Falcons Carry Season-Best Winning Streak Into Wednesday's Game With Western Michigan

Feb. 3, 2009

Game #21

Bowling Green (11-9, 4-3 MAC East) vs. Western Michigan (7-13, 4-3 MAC West)

Feb. 4, 2009  Bowling Green, Ohio (Anderson Arena)  7:00 p.m.

Radio: Falcon Radio Network  Todd Walker/Kirk Cowan

Television: BCSN  Greg Franke/Kevin Brechmacher (Tape Delay)

 Coach Orr Weekly Press Conference Audio

SETTING THE STAGE
 The Bowling Green men's basketball team carries its longest winning streak of the season into Wednesday's home game against Western Michigan. The Falcons turn the calendar to February with three straight wins and they host Western Michigan with an opportunity to remain unbeaten against Mid-American Conference Western Division foes this year.
 BG is 65-41 in 106 all-time meetings against Western Michigan, but the Broncos have had their way with the Falcons lately, winning each of the past nine meetings dating back to the 2001-02 season. In fact, Bowling Green has not defeated Western Michigan in Anderson Arena since a 77-61 win Jan. 31, 2001.
 This is the third of six games against MAC West opponents and the Falcons' next four opponents are all six games below .500 or worse. Bowling Green is 7-2 at home this year, while Western Michigan is 3-4 on the road.

THE OPENING TIP (STORYLINES)
 Bowling Green's three-game winning streak is the team's longest since the Falcons won three in a row to close out January a year ago. The team beat Miami, Northern Illinois and Ball State in succession during that streak. BGSU has not won four straight since winning five in a row in Dec. 2006 and has now won four consecutive MAC games since Jan. 2005.
 Bowling Green's defense has keyed the Falcons' three-game win streak. The team held opponents to 56.7 points per game and just 38.9 percent shooting during the stretch, along with only 30.4 percent from three-point range. As well, BG has cleaned up the boards, outrebounding opponents by 3.7 per contest.
 This contest features the top two shot-blockers in the conference in Western Michigan's LaMarcus Lowe and Bowling Green's Otis Polk. Lowe has 30 blocked shots, including 22 in seven conference games, while Polk has 27 blocks and is third all-time in school history in career blocks.

SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN
 Western Michigan started conference play with three straight wins but have lost three of four since, including two games at home against MAC East schools Buffalo and Kent State. The Broncos' only non-conference road win came at Sam Houston State Nov. 25 but the team is 2-1 away from home in conference play.
 Western Michigan's biggest deficiency has been an ability to generate easy scoring opportunities thus far. The Broncos rank last in the MAC in field goal percentage and 11th in three-point shooting, despite attempting the second-most three-pointers in the conference. Western Michigan is 10th in offensive rebounding, so the team has not gotten many easy second chance buckets, and is last in steals, keeping the team from getting points in transition.
 David Kool means as much to his team as just about any other individual player means to his team in the MAC. Kool ranks third in the conference in scoring at 16.8 points per game and is second in free-throw percentage at 87.8 percent. He has attempted the second-most three-pointers in the conference, 130, and is tied for fourth with 39 made three-pointers.

SCHEDULE CHANGES  Bowling Green will host Canisius on Feb. 21 for the seventh annual ESPNU BracketBusters series. The time is yet to be announced 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.

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 10 straight games and has scored 15 or more in four of the past five contests. He had his 50th career double-digit scoring game against Ohio and went over 900 career points against Ball State, currently sitting at 919. At his current pace of 11.8 points per game, he would become the 37th player in BG history to reach 1,000 career points when the Falcons host Kent State on Fox Sports Ohio Feb. 26.

THE TOURNEY LOOMS
With Mid-American Conference play just about halfway over, Bowling Green will begin to position 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 Western Michigan for fourth place, but would receive the No. 6 seed if the tournament were to start today based on tiebreak procedures. A win over Western Michigan would move BG into the fifth spot at worst depending on the rest of the conference results.

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 and had eight rebounds against Ohio to get to 250. He needs six more assists to get to 200. When he gets to that total, he will be the first BGSU player to reach each of those milestones since Steven Wright (2003-06).
 Joe Jakubowski scored the 400th point of his career in the win over Northern Illinois. He needs three more steals for 50.
 Chris Knight needs one rebound for 300 in his career and is 73 points shy of 500.  Erik Marschall went over 500 career points in the team's win over Northern Illinois and is 11 rebounds away from 300.
 Nate Miller went over 900 career points in the team's win over Ball State and currently sits at 919. He needs to average 8.1 points during the rest of the regular season to become the 37th player in program history to score 1,000. He is also just 25 rebounds from 500.
 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 Ohio, he played in his 100th career game, becoming the first player to reach that total since Matt Lefeld played in 105 games from 2003-07.
 Otis Polk moved into third place in career blocks at Bowling Green with his 108th against Northern Illinois. He needs nine more to tie BGSU's all-time record of 117. He also needs four more rebounds for 300 in his career.

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 18 consecutive games, scoring at least 40 points twice (in wins over Wayne State and Buffalo). The Falcons are averaging 24.4 points per game from their bench this year, compared to just 16.6 points per game for opponents. The Bowling Green bench has outscored its opponent in 15 consecutive games and 17-of-20 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.

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 third place with his 108th block against Northern Illinois. He ranks second in the MAC in blocked shots this year and is just nine 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
Over the past 11 games, sophomore forward Chris Knight has been living up to 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 eleven contests, he has averaged 9.2 points and 6.4 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. He has been named MAC East Player of the Week twice during the stretch.

DEFENSE WINS
 Bowling Green has bucked down defensively in 2008-09, holding 15-of-20 opponents to less than 45 percent shooting, allowing less than 70 points 15 times. It is a critical stat because the Falcons are just 3-10 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' .398 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 63.0 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).

LEADERS OF THE MAC
The Falcons lead the MAC in three team stats -- assist/turnover ratio, blocked shots, and assists. BGSU is the only team in the conference to have more assists than turnovers, boasting a 1.03 assist/turnover ratio. The Falcons have also blocked 4.4 shots per game and have handed out 13.8 assists per contest. Individually, Otis Polk leads the MAC in offensive rebounding (2.90 per game), while Joe Jakubowski's 2.18 assist/turnover ratio in conference games ranks at the top of the MAC.

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 at the break in five of its losses this year. Bowling Green is holding opponents to 37 percent shooting in the first half of games this year but opponents are shooting 43 percent in the second half.

Half Scoring Margin FG% FGA%
1st +4.9 256/582 (.440) 202/543 (.372)
2nd -2.3 220/539 (.408) 231/544 (.425)

PLAYING FROM BEHIND
Bowling Green trailed Ohio 36-35 with 10 minutes to play in the contest. It marked the first time in head coach Louis Orr's two-year tenure that BG came back from a deficit with 10 minutes to play to win a game. The team had lost 32 consecutive games when it trailed with 10 minutes left since coming back to beat Buffalo 74-73 Jan. 7, 2007.

MAKING THINGS INTERESTING
Bowling Green has split 10 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.

GOOD KNIGHT
Chris Knight was named MAC East Player of the Week twice in a three-week stretch earlier this season. 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.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
Anderson Arena has always been a difficult place for opponents and the Falcons are 7-2 at home in 2008-09, beating teams by an average of 9.6 points per game. BG is off to its best start at home since the 2001-02 team went 13-1 in "The House That Roars". The Falcons are 444-178 (.714) all-time in Anderson Arena and 158-52 (.752) 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.

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 85-40. Minnesota is ranked No. 19 in both the AP Top 25 poll and Ohio State is receiving votes. Illinois State is also ranked ninth in the Mid-Major Top 25 poll.

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 919 points in his BG career.

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 three games can be heard on WFRO 99.1 FM and the others can be heard on WOHF 92.1 FM (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.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results