Bowling Green State University Athletics
2007-08 BGSU Men's Basketball Notes
May 29, 2008 | Men's Basketball
May 29, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
A few final notes on the '07-08 Falcons...
BGSU Notes & Stats (45 pages) in PDF Format
2007-08 Game-by-Game Boxscores & Recaps in PDF Format
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team has seen the 2007-08 season come to an end ... the Falcons of head coach Louis Orr finished with an overall record of 13-17 ... the Brown and Orange, picked to finish last in the Mid-American Conference's East Division, posted a 7-9 conference record, more than doubling the program's league win total from the previous year ... Orr and the Falcons had no seniors on the roster that ended the '07-08 season.
THE OPENING TIP
• BGSU head coach Louis Orr has the Falcon program heading in the right direction ... Orr and his staff performed one of the top coaching jobs in the MAC in his first season in Northwest Ohio ... 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 and BG's only senior, Ryne Hamblet, was declared academically ineligible on the eve of the conference schedule ... still, the Falcons more than doubled the MAC win total for all of last season (7-9 MAC record this year after the team went 3-13 in 2006-07), and posted wins over the teams picked to finish first, second and third in the East Division in the preseason poll ... those wins include a victory over Kent State, the eventual MAC champion and a nationally-ranked team at the time.
• A total of 12 of BGSU's 30 games came against teams that participated in national postseason play in '07-08 ... the Falcons posted a 5-7 mark in those games ... BG picked up wins against two teams (Belmont and Kent State) that made the NCAA Championships and a trio of squads (Cincinnati, Miami and Ohio) that competed in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational ... other teams on BG's schedule that qualified for the postseason included Akron, Illinois State and Temple.
• The Falcons had one of the youngest teams in the MAC in 2007-08 ... of the 10-player active roster during the conference schedule, BG had three juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen ... just two of those players, juniors Darryl Clements and Brian Moten, were in their third playing season at BGSU ... all 10 players, plus Marschall, are scheduled to return in 2008-09.
 Brian Moten scores 3 of his 24 points in BG's win over nationally-ranked Kent State. He was named the MAC's Sixth Man of the Year  |
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Junior Brian Moten was named the MAC's Sixth Man of the Year, becoming the first Falcon player to win the award, which is in its sixth season of existence ... Moten provided the Falcons with a spark, blossoming into one of the Falcons' top offensive threats in 2007-08 ... he played in all 30 games for the Brown and Orange, making two starts ... the Saginaw, Mich., native averaged 9.2 points per game and ranked second on the team with a field-goal percentage of 51.0% ... in MAC play, Moten averaged 12.7 ppg ... he shot a team-leading 42.7% from three-point range, ranking third in the conference in long-range accuracy ... in MAC games only, Moten was second in the loop with a 44.4% three-point pct. ... with 276 points on the season, Moten topped his scoring total for his first two years combined (188) ... he hit 41 treys in 2007-08 after a total of 21 over the first two years ... this season, Moten's 15 double-digit scoring games included a career-high 24 points in the win over nationally-ranked Kent State on March 1.
MILLER TIME: JUNIOR EARNS ALL-MAC HONORS
Junior Nate Miller was a go-to player for the Falcons all year ... for the second-straight season, he was an All-MAC honorable-mention choice ... the Springfield, Ohio, native tied his career high with 21 points in the final regular-season game, at Miami (March 9) ... that was his fifth game of 20 points or more this year ... he led the team in 20-point games, and in double-digit scoring contests (22) ... not surprisingly, Miller paced the Falcons in scoring, and also led the team in steals ... he ranked second in rebounding and assists on the season, with averages of 13.2 points, 6.5 boards, 2.7 helpers and 1.5 steals per outing ... Miller led or tied for the team lead in scoring 11 times this season, and paced BG in rebounding in 15 games this year and in assists nine times ... he is BGSU's active career scoring leader, with 719 points in just 53 games in the Brown and Orange (13.6 ppg) ... Miller has scored exactly 21 points on five career occasions, including four times this season.
JAKUBOWSKI NAMED TO ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
BGSU's Joe Jakubowski was named to the MAC's All-Freshman Team ... Jakubowski averaged 7.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in his first collegiate season ... the Rossford, Ohio, native led the Falcons in the latter category, and ranked second on the team with 33 three-point field goals made ... in league games only, he had 8.3 ppg and tied for the BG lead with 3.0 assists ... overall, Jakubowski paced all MAC freshmen in assists and assist/turnover ratio.
WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
One of the first steps toward contending for a conference title is establishing a home-court advantage ... for Falcon opponents, Anderson Arena was certainly a difficult place to play in 2007-08 ... BG, after posting a 3-5 home MAC record in 2006-07, went 6-2 vs. conference foes at "The House That Roars" this season ... those six wins included victories over the teams picked to finish first (Kent State), second (Miami) and third (Ohio) in the East Division in the preseason poll ... in fact, Louis Orr's Falcons were roughly two minutes away from a perfect 8-0 home record in MAC action ... BG's two home league losses came to Central Michigan in overtime (Feb. 6) and to Akron by nine points (Feb. 16) ... in the first game, the Falcons led before CMU tied the game on a putback with 0.9 seconds left in regulation ... vs. UA, the Falcons led with just over two minutes left, and trailed by just one point with under a minute remaining.
 Junior Darryl Clements was one of three Falcons to start all 30 games |
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Head coach Louis Orr and the Falcons posted a 7-9 MAC record in 2007-08, more than doubling the previous year's conference win total ... the total of seven wins was four more than the prior season (3-13 in 2006-07) ... the four-game improvement orchestrated by Orr and the '07-08 team is one of the biggest MAC turnarounds by a first-year coach in program history ... only Bill Fitch (1967-68) and Jim Larranaga (1986-87) had a greater improvement in their initial season in BG ... see below.
TOP MAC TURNAROUNDS BY BGSU FIRST-YEAR COACHES
MAC Record MAC Record
Coach First Yr. at BG in Previous Yr. in his 1st Yr. The Diff
Bill Fitch 1967-68 5-7 10-2 +5
Jim Larranaga 1986-87 5-13 10-6 +5
Louis Orr 2007-08 3-13 7-9 +4
POLK POWERFUL IN THE POST
Sophomore Otis Polk had one of his finest games of the year in the MAC Tournament contest vs. Toledo ... Polk tied his career scoring high, with a game-best 17 points vs. the Rockets ... the Detroit native was 7-for-10 from the field, setting a career best for field goals made and tying his previous standard for FGA ... the double-figure scoring game was the fifth of his career, with all five coming in 2007-08.
 Nate Miller led the Falcons in scoring en route to earning All-MAC honorable mention for the second-straight year |
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Sophomore Otis Polk tied his career high with four blocked shots in the game at Buffalo ... that marked his fourth game of four blocks this year ... Polk had three more blocks in the MAC Tournament game vs. Toledo ... he ended the season with 51 blocks, the second-highest single-season total in BGSU history ... he passed Skip Howard (49 blocks in the 1972-73 season) in that UT game ... Cornelius Cash holds the record, with 59 blocks in 1973-74 ... with 81 career blocks, Polk has moved into 10th place on that BG chart ... with two years of eligibility remaining, Polk is 36 blocks shy of Tom Hall's school record (117 from 1989-92) ... the school's single-season and career blocked-shots lists are in the pdf version of this release.
BLOCK PARTY II: CHRIS & MARC STOPPING BY, TOO
Sophomore Otis Polk, as mentioned, finished the year ranked second on the BGSU single-season list for blocked shots ... classmate Marc Larson and redshirt freshman Chris Knight finished the season among the top-20 on that same list ... Larson had 36 blocks this year, the eighth-highest total in Falcon annals ... Knight just missed the top-15, with 29 rejections in 2007-08.
 Otis Polk averaged 5.6 ppg off the bench, and blocked 51 shots, the second-highest total in school history |
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The 2007-08 campaign marked the first time in school history that two Falcon players had 35 or more blocks apiece in the same saeson ... as mentioned, sophomore Otis Polk had 51 blocked shots, and classmate Marc Larson added 36 ... Falcon teammates had had 30 or more blocks on two occasions, in 1973-74 (Cornelius Cash with 59, Skip Howard with 31) and 1990-91 (Ed Colbert with 44, Tom Hall with 37).
KNIGHT TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME
Redshirt freshman Chris Knight proved himself to be one of the top first-year players in the MAC in 2007-08 ... the Cincinnati native began the season with a bang, earning MVP honors at the Peggy Cronin Classic in his hometown ... Knight hit double digits in scoring in 19 games on the year, the second-highest total on the team ... he averaged 10.7 points per game to rank second on the Falcons in that category as well ... Knight led the Brown and Orange in rebounding, with 7.3 per contest - ranking sixth in the MAC ... his three 20-point games on the season included a 24-point outing in his hometown, in the Falcons' win at UC.
KNIGHT RIDER
Chris Knight, as mentioned, led all MAC freshmen with four double-doubles on the year ... he hit double digits in rebounding six times on the year, and had nine boards in seven other games ... in addition to the four double-doubles (vs. Western Carolina, Duquesne, Akron and Detroit), Knight fell one rebound shy of a double-double on no fewer than six other occasions in '07-08.
PHALCON PHRESHMAN PHENOMS
Several first-year Falcons finished at or near the top of their class when it comes to the MAC statistics ... Chris Knight led all MAC freshmen in rebounding (7.3 rpg; sixth overall) and field-goal percentage (46.0%), and was also the MAC's top freshman shot-blocker (1.00 bpg; seventh) ... Knight finished second among MAC frosh in scoring (10.7 ppg, 21st) ... Joe Jakubowski paced all league freshmen in assists (2.97 apg; 10th overall) ... he was also the conference's top freshman in assist/turnover ratio (1.17), but fell just three-hundredths of an assist per game shy of being listed on the MAC stats (minimum 3.0 apg).
 Freshman Joe Jakubowski, who started the final 22 games of the year, paced the Falcons in assists |
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The Falcons are now 16-26 all-time in MAC Tournament games ... BGSU is now 4-3 in first-round contests ... the Falcons are 9-13 all-time in quarterfinal-round contests, 3-7 in the semifinals and 0-3 in championship games ... BGSU is 7-2 in home games, 2-3 in road contests and 7-21 in neutral-site affairs in the MAC Tournament over the years.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons ended the 2007-08 season with an overall record of 13-17, and BGSU finished MAC play with a 7-9 ledger ... the Falcons finished fifth in the East Division, and BG was the ninth overall seed for the 12-team First Energy MAC Tournament ... the Brown and Orange ended the year with a narrow 52-48 loss to Toledo in the first round of the conference tourney ... BG had seen a two-game winning streak halted with a 96-50 loss at Buffalo (March 4), before ending the regular season with a 75-59 setback at Miami (March 9) ... the loss to UB snapped a two-game winning streak, as the Falcons had posted a road win over Detroit, 81-65, in the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters event (Feb. 23) before downing nationally-ranked Kent State, 89-83, in the final home game (March 1) ... BGSU went 4-6 against MAC East Division teams and 3-3 vs. West Division programs during the regular season ... the Falcons had downed arch-rival UT by a 69-58 count at home before a national-TV audience on Feb. 10, but then dropped five-of-six games, prior to the wins over UDM and KSU.
• The Falcons opened the league schedule with a 2-2 record, with home wins over Ohio (52-49; Jan. 5) and Buffalo (83-70; Jan. 17) and road losses to KSU (49-63; Jan. 12) and Akron (44-80; 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 win streak came to an end with a 64-50 loss at Western Michigan (Feb. 2), the first game in that six-game stretch in which the Brown and Orange went 1-5.
• The Falcons opened the 2007-08 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, BG suffered a four-game losing streak in December, with three of those losses coming on the road.
 Marc Larson started all 30 games and blocked 36 shots, placing him 8th on the BGSU single-season chart |
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• The Falcons finished with records of 8-5 at home, 4-10 on the road and 1-2 in neutral-site games ... BGSU averaged 63.5 points per game to the opponents' 67.9 ppg ... the Falcons shot 43.9 percent from the field, while allowing the opponents to shoot 41.2% ... the Brown and Orange made exactly one more field goal than the opponents in this season's 30 games (696 FGM for BGSU, 695 for opponents).
• Individually, junior Nate Miller led the team in scoring, averaging 13.2 points per game ... Miller, who tied his career best with 21 points at Miami in the final regular-season game, had 22 double-digit scoring games this year, and five games of 20 points or more ... he led BG in both categories ... Miller also paced the Falcons in steals (1.5 spg), and was second on the squad in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and assists (2.7 apg).
• Redshirt freshman Chris Knight was second on the team in scoring, and led the Falcons in rebounding ... Knight had 10.7 points and 7.3 boards per game, and was third on the team in blocked shots (1.0 bpg) ... Knight had a team-leading four double-doubles, and was just one rebound away from a double-double on no fewer than six other occasions.
• Junior Brian Moten, who was named the MAC's Sixth Man of the Year, finished third on the team in scoring, averaging 9.2 ppg ... Moten, who averaged 16.5 points over the last four regular-season games, shot 51.0 percent from the field to rank second on the team, and shot a BG-best 42.7% from the three-point line ... Moten, who hit a career-high six three-pointers vs. KSU, ended the season having made a team-leading 41 triples.
 Ryan Sims saw action in 28 of BG's 30 games, playing double-digit minutes in each of the regular season's last six games |
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• Sophomores Otis Polk and Marc Larson split time at center, and averaged 5.6 and 4.9 points per contest, respectively ... Polk tied his career best with 17 points in the conference tourney game vs. UT, and averaged 4.4 rpg, ranking third on the team ... he shot a team-leading 54.1% from the field, and also led the Falcons in blocked shots, with 51 (1.7 bpg) - the second-highest single-season total in school history ... Larson had 3.0 rpg and 1.2 blocks per game, and shot 49.5% from the floor ... he was second on the team in blocks and ranked third in FG pct.
• Soph Ryan Sims played in 28 games off the bench, and averaged 1.5 ppg ... Sims posted double-digit minutes totals in each of the last six regular-season games, including a MAC season-high 17 at Buffalo ... freshman Cameron Madlock saw action in 16 games, and had 1.0 ppg and 1.1 rpg ... sophomore Matt Karaffa played in six games, all on the road ... Karaffa made his collegiate debut in the Indiana State contest, and also saw action at Akron, Western Michigan, Ohio, Detroit and Miami.
 Cameron Madlock saw action in 16 games, including in 12 of the 16 MAC contests |
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• Clements, Larson and Miller each started all 30 games to date for first-year BGSU head coach Louis Orr ... Knight made a total of 28 starts on the season, while Jakubowski started each of the last 22 games of the year ... that lineup took the floor at the beginning of the first 17 games in calendar year 2008, before Moten replaced Knight in the starting five for the regular-season finale at Miami ... Knight was back in the lineup for the UT game in Cleveland.
JAKUBOWSKI NAMED MAC PLAYER OF WEEK
On March 3, Falcon freshman guard Joe Jakubowski was named MAC Player of the Week ... Jakubowski, who shared the East Division honor with Miami's Michael Bramos, was recognized after setting career bests in both points (21) and assists (12) in BG's win over then nationally-ranked Kent State ... Jakubowski became the second BGSU player - and the second Falcon freshman - to earn the honor this year ... redshirt freshman Chris Knight had earned MAC P-O-W honors in November, for his performance at the Peggy Cronin Classic in his hometown of Cincinnati.
 Matt Karaffa joined the team as a walk-on, and saw action in six games off the bench |
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The Falcons led the Mid-American Conference, or ranked near the top of the league, in several team defensive categories ... BGSU paced the MAC in both blocked shots (5.03 bpg) and three-point field-goal percentage defense (31.7%), and the Falcons were second in overall FG pct. defense (41.2%) ... in MAC games only, BG had 5.69 blocks per game, more than a block per game ahead of second-place Toledo (4.67 bpg).
BLOCK IT OUT
As mentioned, the Falcons led the MAC in blocked shots, averaging 5.03 per game ... individually, BGSU had three players among the top-seven blockers on that list ... soph Otis Polk was second in the MAC, while classmate Marc Larson and redshirt freshman Chris Knight were fifth and seventh, respectively.
HOME COOKIN'
The Falcons finished the home portion of the schedule with an overall mark of 8-5 ... BGSU went 6-2 in MAC home games, doubling the total for last season (3-5 in 2006-07) ... the six conference victories included wins over the teams picked to finish first (Kent State), second (Miami) and third (Ohio) in the East Division in the league's preseason poll.
GIANT KILLERS AT THE HOUSE THAT ROARS
The Falcons' win over then-#23 Kent State (March 1) was the team's fourth consecutive home win vs. a nationally-ranked opponent ... 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 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 22-47 against nationally-ranked foes ... BGSU is now 13-9 all-time in home games vs. AP Top-25 opponents, including a 7-5 mark since Anderson Arena opened prior to the 1960-61 season.
BGSU VS. TOP-25 TEAMS (AP POLL), LAST 20 YEARS
12/18/89 at #25 Michigan State W 81-79 12/1/90 #5 MICHIGAN STATE W 98-85 12/9/92 at #6 Michigan L 68-79 12/29/92 at #24 Vanderbilt L 69-96 12/13/95 at #25 Syracuse L 64-75 2/14/96 #23 EASTERN MICHIGAN W 72-70 12/12/98 at #11 Indiana L 55-81 2/20/99 #25 MIAMI W 69-58 12/27/00 vs. #1 Michigan St * L 69-85 12/14/01 vs. #2 Alabama $ L 63-72 3/1/08 #23 KENT STATE W 89-83 * at Auburn Hills, Mich. $ at Mobile, Ala.
 Erik Marschall redshirted the 2007-08 season due to injury. Marschall has two seasons of eligibility remaining |
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Of the 10 players on the Falcons' active roster in 2007-08, only two - juniors Darryl Clements and Brian Moten - were in their third playing season with the BGSU program ... both players had successful '07-08 seasons, and topped their career totals in numerous categories ... Clements scored 215 points this season, more than his total for the previous two years combined (129) ... he had 25 three-pointers, 90 rebounds, 73 assists and 37 steals to top his career totals in each of those categories as well (eight treys, 79 rebounds, 59 assists and 28 steals in his career entering '07-08) ... Moten had 276 points this season, after scoring a total of 188 in his first two years ... he topped his career totals in field goals made (98 this year after 68 in his first two years), three-pointers (41, 21), rebounds (59, 53), assists (21, 19) and blocks (8, 5).
GOT OUR MO-JO(E) WORKIN': GUARD COMBO FILLS IT UP
Guards Brian Moten and Joe Jakubowski provided solid play for the Falcons all year long, but stepped up their scoring totals in the late going ... the tandem combined for a total of 80 points in the Detroit and Kent State games, both wins ... in the Falcons' victory at UDM (Feb. 23), Moten scored a game-high 18 points, while Jakubowski had a career-high 17 ... one week later (March 1), Moten scored a game- and career-high 24 points in a win over KSU, while Jakubowski set a career standard for the second-straight game, with 21 points vs. the Golden Flashes ... Jakubowski also had a career-best 12 assists, with five of his six second-half helpers coming on Moten baskets ... the duo each scored 13 points at Miami to close the regular season.
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.
