Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face MAC Leader Buffalo Wednesday Night
February 17, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2009
Game #25
Bowling Green (14-10, 7-4 MAC East) at Buffalo (17-6, 9-2 MAC East)
Feb. 18, 2009 • Buffalo, N.Y. (Alumni Arena) • 7:00 p.m.
Radio: Falcon Radio Network • Todd Walker
Television: None
SETTING THE STAGE
• The Bowling Green men's basketball team is going for a season sweep of Mid-American Conference leader Buffalo Wednesday night and is looking to get back into the race for the regular season conference championship. Both teams are coming off of losses that snapped long winning streaks as BGSU had a six-game streak before Sunday's loss to Eastern Michigan and Buffalo had a nine-game win streak before a loss to Ball State on the same day.
• BG is 4-7 on the road this year but has won four in a row and has not lost away from Anderson Arena in more than a month. Buffalo is 8-2 at home and has won seven straight since a home loss to Connecticut Dec. 4.
• BG has surpassed its overall win total from a year ago when the Falcons went 13-17. As well, the team's seven conference wins have equaled last year's total with five games remaining in MAC play. A win would mean that BGSU has improved its conference win total in two successive years for only the second time in program history. The team also improved two straight years beginning in the 1997-98 season through the 1999-00 year (seven wins to 12 wins to 14 wins).
• Bowling Green holds a 13-5 advantage in the all-time series with Buffalo but has struggled against the Bulls in New York through the years. The Falcons' last road win over Buffalo came in an 85-73 victory Jan. 12, 2001 and BGSU has lost by an average of 22.5 points per game in the four road contests since that time.
THE OPENING TIP (STORYLINES)
• Senior Nate Miller is just 18 points shy of becoming the 37th player in program history to reach 1,000 points in his career. When he gets to that mark, he will also become just the fourth player in program history to record 1,000 career points, 500 career rebounds and 125 career steals (joining Anthony Stacey, David Jenkins, and Joe Moore).
• Junior Otis Polk had one block against Eastern Michigan to give him 116 for his career. He is now one shy of tying the program record and two away from breaking it. His 35 blocked shots so far this year rank as the ninth best single-season total in program history.
• Bowling Green and Buffalo met in the MAC opener for both teams Jan. 10 and the Falcons rolled to an early lead and scored a season-high in an 86-82 win. From there, Buffalo won nine in a row before Sunday's loss to Ball State, while the Falcons went on to lose three straight before its six-game winning streak put BGSU back in the hunt for the conference title.
SCOUTING BUFFALO
• Buffalo sits at the top of the Mid-American Conference standings at 9-2 in conference play and 17-6 overall. One of the Bulls' two conference losses, however, came at the hands of Bowling Green. The Bulls have been tough to beat at home recently and their only losses this year in Alumni Arena came against Niagara and No. 1 Connecticut. In fact, both of those losses were by just four points.
• Buffalo is the top rebounding team in the conference, outrebounding its opponents by 5.4 per game, including 13.7 offensive boards per game, and the Bulls are third in turnover margin. All of those extra possessions have allowed Buffalo to overcome some poor shooting performances. In fact, the Bulls have scored more than 60 points just once in the past five games and have shot better than 40 percent just twice in those games.
• Buffalo ranks second in the MAC in three-point percentage and Calvin Betts (44.6 percent) and Sean Smily (43.4 percent) rank first and third in the conference in that stat. Betts and Greg Gamble contribute heavily to the team's rebounding prowess, but the Bulls get solid contributions on the boards from everybody in the rotation. Rodney Pierce leads the team at 14.0 points per game but is shooting just 39 percent from the field.
SCHEDULE CHANGES
• Bowling Green will host Canisius Saturday for the seventh annual ESPNU BracketBusters series. The game with start at 2 p.m. and the Falcons will play a return game at Canisius in either November of December of the 2009-10 season as part of the contract for BracketBusters.
• Bowling Green's home contest against Kent State has been moved to a 6:30 p.m. start to accomodate a Fox Sports Ohio television broadcast of the game.
• The Falcons' game at Akron on March 1 is now scheduled for a 12 p.m. start time for a Fox Sports Ohio television broadcast.
FIRST GAME VS. BUFFALO
Chris Knight scored 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting as the Bowling Green men's basketball team won its 12th consecutive Mid-American Conference opener, defeating the Buffalo Bulls 86-82 Saturday in Anderson Arena. Buffalo almost erased a 21-point second half deficit but the Falcons closed out the contest in the final minute.
Buffalo entered the game as one of the hottest teams in the MAC, coming off of successive wins over Pepperdine, Colorado and Colorado State at the Outriggers Tournament in Hawaii. But the Falcons shot 66 percent in the first half, building a 46-30 lead at the break. That is BGSU's highest scoring half of the year and the 86 points are the most the Falcons have scored in a game during the 2008-09 season.
Knight was extraordinary in the first 20 minutes, making 7-of-9 shots and posting 17 points at the break to go with four rebounds and two assists - all in 13 minutes off the bench. Brian Moten added 12 points in the first half, making a pair of three-pointers, as BG used a 21-3 run over six-minute stretch late in the first half. Knight scored nine points during that run, including his first three-pointer of the year.
Bowling Green extended the lead in the second half as Knight hit his second three-pointer of the season less than a minute into the period to make it 49-32. Darryl Clements and Moten hit back-to-back three-pointers two minutes later as the Falcons built a 21-point lead at 57-36. A Nate Miller lay-up with 12:57 to play gave the Falcons another 21-point lead at 65-44, but Buffalo chipped away at the lead for most of the rest of the contest.
Andy Robinson's jumper with 8:15 to go cut the deficit to 10 before Moten scored on a lay-up and Miller knocked down a lay-up and three-pointer to extend the lead to 17 again with 5:45 to go. From there, BG's offense went a bit cold and Buffalo used a 20-7 run to close to within four with 11 seconds remaining. But the Falcons made 3-of-4 free-throws down the stretch to close out the contest.
Bowling Green shot 53 percent from the field for the game and made 8-of-15 three-pointers. The hot shooting was enough to overcome Buffalo's 17 offensive rebounds and 41-34 rebounding edge. Those boards allowed the Bulls to attempt 12 more shots than the Falcons.
Along with Knight's 22 points, three other players finished in double figure scoring for BGSU. Moten had 20 points, making 3-of-6 three-pointers, and Jakubowski finished with 14 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Miller had 13 points, a team-high seven rebounds, and three assists.
MILLER'S SURGE TO 1,000
As Nate Miller gets closer and closer to 1,000 career points, he keeps increasing his production. He has scored seven or more points in 14 straight games and has scored 15 or more in six of the past nine contests. He had his 50th career double-digit scoring game against Ohio and went over 900 career points against Ball State, currently sitting at 982. At his current pace of 12.5 points per game, he would become the 37th player in BG history to reach 1,000 career points when the Falcons host Canisius for the ESPNU BracketBusters series Saturday at 2 p.m.
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 moved into a tie for second place with a block against Eastern Michigan. He is just one behind all-time leader Tom Hall, with 117 from 1989-92. This year alone, he has 35 blocks, ranking as the ninth highest total in program history. Cornelius Cash set the mark with 59 blocks in 1973-74.
THE TOURNEY LOOMS
With Mid-American Conference play more than halfway over, Bowling Green is positioning itself for a run at the MAC Tournament. The top seed for the MAC Tourney will go to the division winner with the best record and the No. 2 seed will go to the other division winner. From there, seeds are determined based on conference record with no regard to divisions. The top four seeds all get a bye to the quarterfinals. Currently, the Falcons are tied with Akron and Kent State for four place, but would receive the No. 6 seed if the tournament were to start today based on tiebreak procedures. As the No. 6 seed, Bowling Green would face the No. 11 seed (currently Toledo) in the opening round for the right to play the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals.
RISING STOCK
Bowling Green's returners worked hard in the offseason to develop their games. That work has paid off in three visible areas -- scoring, rebounding, and free-throw percentage. The Falcons are averaging 1.7 points per game more than a year ago and are shooting .702 from the free-throw line, as opposed to .633 in 2007-08. Finally, BG was outrebounded by 2.6 boards per game last year, but has flipped that stat and is now outrebounding opponents by 2.5 in 2008-09.
TRACKING FALCON MILESTONES
A number of BGSU players are closing in on career milestones or have recently reached them:
• Darryl Clements played in his 100th career game against Toledo. With classmate Brian Moten, the pair is the first Falcon teammates to have played in 100 games since Brent Klassen, Len Matela and Keith McLeod all reached the mark in the 2001-02 season. With four assists in that game, Clements reached 200 for his career and became the first Falcon with 500 career points, 250 career rebounds and 200 career assists since Steven Wright (2003-06). He is also just two steals from 100.
• Joe Jakubowski picked up his 50th career steal against Toledo and is 69 points shy of 500.
• Chris Knight picked up his 300th career rebound against Western Michigan and is 50 points shy of 500.
• Erik Marschall went over 500 career points in the team's win over Northern Illinois and is picked up his 300th career rebound against Eastern Michigan.
• Nate Miller went over 900 career points in the team's win over Ball State and currently sits at 982. He needs to average 3.0 points during the rest of the regular season to become the 37th player in program history to score 1,000. With 12 rebounds against Central Michigan, he reached 500 for his career. He also moved into the top 10 in program history with five steals against Eastern Michigan, sliding in at No. 9.
• Brian Moten became the 10th player in program history to make 100 career three-pointers with the first of two against Northern Illinois. With his action against Eastern Michigan, he played in his 106th career game, the most since Cory Eyink played in 112 from 2001-05. Moten needs 18 points for 750 in his career.
• Otis Polk moved into a tie for second place in career blocks at Bowling Green against Eastern Michigan and currently sits at 116. He needs two more to break BGSU's all-time record of 117. He also reached 300 career rebounds against Western Michigan.
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 22 consecutive games, scoring at least 40 points twice (in wins over Wayne State and Buffalo). The Falcons are averaging 23.2 points per game from their bench this year, compared to just 17.1 points per game for opponents. The Bowling Green bench outscored its opponent in 15 consecutive games at one point this year and 18-of-24 contests overall.
QUADRUPLE THREAT
Bowling Green has four active players who have scored at least 500 points in their career, the most on a BG team at one time since the 2003-04 team also had four. Nate Miller, Brian Moten, Darryl Clements, and Erik Marschall have all scored 500 career points with Marschall reaching the mark against Northern Illinois. BG has two other players -- Chris Knight and Joe Jakubowski -- who have passed 400 career points. The last time Falcon fans watched four players with 500 career points all play in the same game came March 11, 2004 against Kent State when Ron Lewis, Kevin Netter, John Reimold, and Josh Almanson all saw action.
DEFENSE WINS
• Bowling Green has buckled down defensively in 2008-09, holding 18-of-24 opponents to less than 45 percent shooting, allowing less than 70 points 19 times. It is a critical stat because the Falcons are just 3-11 under head coach Louis Orr when an opponent shoots 45 percent or better. BG leads the MAC in blocked shots and ranks second in field goal percentage defense.
• Bowling Green is on pace to post a historically significant season defensively. The Falcons' .400 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 62.5 points per game allowed is the best average since the 1962-63 team allowed 62.3 points per contest.
• 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).
PLAYING FROM BEHIND
Prior to the past seven games, BG had lost 32 consecutive games when it trailed with 10 minutes to play dating back to a win over Buffalo Jan. 7, 2007 when it was able to overcome a deficit. But twice in the past seven games, the Falcons have made up a deficit with 10 minutes left. Against Ohio, the Falcons won 52-51 despite trailing by one with 10 minutes left. As well, BGSU came back from a 46-41 deficit against Central Michigan with 10 minutes to play to pick up a 67-61 win.
MAKING THINGS INTERESTING
Bowling Green is 8-5 in games decided by seven points or less this year with numerous games coming down to the final few possessions. Three of the most exciting of those were a 77-76 overtime win over Georgia State, a 52-51 win on road in front of 10,988 fans over Ohio, and a 62-58 home win over Ball State. Darryl Clements and Brian Moten made three-pointers in the final 15 seconds of regulation to force overtime against Georgia State and Joe Jakubowski knocked down a 25-foot three-pointer as the buzzer sounded in the extra session for the win. Against Ohio, the Bobcats had three possessions in the final 15 seconds but missed three shots, including a blocked shot from Chris Knight with less than four seconds remaining. Clements scored the Falcons' final five points of that game, helping the team overcome a late 47-44 deficit. Knight came up with a critical block for the second game in a row against Ball State, swatting away a fastbreak lay-up late in a 62-58 win.
BLOCKING OUT
The Falcons lead the MAC in blocked shots this year, averaging 4.4 per game. BGSU's 3.9 blocks per game in conference competition also ranks as the best in the league. The team had a season-high 11 blocks at Illinois State and the team has recorded six blocks or more four times.
WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
Anderson Arena has always been a difficult place for opponents and the Falcons are 8-3 at home in 2008-09, beating teams by an average of 7.7 points per game. BG is off to its best start at home since the 2004-05 team went 9-2 in its first 11 games in "The House That Roars" and finished 11-3. The Falcons are 445-179 (.713) all-time in Anderson Arena and 159-53 (.750) in the past 16 years.
THE TOP OF THE MAC
• A Bowling Green player has been named Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week three times this year. Sophomore Chris Knight won the award twice in a three-week stretch earlier this year and senior Nate Miller most recently won the award Feb. 9.
• Knight won the award after averaging 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in leading the Falcons to a pair of wins over Towson and Eastern Illinois.
• Knight was awarded again two weeks later after scoring 22 points, including 17 in the first half, in BGSU's 86-82 win over Buffalo in the team's MAC opener.
• Miller won the award after posting a pair of double-doubles in wins over Western Michigan and Central Michigan. He had 21 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots in the win over WMU and the added 10 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks against CMU.
JAKUBOWSKI AND LARSON HONORED FOR ACADEMICS
Junior center Marc Larson and sophomore point guard Joe Jakubowski were both named to the ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. Among the eight University (NCAA Division I) all-district teams around the country, Bowling Green was one of only four schools to have more than one player listed. To be eligible for the award, athletes must have at least a 3.3 grade point average, be at least a sophomore and have been at their current school for at least a year. Both players will now be placed on the ballot for Academic All-American.
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 982 points in his BG career.
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.
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.
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 one game can be heard on WFRO 99.1 FM and the other can be heard on WOHF 92.1 FM (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.
