Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Ready To Bounce Back Against Miami Tuesday Night
January 19, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2009
Bowling Green, Ohio -
Game #17
Bowling Green (8-8, 1-2 MAC East) vs. Miami (9-6, 2-1 MAC East)
Jan. 20, 2009 • Bowling Green, Ohio (Anderson Arena) • 7:00 p.m.
Radio: Falcon Radio Network • Todd Walker/Kirk Cowan
Television: BCSN • Greg Franke/Kevin Brechmacher
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
Coach Orr Weekly Press Conference Audio
SETTING THE STAGE
• The Bowling Green State University men's basketball will try to bounce back from its first loss of the season in Anderson Arena with a key contest against Miami in the 120th meeting between the two schools.
• Miami has won 72 of the 119 meetings all-time but the two teams have split the season series each of the past two years with all four contests being won by the home team. Bowling Green has won 11 of the past 20 meetings.
• Bowling Green is 6-1 at home during the 2008-09 season but will look to bounce back from a home loss for the first time. Miami is 4-5 away from home this year but is coming off of a 66-55 road victory over Kent State.
THE OPENING TIP (STORYLINES)
• Miami is one of three teams tied for the MAC East lead at 2-1. All of the other three teams in the MAC East, including Bowling Green, are 1-2. The RedHawks have the best RPI ranking in the conference, sitting in the top 40 after playing a brutal non-conference schedule against teams like UCLA, Pittsburgh, Xavier, West Virginia, and Temple.
• A Bowling Green win would get the Falcons back to 2-2 in the MAC for third time in the past four years. BGSU has not started better than that since the 2004-05 team won its first four conference games.
• Bowling Green has struggled in the second half for much of the season but the difficulties have been magnified lately. The Falcons are 0-for-15 on three-point attempts in the second half over the past two contests and the team has been tied or leading at the half in each of its last four losses.
SCOUTING MIAMI
• Miami enters the game with a 9-6 overall record and is in a three-way tie at the top of the MAC East with a 2-1 conference mark. The RedHawks have the top RPI ranking in the MAC after playing a tough non-conference schedule against UCLA, Pittsburgh, Xavier, West Virginia and Temple. Miami is 3-3 in its last six games, splitting wins and losses since a four-game win streak in mid-December.
• Miami has one of the most dynamic players in the MAC in senior Michael Bramos. He averages 17.9 points per game and has made 41 percent of his 102 three-point attempts. Bramos also leads the team in blocked shots and ranks second in steals. Senior center Tyler Dierkers is a strong inside presence, ranking third in the conference with 7.2 rebounds per game. Both Bramos and Dierkers will be on the floor for most of the contest as they rank first and third in the MAC in minutes.
• Much like Bowling Green, Miami will rely on its defense to carry it to wins. The RedHawks rank first in the MAC in scoring defense and second in three-point defense. Miami has held 12 of 15 opponents below 70 points and held Wright State to just 37 in a 55-37 win Nov. 24.
SCHEDULE CHANGE
• 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 has been named MAC East Player of the Week twice in the past four weeks. Most recently he was awarded after he 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 scored 11 points against Akron 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 .810 percentage rate, he ranks ninth in school history at the charity stripe. Clements also needs 10 rebounds to reach 250 in his career.
• Joe Jakubowski picked up the 150th assist in his career against Buffalo. He needs 15 more points for 400 and four more steals for 50.
• Chris Knight scored 15 points against Kent State to reach 400 for his career.
• 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 865). He needs to average 9.6 points during the rest of the regular season to become the 37th player in program history to score 1,000.
• Brian Moten needs one made three-pointer to move into the top 10 in program history and two to become just the 10th Falcon to make 100 for a career. With five rebounds against Buffalo, he reached 150 for his career. He has also played in 98 career games (the most on the team) and could reach 100 at Ohio Jan. 24.
• Otis Polk blocked two shots against Duquesne to become just the fifth player in program history to reach 100 in a career. With two blocks against Akron, he moved into a tie for fourth with 105.
THREE'S THE KEY
Three-pointers made has been a remarkable indicator of success in Bowling Green contests this year. The team that has made the most three-pointers has won 15 of the 16 games this year. BG is 8-1 when making more three's than their opponent and is 0-7 when the opponent makes more. The only game in which three-pointers did not determine the winner was in Bowling Green's 67-65 loss to Central Arkansas in which the Falcons made eight threes and Central Arkansas made just five.
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 105. He ranks first in the MAC in blocked shots this year and is just 12 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 seven contests, he has averaged 11.3 points and 6.3 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.
DEEP THINKING
Bowling Green's depth has been critical to success in 2008-09 and the Falcons' bench has contributed in a big way this year. BGSU's bench has scored in double-figures in 14 consecutive games, scoring at least 40 points twice (in wins over Wayne State and Buffalo). The Falcons are averaging 25.3 points per game from their bench this year, compared to just 17.0 points per game for opponents. The Bowling Green bench has outscored its opponent in 11 consecutive games and 13-of-16 contests overall.
DEFENSE WINS
• Bowling Green has bucked down defensively in 2008-09, holding 13-of-16 opponents to less than 45 percent shooting, allowing less than 70 points 11 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 and three-point percentage 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 63.9 points per game allowed is the best average since the 1962-63 team allowed 62.3 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).
A TALE OF TWO HALVES
While Bowling Green has excelled in the first half of most of its contests this year, the Falcons have struggled at times in the second half. BGSU has been ahead or tied in at the break in each of its past four losses and in a total of five of the Falcons' eight losses this year. Bowling Green is holding opponents to 35 percent shooting in the first half of games this year but opponents are shooting 44 percent in the second half.
Half Scoring Margin FG% FGA%
1st +6.1 209/476 (.439) 154/442 (.348)
2nd -3.2 180/442 (.407) 187/429 (.436)
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, Jakubowski's 4.00 assist/turnover ratio ranks as the best in the conference.
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 6-1 at home in 2008-09, beating teams by an average of 12.7 points per game. 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 443-177 (.715) all-time in Anderson Arena and 157-51 (.755) 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 865 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 74-27 and all six of those teams are .500 or better. 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
• 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.
