Falcons Hit The Road For Three Games In Three Days

Bowling Green Falcons (1-3) in Legends Classic
Nov. 26-28, 2010 • 7 p.m. • Detroit, Mich. • Calihan Hall

Radio: Friday (Dave DeNatale play-by-play) Internet Only/Saturday and Sunday (Todd Walker play-by-play) Falcon Radio Network (99.1 FM)

Live Stats: http://www.bgsufalcons.com
Online: Horizon League Network (live video Saturday)/Stretch Internet (audio)
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)

FALCONS HIT THE ROAD FOR LEGENDS CLASSIC
Bowling Green heads to Detroit to play three games in three days as the Falcons play Niagara Friday at 5 p.m., the host school Detroit Saturday at 7 p.m., and Albany Sunday at 3 p.m. BGSU already lost to Michigan 69-50 as part of the Legends Classic.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• The last time Bowling Green played three games in three days as the team will this weekend came two years ago. The Falcons played in the NABC Classic, hosted by Minnesota, Nov. 14-16, 2008. BGSU defeated Georgia State 77-76 in overtime in game one, lost to Minnesota 68-61 in game two, and defeated Concordia St. Paul 82-61 in the third contest.
• The Falcons will be looking to break out of a shooting slump in which the team has shot below 30 percent from the field in each of the past two games and has broken 60 points in a game just once this year. Bowling Green shot 29.6 percent from the floor against Michigan and then 27.3 percent Monday night against Duquesne.
• Bowling Green had 10 turnovers or less in back-to-back games against Ohio Dominican and Michigan but followed that up with 25 against Duquesne, including 16 in the sond half. It was the most turnovers in a game for a BGSU men's basketball team since committing 27 against Findlay back in November of 2003.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green is 3-5 all-time against Niagara but the two programs have not faced off since 1972, when the Purple Eagles posted a 100-77 victory. The Falcons have faced Detroit in each of the past three seasons and have won two of those contests to get the all-time series record to 13-22. A year ago, however, the Titans picked up a 73-69 home win, staving off a furious BGSU rally after leading by 20 points with less than 17 minutes remaining. The final contest of the weekend will be the first ever meeting between Bowling Green and Albany.

SCOUTING THE NIAGARA PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara is off to a 1-2 start to the season, losing to Milwaukee and Georgia Tech before defeating Mount St. Mary's. Much like Bowling Green, Niagara is struggling to shoot the ball, making field goals at just a 35.7 percent clip and three-pointers at only 29.1 percent. Niagara is also being outrebounded by 9.0 boards per game. Freshman guard Antoine Mason, at 6-foot-3, leads the team with 16.7 points per game, followed by 6-5 junior forward Kashief Edwards at 14.7 points and 7.3 rebounds.

SCOUTING THE DETROIT TITANS
Detroit received a lot of press in the offseason when head coach Ray McCallum's son, also named Ray, spurned scholarship offers from some of the biggest names in college basketball to play for his father. So far, that is paying off as the 6-foot-1 guard is averaging 11.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. In all, the Titans have four players scoring in double figures, led by 6-10 junior center Eli Holman at 14.5 points per game. Detroit is shooting just 24.3 percent from three-point range and is only 1-3 in the early going, losing to New Mexico, Syracuse, and Mississippi State. The Titans' lone win came against NAIA Indiana Tech.

SCOUTING THE ALBANY GREAT DANES
Albany is off to a 1-3 start to the 2010-11 season with losses to Cornell, American, and Georgia Tech, and a win over Fairleigh Dickinson. The Great Danes are holding opponents to 41.5 percent shooting and 28.6 percent from three-point range, while outrebounding opponents by 3.8 per contest. Albany's biggest problem has been with turnovers and the Great Danes have averaged 5.0 more per game than opponents. Sophomore guard Logan Aronhalt, at 6-feet-3, leads the team with 16.3 points and 5.3 rebounds, while 6-0 senior guard Tim Ambrose is scoring 15.5 points per game and shooting 47.1 percent from three-point range.

CRAWFORD'S CAREER NIGHT NOT ENOUGH AGAINST DUQUESNE
Jordon Crawford scored a career-high 18 points in a career-best 33 minutes but Bowling Green lost to Duquesne 90-54 Monday evening. The Falcons had 25 turnovers and Duquesne ran to 23 fastbreak points to cruise to the victory. A'uston Calhoun came off the bench to score 10 points and freshman Craig Sealey added nine points and five rebounds. Bowling Green did go 23-of-29 at the free-throw line and made 6-of-11 second-half three-point attempts.

THIEVERY
Bowling Green ranks second in the MAC with 9.0 steals per game, led by a 16-steal effort against Ohio Dominican, the highest single-game total in the conference this year. Sophomore point guard Jordon Crawford leads the team with seven steals but six different players are averaging at least 1.0 steal per game. Last year, the Falcons averaged 6.8 steals per game and only two players (Scott Thomas and Joe Jakubowski) averaged more than 1.0 steal per contest.

SHOOTING THE ROCK
A year ago, Bowling Green led the Mid-American Conference with a 44.4 field goal percentage. So far in 2010-11, the Falcons have struggled in that area and are shooting just 35.0 percent from the field. The team has not reached 30 percent from the floor in the past two contests and has gone over 40 percent just once this year.

PAINTIN' THE TOWN
Of all of the stats in the lopsided loss to Duquesne, points in the paint may have been the most shocking. Head coach Louis Orr's philosophy is always to play inside-out, yet Duquesne held a 44-8 scoring edge inside. That total is in stark contrast to Orr's history. A year ago, Bowling Green scored at least 20 points in the paint in 27-of-30 games and outscored 23-of-30 opponents in the paint. This year, the Falcons had reached the 20-point threshold in each of the first three contests, outscoring their opponents twice. Bowling Green had a season-high 36 points in the paint against Ohio Dominican.

STARTING A CAREER
Freshman Cameron Black has started the first four games of the 2010-11 season. He is the first BGSU freshman to start that many games to begin his collegiate career since Anthony Stacey started all 27 games during the 1995-96 season. Stacey went on to have one of the best careers in program history, setting the school record with 1,938 career points.

VETERAN GUARDS MEAN FEWER TURNOVERS
It was expected that Bowling Green's experienced backcourt would mean steady leadership and smart play throughout the 2010-11 season. The Falcons have had 10 turnovers or less twice this year, posting eight against Ohio Dominican and 10 against Michigan. A year ago, Bowling Green had 10 turnovers or less just six times all year.

ORR SIGNS TEAMMATES IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
Head coach Louis Orr announced that Canton Timken High School teammates Jehvon Clarke and Desmond Rorie signed National Letters of Intent during the early signing period to attend Bowling Green for the 2011-12 season. Clarke is a highly-touted 6-foot-1 point guard who averaged 15.5 points, 5.6 assists, and 3.0 steals per game as a junior. Rorie is a 6-9 post player whose best days are ahead of him. He averaged 3.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.7 blocked shots per game as a junior.

FALCONS PICKED FIFTH
Bowling Green was picked to finish fifth in the Mid-American Conference East Division in the preseason media poll. The Falcons had 42 points to edge Buffalo (32 points) in the division. Defending MAC Tournament champion Ohio was selected first, followed by Kent State, Akron, and Miami.

MAC Preseason Media Poll
East Division - 1. Ohio (128 points/12 first-place votes), 2. Kent State (114 points/8 first-place votes), 3. Akron (104 points/4 first-place votes), 4. Miami (84 points), 5. Bowling Green (42 points), 6. Buffalo (32 points)
West Division - 1. Ball State (124 points/12 first-place votes), 2. Central Michigan (122 points/8 first-place votes), 3. Eastern Michigan (88 points/2 first-place votes), 4. Western Michigan (68 points), 5. Northern Illinois (64 points/2 first-place votes), 6. Toledo (38 points)
Tournament Champion - Ohio (10), Kent State (6), Central Michigan (4), Ball State (2), Akron (2)

THOMAS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MAC
Scott Thomas was selected as one of five Preseason All-MAC East Division players by vote of the media. Thomas led BGSU in scoring and steals a year ago, ranking second in rebounds, assists, and blocked shots. He averaged 13.2 points per game on the season but improved that average to 15.4 points in conference games and 16.9 points over the final eight contests.

Preseason All-MAC Teams
East Division - Brett McKnight (Akron), Scott Thomas (Bowling Green), Justin Greene (Kent State), Julian Mavunga (Miami), D.J. Cooper (Ohio)
West Division - Jarrod Jones (Ball State), Trey Zeigler (Central Michigan), Brandon Bowdry (Eastern Michigan), Xavier Silas (Northern Illinois), Flenard Whitfield (Western Michigan)

3-DEE
In his first two seasons at Bowling Green, junior guard Dee Brown has proven to be one of the most accurate three-point shooters in program history. He has a 40.7 percent three-point percentage in his career, fifth-best in school history. In fact, only two players in program history has attempted more than Brown's 118 career long-range shots and made them at a higher percentage. Steve Martenet is the program's record holder by making 56.7 percent of his 67 career attempts. Josh Almanson shot 46.2 percent in 106 career attempts and John Reimold made 42.5 percent of his 536 career three-point attempts. Brandon Pardon shot 281 career three-pointers and made them at a 40.9 percent clip.

EXPERIENCE AT THE POINT
Most experts agree that an experienced point guard can play a huge role in a team's success in college basketball. If that's the case, then Bowling Green could be primed for a big season. Point guard Joe Jakubowski enters the 2010-11 season with 85 games started, 10th most in the country.

CONSISTENT LINEUP?
A year ago, Bowling Green Head Coach Louis Orr used just three starting lineups and only seven players picked up a start during the course of the year. This year, Orr has already used three different starting lineups and eight different players have at least one start. Only junior Scott Thomas and freshman Cameron Black have started each of the first four games, while sophomores Jordon Crawford and Danny McElroy have three starts each.

THE PRIDE OF FINDLAY, OHIO
Sophomore guard Luke Kraus had a highly decorated prep career at Findlay High School, where he passed Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to become the school's all-time leading scorer. Since Roethlisberger officially changed his hometown to the fictional Corey Rawson, Ohio during the offseason, Kraus is now likely the most famous athlete from Findlay, Ohio.

THE WALK-ONS
Head Coach Louis Orr accepted two walk-ons to his program this year and both are seniors in eligibility. Wiley Roberts is a feel-good story who served as a team manager for the past two years at Bowling Green. Mike Dabney spent the 2006-07 season at NAIA Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he posted the third-highest single-season blocked shot total in program history with 56 rejections. Roberts saw his first collegiate action by playing one minute in the team's victory over Ohio Dominican and Dabney got his first BGSU action with one minute against Michigan.

NAME DROPPING
BGSU freshman Craig Sealey was a part of two AAU National Championship teams with the All-Ohio Red Team in 2006 and 2007. Sealey's teams included Ohio State freshmen Jared Sullinger, J.D. Weatherspoon, and Aaron Craft, along with Michigan State freshman Adreian Payne.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
Anderson Arena has always been a difficult place for opponents and the Falcons are 1-1 so far in 2010-11. The Falcons are 457-186 (.711) all-time in Anderson Arena and 171-60 (.740) in the past 18 years.

DEFENSE WINS
Bowling Green held opponents below 45 percent shooting in 13 of its 14 victories (Valparaiso shot 46.4 percent) a year ago, a trend for success that has been the norm under Head Coach Louis Orr. The Falcons are just 4-25 in Head Coach Louis Orr's first four years when an opponent shoots better than 45 percent, including 1-11 a year ago and 0-2 this year. Michigan shot 48.1 percent from the floor and Duquesne shot a remarkable 60.7 percent.

HE'S SMART TOO!
Joe Jakubowski was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team in voting by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Bowling Green was one of only five teams in the country to place multiple players on one of the eight first team all-district teams as Jakubowski and graduate Marc Larson each made the team. Larson went on to be named ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-American.

IT WILL STILL ROAR
Known as "The House That Roars", Anderson Arena will play host to the Bowling Green men's basketball team for the final time in 2010-11. The team will move into the brand new Stroh Center next year and will open the building by hosting Howard on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011. In honor of the final season in Anderson Arena, the Athletics Department is holding a year-long celebration titled "Closing The Doors Of The House That Roars". Here are the key events of the final year in Anderson Arena and the first year in the Stroh Center:

Jan. 29, 2011 - Men's basketball throwback game vs. Eastern Michigan
March 4/5, 2011 - All-Anderson Team recognized vs. Buffalo
March 5, 2011 - The B!G Event; One final celebration of Anderson Arena
Sept. 9, 2011 - Volleyball vs. Michigan State; Stroh Center ribbon-cutting
Nov. 12, 2011 - Men's basketball vs. Howard; First game in Stroh Center
Nov. 17, 2011 - Women's basketball vs. Purdue; First game in Stroh Center
March 17-20, 2012 - NCAA Women's Basketball Tourney in Stroh Center

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