... BG is coming off a road win over Detroit, 81-65, in last weekend's O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters event ... in MAC action, the Falcons have dropped five of the last six games ... BGSU is 3-4 vs. MAC East Division teams, and the Falcons went 3-3 vs. the West ... the Falcons downed arch-rival Toledo, 69-58, at home before a national-TV audience on Feb. 10, but then dropped games at Eastern Michigan (68-78; Feb. 13), against Akron (56-65; Feb. 16) and at Ohio (48-69; Feb. 19), prior to the win at UDM.
• 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) to move to 5-2 in league action ... 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, 4-8 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games ... BGSU is averaging 63.8 points per game to the opponents' 66.6 ppg ... the Falcons are shooting 44.5 percent from the field, while allowing the opponents to shoot just 40.6%.
• Individually, junior Nate Miller leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.5 points per game ... Miller also paces the Falcons in assists (2.9 apg) and steals (1.5 spg), and is second on the squad in rebounding (6.2 rpg) ... he has hit double digits in scoring in a team-high 21 of BG's 26 games this year.
• Redshirt freshman Chris Knight is second on the team in scoring, and leads the Falcons in rebounding ... Knight, a MAC Freshman-of-the-Year candidate, has 10.7 points and 7.4 boards per game, and is third on the team in blocked shots (1.0 bpg) ... Knight had a double-double at Detroit, his team-leading fourth of the season ... he is one ahead of Miller in that category.
• Junior Brian Moten, a MAC Sixth-Man-of-the-Year candidate, is third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.6 ppg ... he is shooting 51.3 percent from the field, ranking second on the team, and has shot a BG-best 42.0% from the three-point line ... Moten is second on the Falcons with 29 three-pointers made ... classmate Darryl Clements has 7.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per game ... he ranks fourth on the Falcons in scoring, and is second in steals (1.2 spg), third in assists (2.3 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 7.2 points per game, and is second on the Falcons in assists, with 2.8 per outing ... he had a career-high 17 points at UDM ... Jakubowski's total of 72 helpers is four behind Miller's total ... he leads the Falcons in three-pointers made, with 30 this year to date ... sophomores Otis Polk and Marc Larson have split time at center, and are averaging 5.4 and 4.8 points per contest, respectively ... Polk has 4.3 rpg, ranking third on the team ... he is shooting a team-leading 53.8% from the field, and also leads the Falcons in blocked shots, with 43 (1.7 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 24 games off the bench, and is averaging 1.5 ppg, while freshman Cameron Madlock has seen action in 14 games, and has 1.1 ppg and 0.9 rpg ... sophomore Matt Karaffa has played in five games, all on the road ... Karaffa made his collegiate debut in the Indiana State contest, and also saw action at Akron, Western Michigan, Ohio and Detroit.
• 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 26 games to date for first-year BGSU head coach Louis Orr ... Jakubowski has started each of the last 18 games, while Knight has started 25 times, including each of the last 15 ... that lineup has taken the floor at the beginning of all 15 games in calendar year 2008 ... the Falcons went 13-18 overall and 3-13 in MAC play in 2006-07.
A WIN OVER KENT STATE WOULD ...
• be BGSU's fourth consecutive home win over a team ranked in the Top 25 in the Associated Press poll, dating to 1978;
• give the Falcons an all-time record of 13-9 in home games vs. AP Top-25 opponents, including a 7-5 mark in Anderson Arena;
• snap a four-game losing streak in the series with Kent State;
• be the Falcons' eighth home win of the year, matching last season's total (BG would be 8-5 at Anderson Arena this year, after going 8-7 in 2006-07); and
• give the Brown and Orange a 6-2 record in MAC home games, doubling last year's total (3-5).
SCOUTING KENT STATE
Kent State enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 23-5, and the Golden Flashes are 11-2 in MAC action to date ... KSU, coming off a road win over Saint Mary's (Calif.) in BracketBusters action, has moved into the regular-season national rankings for the first time in school history ... the Flashes are 23rd in the Associated Press poll and 24th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll ... KSU's only other appearance in a national poll came in the 2001-02 postseason (12th in the final ESPN/USA Today rankings that year) ... Kent State has won at least 20 games for the 10th consecutive season ... the win at then-#20 Saint Mary's (65-57; Feb. 23) was the program's first-ever regular-season win over a ranked opponent ... overall, KSU has won six-straight games and nine of the last 10 contests ... the Flashes are 15-0 at home, 7-4 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site contests this year to date ... in MAC action, KSU is 7-0 at home and 4-2 on the road ... individually, junior guard Al Fisher leads the team in scoring, with 14.4 points per game ... Fisher also paces the Flashes in assists, ranking second in the MAC with 4.3 per contest ... a pair of senior forwards, Mike Scott and Haminn Quaintance, are averaging 12.9 and 10.2 points per game, respectively ... Quaintance leads the Flashes in rebounding (7.6 rpg), and leads the entire conference in both field-goal percentage (63.5) and blocked shots (2.1 bpg) ... Scott is second on the team in rebounding, with 5.9 boards per contest ... Scott and Quaintance each have started all 28 games this season to date ... Fisher, sophomore guard Chris Singletary (9.9 ppg) and junior guard Jordan Mincy (2.2 ppg) join that duo in the probable starting lineup for head coach Jim Christian ... Christian welcomed back nine letterwinners, including all five starters, from last year's team that finished 21-11 overall and 12-4 in the MAC ... Christian has a record of 133-56 in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach, all at KSU ... the school's athletics web site is www.kentstatesports.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Kent State, 77-62, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Golden Flashes have won the last four 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) ... earlier this season, the host Flashes posted a 63-49 win over BG (Jan. 12, 2008) ... BGSU's last series win came at the M.A.C. Center two years ago, a 79-74 victory on Jan. 26, 2006 ... overall, BGSU won 12 of 16 meetings during a span that extended through much of the 1990s ... but, the Flashes have won 17 of the last 21 meetings since then, spanning roughly a decade ... Kent State has won six-straight games at Anderson Arena, after the Falcons had won the previous six home contests vs. the Flashes ... BG's last home win over KSU was over eight years ago, a 71-61 decision on Feb. 16, 2000 ... in that game, Anthony Stacey became BGSU's career scoring leader ... 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 here at BGSUFalcons.com), and a list of the most recent meetings can be found in the pdf version of these notes.
LAST TIME OUT
Guards Brian Moten and Joe Jakubowski combined for 35 points as the Falcons came away with a road win, 81-65, over Detroit Mercy in the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters ... Moten, a junior, scored a team-high 18 points, just two away from his career best ... Jakubowski, a freshman, had 17 points, the most of his Falcon career to date ... junior Nate Miller and redshirt freshman Chris Knight rounded out the Falcons' quartet of double-digit scorers ... Miller had 13 points in the win, while Knight had a double-double, with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds ... the Falcons shot 48.1 percent for the game, including a 50.0% rate in the opening half, while holding UDM to a 39.3% field-goal percentage on the afternoon ... BG made nine three-point field goals on the day, shooting 42.9% (9-for-21) from beyond the arc ... the Titans were 5-of-24 (20.8%) from long distance ... Chris Hayes had a game-high 22 points for the Titans, while Michael Harrington and Tryl Hartfield had 11 points apiece ... the Titans took the lead for the first and only time all day, 10-7 with just over five minutes gone, but the Falcons would score the next eight points to take the lead for good ... the Titans got back within one, and Hartfield's three-pointer cut the lead to 35-34 with 1:14 left in the half ... but, sophomore Marc Larson's tip-in helped send the Falcons into the half with a four-point lead ... BG slowly pulled away in the second half ... a 6-0 run put the lead into double digits, 52-40, and the Falcons were never headed.
A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE DETROIT GAME
• The Falcons now have an overall record of 8-3 in games related to the BracketBusters event, including a 4-2 mark in actual February BracketBusters contests ... BG is 4-1 in return matches, 4-1 in home games, and the Falcons are now 4-2 in away games.
• BGSU is now 5-2 against Horizon League schools in BracketBusters-related action.
• A trio of Falcons - junior Darryl Clements, sophomore Otis Polk and assistant coach LaMonta Stone - all hail from the Motor City ... Clements and Polk were playing in a game in their hometown for the first time in their collegiate careers ... Stone is now 2-0 at Calihan Hall as a member of the BGSU staff, as the Falcons won a 57-51 game there three years ago, in Stone's fourth game with the program.
TREY-FECTA
The Falcons have made a total of 20 three-point field goals over the last two games, after averaging 4.4 successful triples in the first 24 games of the year ... BGSU went a combined 20-for-44 (45.5%) in the Ohio and UDM games.
THREE MORE NOTES ON THE THREE-POINTER
• Two of BGSU's highest three-point field-goal totals have come in the last three games ... BGSU made a season-high 11 triples at Ohio (Feb. 19) and nine more at Detroit (Feb. 23) ... BG had hit 10 treys in the Northern Colorado game on Dec. 6.
• Freshman Joe Jakubowski, who set a career best with four three-pointers made in the Ohio game, made four more triples at UDM ... Jakubowski went 8-for-13 from long range in the two games.
• Jakubowski's three-pointer on the first possession of the Detroit game marked the Falcons' seventh consecutive make from long distance ... BGSU had finished the OU game by going 6-for-6 from beyond the arc.
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 ... playing in his hometown, Polk added three rejections at UDM ... he now has a total of 43 blocks this year, the fourth-highest single-season total in school history ... the Detroit native is one rejection 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 73 career blocks, Polk is just two shy of 10th place on that BG chart.
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."
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 (7.4 rpg; fifth) and field-goal percentage (45.2%, 16th), 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 is second among league freshmen in assists (2.77 apg; 13th).
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, 6.2 boards, 2.9 helpers and 1.5 steals per outing.
• 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.
• Despite struggling from the field over the first three-quarters of the Detroit game, Miller hit a pair of key shots in the second half ... both of his baskets were three-pointers, including a trey at the shot-clock buzzer in the final minutes of the game.
• 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 21 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 has had two double-doubles in the last three games, with identical totals of 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds against both Akron and Detroit... Knight has hit double digits in scoring in 16 games this year, and is averaging 10.7 points per game ... he is second in scoring, and leads the Falcons in rebounding, with 7.4 per contest (fifth in the MAC) ... Knight has four double-doubles this season - the highest total of any freshman in the MAC ... he has hit double digits in rebounding six 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 is making a strong bid for MAC Sixth-Man-of-the-Year consideration ... Moten was finally held to single digits, scoring nine points at Ohio, but bounced back with a team-leading 18 points at Detroit ... he has provided the Falcons with an offensive spark this season, especially since the 2008 calendar year began ... Moten has hit double digits in scoring 12 times this year, including 11 times in the last 15 games ... he is averaging 8.6 points per game this season, and is second on the team in scoring in MAC games, with 11.9 ppg vs. conference opposition.
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 (31.4%) and blocked shots (4.96 bpg), and BG is second in the league in overall FG pct. defense (40.6%).
UP NEXT
Following the Kent State game, the Falcons will end the regular season with a pair of road games, beginning with a Tuesday (March 4) tilt at Buffalo ... BGSU ends the MAC schedule at Miami a week from Sunday (March 9), with the First Energy MAC Tournament beginning on Wednesday, March 12, at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.
