Falcons Return Home Looking For Second Straight Win Wednesday

Complete Game Notes (.pdf)

FOUR THINGS TO KNOW
• Bowling Green and Ohio are two programs looking to gain traction in MAC play. The Falcons are coming off of a big 76-70 road win over Kent State for their first league win of the season and Ohio is still looking for its first win after home losses to Kent State and Akron and a road loss to Miami.
• Bowling Green avoided the program's first 0-3 start to MAC play in 1988-89 with a 76-70 road win over Kent State. Last year's team opened the year 1-3 before rebounding to win the MAC at 11-5.
• Sophomore Scott Thomas has set a new career scoring high in each of the last two games. He had 21 points and a career-best 10 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double against Buffalo and then followed that up with 27 points on 8-of-10 shooting in Sunday's win over Kent State. Against Buffalo, he posted the first 20/10 performance since Nate Miller had 22 points and 10 rebounds in BGSU's MAC Tournament win over Ohio a year ago.
• Dee Brown and Scott Thomas combined for 48 points in the win over Kent State, becoming the first pair to score 20+ points in a game for BGSU since Chris Knight scored 22 and Brian Moten added 20 in last year's 86-82 home win over Buffalo.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green and Ohio have met 126 times in program history and the Falcons hold a 69-57 lead in the all-time series. A year ago, BGSU dominated the Bobcats, winning three meetings by an average of 16.3 points per game. The Falcons started a six-game MAC winning streak by beating Ohio 52-51 on the road and then rolled to a 75-41 home win that clinched the MAC Championship. The two teams met again in the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals and Bowling Green completed the sweep with a 74-61 win. The Falcons are 4-1 against Ohio under Head Coach Louis Orr and have not lost at home since an 88-63 defeat on Feb. 21, 2007. The two programs first met on Jan. 29, 1943 and Ohio won that initial meeting 51-42.

SCOUTING THE OHIO BOBCATS
Ohio enters Wednesday's game with Bowling Green at 9-8 overall but on a three-game losing streak at 0-3 in MAC play. The Bobcats have made the transition to a perimeter-oriented team and they rank second in the MAC in scoring, posting 72.4 points per game. The team has done that by taking care of the basketball (+3.6 turnovers per game and a 0.96 assist/turnover ratio, both second in the MAC), making three-pointers (7.18 per game which also ranks second in the league), and starting fast break opportunities by ranking second in the league with 8.82 steals per game. Ohio is also the best team in the conference in defending the three-point line, holding opponents to just 30.1 percent shooting from long range. Freshman D.J. Cooper and junior Armon Bassett (playing in his first season after transferring from Indiana) having been critical to that style of play. Bassett leads the team at 13.7 points per game and Cooper is second at 13.4 points, while leading the conference in steals (2.82 per game) and ranking second in assists (5.41 per game).

THE COACHES
Bowling Green Head Coach Louis Orr has just about done it all. As a player at Syracuse, he made four NCAA Tournament appearances and spent eight years in the NBA. As a coach, he was named Big East Coach of the Year at Seton Hall and was named Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the Falcons to the MAC regular season crown in 2008-09. He has a career record of 140-118 in his ninth season and 40-38 in his first three years at Bowling Green. Ohio Head Coach John Groce is in his second season at the helm with a record of 24-25 overall. Prior to his time at Ohio, he served on coaching staffs at Ohio State, Xavier, Butler, and North Carolina State.

THE CHARITY STRIPE
Bowling Green has made a dramatic transformation in its free-throw shooting efficiency. Through 11 games of the season, Bowling Green ranked 329th out of 334 Division I teams at 56.6 percent from the line. But over the past four games, the team has shot 81.8 percent and the Falcons lead the MAC in free-throw shooting in conference games only at 80.6 percent.

BLOCK PARTY, HOSTED BY OTIS
Senior Otis Polk started the 2009-10 campaign by blocking a shot against Wayne State, a familiar sight for Bowling Green fans. He now has 16 blocked shots this year and is already the school's all-time blocked shot leader with 138, surpassing Tom Hall's mark of 117 from 1989-92. With every shot he blocks, he'll be setting a new standard for current and future Falcons to aim for. Both Marc Larson and Erik Marschall are not to be forgotten inside either. Larson has 74 career blocks, including two against St. Louis, and Marschall picked up his 50th career block with two against Savannah State and now has 54. Starting forward Scott Thomas has become a factor in this area as well, posting three consecutive multi-block games at one point including three against Florida International and is tied for second on the team with ten on the season.

"O" IS FOR OTIS AND OFFENSE
Otis Polk reached double figures in scoring just 11 times in his first three years at Bowling Green, but Polk has scored at least 10 points in eight of the team's first 15 games this year, including a pair of double-doubles. In the team's win over Towson, he posted 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Earlier in the year, he picked up his second career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds against Milwaukee. He has just missed double-doubles on three other occassions and is averaging 10.0 points per game, a large increase over his average of 6.1 points a year ago.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Bowling Green's three senior post players -- Otis Polk, Erik Marschall, and Marc Larson -- have all stepped up their games and produced at a higher level than the trio did a year ago. Those three are combining for 23.1 points and 17.6 rebounds per game, a much higher total than last year's 14.6 points and 12.0 rebounds.

OTIS ADDS THE BOARDS
Otis Polk has been dominant on the boards this year, averaging 8.0 rebounds per game (third in the MAC) and has been especially strong on the offensive glass, leading the Mid-American Conference with 3.9 offensive boards per game. He had a career-high 16 rebounds in the team's win over Towson and had grabbed at least six rebounds in 11 straight games until coralling just five against Kent State.

CONSISTENT LINEUP
Through the first 10 games of the year, Bowling Green Head Coach Louis Orr started the same lineup of Joe Jakubowski, Dee Brown, Scott Thomas, Marc Larson, and Otis Polk. In the past five games, Marschall has been inserted into the lineup for Larson and both have responded. Marschall had a career-high 10 rebounds at Towson and is averaging 7.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per contest as a starter. Larson posted eight points and a career-best nine rebounds against St. Louis in 26 minutes off the bench. He is also 11-for-14 (78.6 percent) from the free-throw line since coming off the bench.

RIDING THE PINE
In 2008-09, Bowling Green's depth was a strength early in the season until injuries forced the Falcons into a shorter rotation. In 2009-10, BGSU's bench has been a telling factor in how successful the Falcons are. In the team's eight wins, the bench has outscored the opponent's bench 120-114 but in the seven losses has been outscored 203-102.

FEED THE POST
Head Coach Louis Orr's philosophy is to play an inside-out game and the Falcons have scored at least 20 points in the paint in 13-of-15 games and at least 30 points five times. The team peaked against Towson when Bowling Green held a 50-21 scoring edge in the paint. In all, BGSU has outscored 11 opponents in the paint and 2-of-3 conference opponents.

DIRECTING THE OFFENSE
Junior Joe Jakubowski and freshman Jordon Crawford have done an excellent job of running an efficient offense so far in the 2009-10 season. Jakubowski ranks second in the MAC (and 60th nationally) with a 2.24 assist/turnover ratio, while Crawford's 1.53 ratio would be sixth in the league if he had enough assists to qualify for the top 10.

GREAT SCOTT
Sophomore Scott Thomas has always had great potential and lately he has been showing exactly the type of player he can be. He posted his first collegiate double-double against Buffalo with career-highs in scoring (21) and rebounding (10). He followed that up by making 8-of-10 shots and all eight of his free-throw attempts for a career-best 27 points, including 18 in the second half, at Kent State. He leads the team with 11.1 points per game and is second on the team with 16 steals and 10 blocks. He also averages 6.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists. With league play underway, Thomas has improved his game even more, ranking seventh in the league with 17.0 points, fourth with 8.0 rebounds, and fifth with a .938 free-throw percentage.

DEE-LIGHTFUL
Sophomore guard Dee Brown has risen to the occasion since posting his first career double-digit scoring game against Milwaukee. Since that time, Brown has scored in double figures in 9-of-12 games and was named Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week on Dec. 7 after averaging 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 56 percent from the field, in wins over Savannah State and Fordham. He has carried the team offensively during critical stretches of key non-conference wins against Florida International, Fordham and Canisius. He made 5-of-8 three-pointers and scored a career-high 21 points in helping the Falcons win on the road at Kent State and leads the MAC at 48.8 percent three-point shooting. Brown ranks second on the team in scoring (10.9 points per game) and field goal percentage (45.9 percent).

YOUR HALFTIME ENTERTAINMENT -- THE FAT LADY
For the first 14 games of the 2009-10 season, Bowling Green had no reason to play the final 20 minutes of games. The team leading at the break in each of those games went on to win the contest. However, in the Falcons' 76-70 win over Kent State, the team overcame a 35-28 halftime deficit.

MAKE HALF OF THEM
Bowling Green is 18-2 in three years under Louis Orr when shooting at least 50 percent from the field, including a perfect 3-0 this year. In fact, in all three of those contests, the Falcons were exactly 26-of-51 from the field (wins over Wayne State, Fordham, and Kent State).

GETTING THERE IS HALF THE BATTLE
Through the first three games of the season, Bowling Green struggled to get to the free-throw line and that culminated with just two free-throw attempts at Iowa. During that stretch, the Falcons attempted just 9.0 free-throws per game, 28 less than their opponents. However, over the past 12 games, Bowling Green has been to the line an average of 21.4 times (257 total), 34 more than opponents.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
Anderson Arena has always been a difficult place for opponents and the Falcons are 4-2 in 2009-10. The Falcons are 451-182 (.712) all-time in Anderson Arena and 165-56 (.747) in the past 17 years.

DEFENSE WINS
Bowling Green has held opponents below 44 percent shooting in all eight of its victories, a trend for success that has been the norm under Head Coach Louis Orr. A year ago, BGSU held 26-of-33 opponents below 45 percent shooting and the Falcons are just 3-16 under Orr when an opponent reaches that 45 percent threshold, as Xavier, Iowa, Detroit, and Temple has. Opponents shot just 39.3 percent in 2008-09 which was the lowest total since the 1963-64 season. That team also held opponents to just 61.2 points per game, the lowest total since the 1949-50 season. In the Falcons' last 11 games, of which BGSU is 7-4, the team has been eerily similar to a year ago, holding opponents to 39.2 percent shooting and 61.5 points per game.

BASKETBALL U.
Bowling Green fans have the opportunity to see the best basketball in the Mid-American Conference night in and night out. The 2009-10 men's and women's teams are a combined 22-11 overall and 5-2 in MAC play, looking to build on last year's combined marks of 48-19 and 26-6 in conference play, easily the best in the MAC in both. Bowling Green was the No. 1 seed for both the men's and women's tournament, the first time that has occurred in the MAC since Kent State was the top seed for both tournaments in 2002. It also marks the first time both the Bowling Green men's and women's teams qualified for postseason play since 1990. Only Eastern Michigan (22-10) has a better overall combined record this year than BGSU and nobody has a better mark than the Falcons in league play.

ROAD WARRIORS
In the past two seasons, Bowling Green has won seven Mid-American Conference road games to lead the league. Only Buffalo (six road wins) and Akron (five) have more than four MAC road wins during that time. A year ago, BGSU won six consecutive road games during one stretch of league play, the longest streak in the conference since the 2001-02 Kent State team won seven in a row. This year, the Falcons are 4-5 on the road and went 3-2 during the team's five-game non-conference road stretch that spanned most of the month of December.

MAC Road Wins In 2008-09 and 2009-10
7 - Bowling Green
6 - Buffalo
5 - Akron
4 - Kent State, Miami
3 - Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan
2 - Western Michigan
1 - Ball State, Northern Illinois, Ohio
0 - Toledo

GIANT KILLERS
Bowling Green tends to have success when a team carries a top 25 ranking into a game at Anderson Arena. The Falcons have won four consecutive home games against nationally ranked opponents, most recently an 89-83 win over No. 23 Kent State on March 1, 2008. 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 more than 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 22-48 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. The Falcons' last road win against a team ranked in the top 25 came when the team beat No. 25 Michigan State on Dec. 18, 1989 by a score of 81-79.

TO BE THE MAN, YOU'VE GOTTA BEAT THE MAN
In back-to-back games, Bowling Green beat head coaches with more than 450 career wins. In wins over Towson and St. Louis, the Falcons defeated coaching legends Pat Kennedy and Rick Majerus. Kennedy has won more than 450 games leading teams at Iona, Florida State, DePaul, Montana, and Towson, while Majerus has reached that mark at Marquette, Ball State, Utah, and St. Louis.

DISSECTING THE SCHEDULE
Bowling Green's only remaining non-conference game will be a home game in the ESPNU BracketBusters series. Overall, the 13 game non-conference slate is added to the 16 game MAC schedule for 29 total games, one less than a year ago. Eight of the team's 28 games against known opponents will take place against a team that competed in the postseason a year ago. Xavier was a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Temple was a No. 11 seed and was ranked No. 21 in the country at the time of the contest, and Akron, who the Falcons play twice, was a No. 13 seed. Bowling Green will also play Buffalo twice and the Bulls competed in the College Basketball Invitational. Finally, Kent State played in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament and will face the Falcons twice in MAC play.

FALCONS ADD TWO IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
The Bowling Green coaching staff signed two prep players during the fall early signing period this year, adding 6-foot-6, 200 pound win Craig Sealey and 6-10, 230 pound forward/center Cameron Black. Sealey plays at Brookhaven High School in Columbus, Ohio and is described as an explosive wing who runs the floor well, is a slasher, and strong offensive rebounder. Black plays at Kent Roosevelt High School in Kent, Ohio who is a presence on the defensive end and has a high basketball IQ.

PICKED FIFTH
Despite winning the Mid-American Conference regular season championship a year ago, the MAC News Media Panel picked the Falcons to finish finish in the East Division in 2009-10. Bowling Green had 54 total points, including one first-place vote, to finish in front of Ohio. Defending MAC Tournament champion Akron was selected to win the East, followed by Kent State, Buffalo, and Miami (Ohio). Central Michigan was picked to win the West, followed by Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Ball State, Western Michigan, and Toledo. The Falcons also did not have a player selected to the preseason East Division All-MAC team.

COACHING PEDIGREE
Bowling Green State University men's basketball coach Louis Orr was named the 2008-09 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year by vote of the MAC News Media Association. It is the second time Orr has received a conference Coach of the Year award. He was named the Big East Coach of the Year following the 2002-03 season after guiding Seton Hall to the NIT. In the offseason, Orr signed a contract extension with Bowling Green which lasts through the 2013-14 season.

RIGHT HAND MAN
While Head Coach Louis Orr has a long history of success, assistant coach LaMonta Stone is also recognized as one of the best in the country. Over the summer, HoopScoop.com named Stone the fourth-best mid-major assistant coach in the country, while College Insider named him the 15th best mid-major assistant coach in the nation.

QUICK STARTS
Bowling Green's 67-45 win over Wayne State to open the season was the team's 18th consecutive home-opening victory, moving the team to 83-12 all-time in home openers, including a mark of 45-5 in Anderson Arena. In season openers, the team is now 69-26 all-time and has won two in a row.

IT WILL STILL ROAR
On Sept. 3, Bowling Green State University broke ground on the Stroh Center, the new home of Bowling Green men's and women's basketball and volleyball. Anderson Arena, "The House That Roars", will continue to host the Falcons through the end of the 2010-11 season. The Stroh Center will seat approximately 4,700 fans and is located near Doyt Perry Stadium. While Anderson Arena was named after Harold "Andy" Anderson, a long time BGSU athletics director and men's basketball coach who is also a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Stroh Center will continue to honor him. The club area in the new facility has been named the Anderson Club.

AROUND THE DIAL
Bowling Green will be on regional and national television a number of times this year. All BGSU home games not being broadcast nationally appear locally on BCSN on the Buckeye Cable Network. The Feb. 27 home game against Akron will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net as part of a televised doubleheader with the BGSU women's basketball game that day.

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. Games can be heard on the flagship station for BGSU athletics, WFRO 99.1 FM. Games can also be heard on WIMA 1150 AM in Lima, WONW 1280 AM in Defiance, and in Cleveland on both WHKW 1220 AM and WHK 1420 AM.
• All game broadcasts and the Falcons Nest Coaches Show can 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.
• Live statistics for all BGSU home men's basketball games are available on the web, allowing fans to view in-game stats as they occur, and may be accessed by going to www.BGSUFalcons.com. Falcon fans can utilize live stats for home events in numerous BGSU sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, hockey, men's and women's soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, and gymnastics.

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