Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Akron In ESPNU Nationally Televised Game Saturday
January 15, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2009
Bowling Green, Ohio -
Game #16
Bowling Green (8-7, 1-1 MAC East) vs. Akron (8-7, 0-2 MAC East)
Jan. 17, 2009 • Bowling Green, Ohio (Anderson Arena) • 8:00 p.m.
Radio: Falcon Radio Network • Todd Walker/Kirk Cowan (Internet Only)
Television: ESPNU • Jim Barbar/Jim Chones
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
SETTING THE STAGE
• The Bowling Green State University men's basketball hosts Akron in the 41st meeting between the two programs. The game is being televised nationally on ESPNU. Due to scheduling conflicts with the time change, the radio broadcast is internet only, available at www.bgsufalcons.com.
• Bowling Green has won 23 of the 40 meetings between the two programs but Akron has won seven in a row since the Falcons picked up a 77-72 win Jan. 14, 2004.
• Bowling Green is one of two MAC teams with undefeated home records (along with Ohio). The Falcons are 6-0 in Anderson Arena, while Akron is 3-4 on the road this year.
THE OPENING TIP (STORYLINES)
• Chris Knight has been named MAC East Player of the Week twice in the past three weeks and his improvement has been dramatic this year. After missing the first three games of the season, Knight scored a total of just 15 points in the next six contests. But over the past six games, he is averaging 12.6 points and 6.8 rebounds, while shooting 50 percent from the field.
• Bowling Green is one of three Jeckyl-and-Hyde teams remaining in the country that are undefeated at home and winless on the road (LSU is 12-0 at home, 0-2 on the road and 0-1 in neutral games, while North Carolina A&T is 4-0 at home, 0-10 on the road and 2-0 in neutral games). The Falcons are 6-0 at home, 2-0 in neutral site games, and 0-7 on the road. BGSU has won their six home games by an average of 16.5 points per game.
• Bowling Green will look to improve to 2-1 in MAC play for the second consecutive year. Prior to a year ago, the Falcons had not started that well since the 2004-05 won its first four conference games.
SCOUTING AKRON
• Akron has an identical 8-7 record to Bowling Green, but the Zips have lost both of their first two conference games, including a home loss to Buffalo Tuesday night (a team Bowling Green defeated at home in its MAC opener). Although Akron enters the contest on a three-game skid, the Zips have won three road games this year.
• Akron's balance has helped it win games this year. Although no player averages even 11.0 points per game, three players -- Brett McKnight, Anthony Hitchens, and Nate Linhart all average between 10.6 and 10.7. Hitchens is a particularly dangerous three-point shooter, making 40.8 percent of his attempts. Linhart leads the MAC in steals, while Darryl Roberts is someone the Falcons won't want to send to the line. He has made 30-of-31 (96.8 percent) attempts this season.
• Akron leads the MAC in scoring margin behind blowout victories over NCAA Division II Urbana, Fairleigh Dickinson, and UNC Greensboro. Behind the strong free-throw shooting of Roberts, the Zips rank second in the conference as a team in that category, but are last in the MAC in rebounding margin. Akron makes up for that discrepancy by forcing a conference-best 19.5 turnovers per game.
SCHEDULE CHANGES
• Saturday's home game against Akron has been moved to an 8:00 p.m. start. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
• Bowling Green's home contest against Kent State has been moved up to a 6:30 p.m. start to accomodate an Fox Sports Ohio television broadcast of the game.
GOOD KNIGHT
Chris Knight was named MAC East Player of the Week Monday for the second time in three weeks. Knight scored 17 first half points, and finished with 22 for the game, as Bowling Green opened up an early lead and held on for an 86-82 win over Buffalo in the team's MAC opener. Knight was also named MAC East Player of the Week Dec. 29 after averaging 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in leading the Falcons to a pair of wins. He is the only BGSU player to be named conference player of the week this year and it is the third time in his career he has received the award. Knight received the honor a year ago after being named MVP of the Peggy Cronin Classic in Cincinnati.
TRACKING FALCON MILESTONES
A number of BGSU players are closing in on career milestones or have recently reached them:
• Darryl Clements needs two points to reach 500 for his career. He attempted his 100th career free-throw against Buffalo, qualifying him for BGSU's career leaderboard in free-throw percentage. With his 80.2 percentage rate, he ranks 10th in school history at the charity stripe.
• Joe Jakubowski picked up the 150th assist in his career against Buffalo. He needs 15 more points for 400.
• Matt Karaffa picked up the first points of his career on a pair of made free-throws against Eastern Illinois. He also had the first rebound of his career against Towson.
• Chris Knight scored 15 points against Kent State to reach 400 for his career (now at 402).
• Erik Marschall needs 15 points for 500 in his career.
• With nine points against Eastern Illinois, Nate Miller went over 800 for his career (now at 850). He needs to average 10.0 points the rest of the way to become the 37th player in program history to score 1,000 by the end of the regular season.
• Brian Moten needs three made three-pointers to move into the top 10 in program history and four to become just the 10th Falcon to make 100 for a career. With five rebounds against Buffalo, he reached 150 for his career.
• Otis Polk blocked two shots against Duquesne to become just the fifth player in program history to reach 100 in a career.
BLOCK PARTY, HOSTED BY OTIS
Junior Otis Polk blocked two shots against Duquesne to become just the fifth player in program history with 100 career blocked shots and currently has 103. He ranks first in the MAC in blocked shots this year and is just 14 behind all-time leader Tom Hall, with 117 from 1989-92. A year ago, he had four blocks in four different games, ending the season with 51, the second highest single-season total in Bowling Green history. Cornelius Cash set the mark with 59 blocks in 1973-74.
KNIGHT TIME
Sophomore forward Chris Knight has begun to show signs of the potential he flashed as a freshman in 2007-08. After missing the first three games of the 2008-09 season, Knight scored just 15 points over the next six games, averaging 2.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. But in the last five contests, he has averaged 12.6 points and 6.8 rebounds, posting the only Falcon double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds against Eastern Illinois. He grabbed 14 rebounds against Fordham, five on the offensive glass, and scored 17 first-half points in BGSU's MAC opener against Buffalo, finishing with 22 points on the afternoon.
DEFENSE WINS
• Bowling Green has bucked down defensively in 2008-09, holding 12-of-15 opponents to less than 45 percent shooting, allowing less than 70 points ten times. It is a critical stat because the Falcons are just 2-10 under head coach Louis Orr when an opponent shoots 45 percent or better. BG leads the MAC in field goal percentage defense and blocked shots, ranking fourth in the conference in scoring defense.
• Bowling Green is on pace to post a historically significant season defensively. The Falcons' .391 field goal percentage defense allowed is the best total since the 1963-64 team held opponents to a .390 clip for the year. As well, the team's 64.1 points per game allowed is the best average since the 1991-92 team allowed 64.0 points per game.
• Bowling Green's defensive prowess has not been more apparent than in the Falcons' win over Detroit. The Titans scored just 38 points, the lowest point total for a BGSU opponent since an 87-37 Bowling Green win over Western Ontario on Feb. 1, 1964. As well, the Titans shot just 22.7 percent from the field and had just two assists. Both of those stats were the lowest BG opponent totals since game-by-game boxscores have been archived (1987-88 season).
LEADERS OF THE MAC
The Falcons lead the MAC in four team stats, posting the top field-goal percent defensive unit in the conference. The team also leads the MAC in blocked shots, assists and assist/turnover ratio. On top of that, BGSU leads the conference in two individual categories. Point guard Joe Jakubowski has a MAC-leading 4.3 assists per game and center Otis Polk leads the conference with 1.5 blocked shots per game. Considering only MAC contests, BGSU leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio with a stellar 1.43 mark and Jakubowski is a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line to be one of 11 players who have been perfect in conference play this year.
MAKING THINGS INTERESTING
Bowling Green has played a number of games this year that have been decided in the final possessions. The most exciting of those games was a 77-76 overtime win against Georgia State in the season opener. Darryl Clements and Brian Moten made three-pointers in the final 15 seconds of regulation to force overtime and Joe Jakubowski knocked down a 25-foot three-pointer as the buzzer sounded in the extra session for the win. Against Ohio State, Bowling Green led with six minutes to play but the Buckeyes scored eight straight late to come away with a four-point victory. In a 57-54 loss to Savannah State, BGSU led until the final 1:17 of the contest and missed on two attempts to tie the game in the final 60 seconds. Likewise, in the Falcons' 67-65 loss to Central Arkansas, Bowling Green led until the final 1:19 and lost on a tip-in with just 0.2 seconds to play. BG beat Fordham in Anderson Arena 65-59 by getting a Nate Miller jumper with 48 seconds to play and a pair of Moten free-throws with nine seconds left to ice the contest. In the team's MAC opener, Jakubowski and Clements went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 11 seconds as the Falcons beat Buffalo 86-82.
WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
Anderson Arena has always been a difficult place for opponents and the Falcons are 6-0 at home in 2008-09, beating teams by an average of 16.5 points per game. The Falcons are one of 31 teams that are unbeaten at home with at least six games played. BG is off to its best start at home since the 2001-02 team opened the year with seven consecutive wins in "The House That Roars" and the Falcons are 443-176 (.716) all-time in Anderson Arena and 157-50 (.758) in the past 16 years.
WINNING EARLY
Bowling Green had six wins by the team the calendar turned to 2009. Since the 2002-03 season, the Falcons have won more games than that before the turn of the new year just once. The 2006-07 team had nine wins when Jan. 1 struck and last year's team had just five wins by that time.
HITTIN' THE BOOKS
Sophomore point guard Joe Jakubowski was named the Mid-American Conference's Male Scholar Athlete of the Week Dec. 18. He had 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the team's 58-38 win over Detroit and has maintained a 3.56 grade point average entering the fall semester. The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week is presented to a male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative gpa of 3.0 or better and performed well during the previous week's competition.
CLEMENTS' CAREER WEEKEND
Senior guard Darryl Clements was named to the NABC Classic All-Tournament team after setting his new career scoring high not just one time, but twice during the season's opening weekend. Clements made a crucial three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining in regulation that helped pushed the season opener against Georgia State to overtime -- a game the Falcons eventually won. He then scored a career-high 19 points in the team's loss to Minnesota, before pumping home 22 in BGSU's win over Concordia St. Paul. He also led Bowling Green in assists, steals and field goal percentage during the weekend.
MILLER TABBED TO SOAR
Bowling Green senior Nate Miller was selected to the Preseason All-Mid-American Conference Team, by vote of the MAC News Media Association, as well as the league's 12 head men's basketball coaches. Miller was joined on the East preseason team by Akron's Nate Linhart, Kent State's Al Fisher, Miami's Michael Bramos, and Ohio's Jerome Tillman. A transfer from UNC Wilmington, Miller has 843 points in his BG career.
CAN IT GET ANY TOUGHER?
Although Bowling Green went 7-6 in its first 13 non-conference games, the opponents that the Falcons faced will make them stronger in MAC play. BGSU's six non-conference losses have come against teams with a combined record of 70-26. Minnesota has just one loss this year, while Illinois State has two and Ohio State three. Minnesota is ranked No. 18 in the AP Top 25 and No. 17 in the ESPN/USA Today poll, while Ohio State and Illinois State are each receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Illinois State is also ranked fourth in the Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
FRESH FACES
Head coach Louis Orr announced the signing of two players for the 2009-10 season during the early signing period. Luke Kraus, of Findlay, Ohio (Findlay HS), and Danny McElroy, of Cincinnati, Ohio (La Salle HS), will join the Falcons next year. Kraus is a two-time player of the year in the Greater Buckeye Conference and McElroy is a tenacious defender who averaged 14.2 points and seven rebounds per game as a junior. Those two will join transfers Darion Goins and Adrion Graves, both of which are sitting out the 2008-09 season due to transfer rules.
GIANT KILLERS AT THE HOUSE THAT ROARS
The Falcons' win over then-No. 23 Kent State (March 1) was the team's fourth consecutive home win vs. a nationally-ranked opponent. BGSU defeated fifth-ranked Michigan State (all rankings according to Associated Press) in December of 1990, topped No. 23 Eastern Michigan on Valentine's Day, 1996, and defeated No. 25 Miami in February of 1999. The Brown and Orange's last home loss to a top 25 opponent came three decades ago to No. 16 Marquette on Dec. 6, 1978. Since the Associated Press began 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.
CATCH THE FALCONS
• Saturday's men's basketball game at home against Akron has been moved to an 8:00 p.m. start time so that the game can be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
• Bowling Green's men's basketball games can be listened to through the Falcon Sports Radio Network with Todd Walker, the voice of the Falcons, handling the play-by-play duties. Former Bowling Green basketball player Kirk Cowan does the color commentary at all BGSU home games as well. All but four games can be heard on WFRO 99.1 FM and the others can be heard on WOHF 92.1 FM (Jan. 28 vs. Ball State, Feb. 4 vs. Western Michigan, Feb. 11 at Toledo, and Feb. 18 at Buffalo). As well, all games can be heard on WCSM 1350 AM/96.7 FM in Celina, WONW 1280 AM in Defiance, and WCWA 1230 AM in Toledo.
• BGSU men's basketball coach Louis Orr appears on the Falcons' Nest Coaches Show on select Monday evenings, hosted by Todd Walker. The show runs from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., and is scheduled for live broadcast from Fricker's in Bowling Green (1720 E. Wooster Street).
• All game broadcasts and the Falcons Nest Coaches Show can also be heard via live stream on the official site of Falcon athletics, www.BGSUfalcons.com. Shortly after broadcasts are complete, an archived stream is available to listen to as well.
• BGSU men's basketball coach Louis Orr will talk live on 1470 WLQR "The Ticket" throughout the year. He is scheduled to be on host Norm Wamer's show Tuesday afternoons at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the season.
• Live statistics for all BGSU home men's basketball games are available on the web via Gametracker. Gametracker allows fans to view in-game stats as they occur, and may be accessed by going to www.BGSUFalcons.com. Falcon fans can utilize Gametracker for home events in numerous BGSU sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, hockey, men's and women's soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball.
