Isiah Thomas And FIU Return To The House That Roars

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Sam Hornish Jr. Day Information

Bowling Green, Ohio - Bowling Green and Florida International play a non-conference game in Anderson Arena for the second consecutive year when the two programs play Sunday at 2 p.m. FIU is coached by legendary Detroit Piston Isiah Thomas. The game also serves as Sam Hornish Jr. Day and the 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner will be in attendance to sign autographs.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Bowling Green is looking to snap a seven-game losing streak today and return to .500 in home games. Four of the Falcons' losses during the skid have been by single-digits. BGSU is also just 1-2 in Anderson Arena and the team has not ended a year below .500 at home since 2005-06.
• Bowling Green leads the MAC in steals and forced a season-high 19 Wednesday night against Western Kentucky. In fact, that total is just one shy of the program record and is the highest total in the MAC this year (BGSU's 16 steal performance against Ohio Dominican is the second-highest). Scott Thomas had a career-high six steals in the game and Danny McElroy added a career-best four.
• The Falcons have had their shooting woes this year but Scott Thomas is trying to break free. He has connected on 10 of his last 24 three-point attempts (41.7 percent) after making just four of his first 18 (22.2 percent) to start the year.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green and Florida International played for the first time a year ago and the Falcons came away with a 67-62 victory behind a then-career high 20 points from Dee Brown. BGSU led by 13 points and the half and by as many as 17 in the second half before FIU made a furious rally to get as close as three late.

SCOUTING THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL PANTHERS
Florida International enters Sunday's game with a record of 4-4 overall but the Panthers have committed 20+ turnovers in each of the past two games and have lost three straight. In the team's last game, a 61-52 loss at Jackson State, the Panthers had four assists and 21 turnovers. Junior forward Eric Frederick, at 6-feet-8, leads the team with 16.8 points and is also grabbing 7.1 rebounds, while 6-3 junior guard DeJuan Wright is at 13.9 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds. Both of those two are also shooting over 53 percent from the field.

WESTERN KENTUCKY HOLDS OFF LATE FALCON CHARGE
Bowling Green battled back from a 17-point second half deficit to get within two late but Western Kentucky made enough free-throws down the stretch to get a 59-52 win Wednesday evening in Anderson Arena. BGSU forced 29 WKU turnovers and got a season-high 19 steals, but it wasn't enough. Jordon Crawford scored 15 points to lead the Falcons, many coming during the comeback. Scott Thomas had a career-high six steals and Danny McElroy added career-bests with 11 rebounds and four steals.

THIEVERY
Strengthened by a 19-steal performance against Western Kentucky Wednesday night, Bowling Green leads the MAC with 10.1 steals per game, ranking among the top 20 teams in the country in that category. The 19 steals were just one shy of the program record (the team had 20 steals against Heidelberg in 1990) and are the highest single-game total in the MAC this year. In fact, BGSU's 16-steal effort against Ohio Dominican is the second-highest total in the conference this year. Scott Thomas had a career-high six steals against Western Kentucky and Danny McElroy had a career-best four. Thomas is third in the league with 2.22 steals per game and Jordon Crawford is fifth at 2.00 steals per contest. Both Dee Brown and Joe Jakubowski are also averaging at least a steal per game. A year ago, the Falcons averaged just 6.8 steals per contest.

LEADING MAN
Last year, Scott Thomas led the Falcons in scoring and steals, ranking second in rebounds, assists, and blocked shots. This year, he's taking it a step further by leading the Falcons in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals. Thomas is averaging 10.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.2 steals per contest. He also leads the team with 14 three-pointers made and has gone to the free-throw line more than any other Falcon (32 times).

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 35.1 percent from the field. Bowling Green had shot 40 percent or higher in consecutive games against Detroit and Niagara but has shot below 35 percent five times and below 30 percent from three-point range in 7-of-9 games.

HOME SWEET HOME
Bowling Green has been a strong free-throw shooting team at home this year, making 73.3 percent of its attempts in Anderson Arena. But away from The House That Roars, the Falcons are shooting only 60 percent from the charity stripe. A'uston Calhoun is a perfect 4-for-4 at home and Jordon Crawford is 8-for-9.

DOWN LOW
Head coach Louis Orr's philosophy is always to play inside-out and the Falcons have scored at least 20 points in the paint in seven of the first nine games after reaching that total in 27-of-30 games a year ago. Bowling Green has outscored its opponents in the paint in 6-of-9 games this year after doing it in 23-of-30 games a year ago. The Falcons had a season-high 36 points in the paint against Ohio Dominican.

STARTING A CAREER
Freshman Cameron Black has started the first nine 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.

THOMAS NAMED LEGENDS CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT
Scott Thomas was named to the Legends Classic Subregional Round All-Tournament team for his performances against Niagara, Detroit, and Albany. He averaged 9.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists, while picking up eight steals in the three games.

GETTING COMFY IN THE WOLVERINE STATE
Bowling Green has played five of its first nine games in the state of Michigan. With a winless record in the Wolverine State, the Falcons will be happy to get some time away before playing one more regular season game in Michigan, facing Central Michigan on Feb. 12.

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.

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 INCONSISTENCY
Head Coach Louis Orr seems to be closer to settling on a lineup for the 2010-11 season. He has started the same lineup of Joe Jakubowski, Dee Brown, Scott Thomas, Danny McElroy, and Cameron Black for each of the past three games. But in total, he has used six different starting lineups in nine games this year with nine different players picking up at least one start. Only Thomas and Black have started each of the first nine games, while Brown has started seven times and McElroy six times. A year ago, Orr used just three starting lineups and only seven players got at least one start.

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.

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)

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. Dabney played a large role in the team's game against Detroit, picking up five points, four rebounds, a blocked shot, and a steal in 13 minutes of action.

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 but the Falcons are 1-2 so far in 2010-11. The Falcons are 457-187 (.710) all-time in Anderson Arena and 171-61 (.737) 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 4-28 in Head Coach Louis Orr's first four years when an opponent shoots better than 45 percent, including 1-11 a year ago and 0-5 this year. Duquesne shot a remarkable 60.7 percent, while Michigan, Niagara, Detroit, and Michigan State all shot over 45 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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