Falcons Face St. Louis On New Year's Day

Bowling Green Falcons (4-9) at St. Louis Billikens (5-7)
Jan. 1, 2011 • 4:00 p.m. ET • St. Louis, Mo. • Chaifetz Arena (10,600)

Radio: BGSU Radio Network (99.1 FM) • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play)
Television: Fox Sports Midwest

Live Stats: http://www.bgsufalcons.com
Online: St. Louis Video (live video)/Stretch Internet (audio)
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)

St. Louis, Mo. - Bowling Green heads to the road looking for its first three-game winning streak of the season as the Falcons play at St. Louis Saturday at 4 p.m. The Falcons have won three of their last four games but each of those victories have come at home. Due to bowl game commitments, the game will not be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1470 AM in Toledo but is available on the Falcons' flagship home, WFRO 99.1 FM in Fremont as well as on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Bowling Green is shooting 50.5 percent from the field over the past four games (going 3-1 during that stretch). The Falcons shot 51 percent (identical 27-of-53 performances) in wins over Florida International, Manhattan, and UTSA, and shot 49 percent in a three-point loss to Milwaukee. The team failed to shoot as high as 45 percent in a game over the first nine contests of the year.
• The Falcons are still looking for their first road win this year. Bowling Green is 0-7 away from Anderson Arena, including 0-5 in true road games.
• Bowling Green is 0-4 in games decided by five points or less this year, losing such contests to Howard, Niagara, Albany and Milwaukee. All of those games were on the road or in neutral site games.
• Senior point guard Joe Jakubowski has broken free of some early season struggles and has 11 assists without just one turnover in 100 minutes over the past four games. He has also made 8-of-11 three-point attempts during the stretch and is now shooting 46 percent from three-point range on the year.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green holds a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series against St. Louis including a 59-50 win a year ago. In that contest, the Falcons held the Billikens' five starters scoreless in the first half. The first meeting in the series came all the way back in the 1947-48 season when St. Louis ended the Falcons' season in the NIT with a 69-53 win. Bowling Green got its revenge a year later with an 80-74 win over St. Louis in the NIT when the Billikens were ranked No. 3 in the country.

SCOUTING THE ST. LOUIS BILLIKENS
St. Louis just returned from the Cancun Governer's Cup where the Billikens lost their last two games to fall to 5-7 on the year. The team opened with five consecutive home games only played at home once in the month of December. St. Louis is a deadly three-point shooting team, led by Kyle Cassity. Cassity is the team's leading scorer at 10.3 points per game and has made 18-of-38 three-pointers. In total, five players have made at least 10 three-pointers and three of them (Cassity, Mike McCall, and Paul Eckerle) are shooting over 40 percent from long range. However, St. Louis is struggling on the boards, getting outrebounded by 4.4 per game and are allowing opponents to shoot 46.6 percent from the field.

FALCONS SHOOT 51 PERCENT TO BEAT UTSA
Bowling Green used a 10-2 run late to pull away from Texas San Antonio Thursday night as the Falcons beat the Roadrunners 70-59. Joe Jakubowski made 4-of-5 three-pointers and led BGSU with 13 points. All 10 BGSU players who saw court time scored at least one basket and nine scored at least two field goals. Bowling Green had 12 steals and forced 20 UTSA turnovers to overcome a poor night at the free-throw line (12-of-24). The Falcons shot 61 percent from the field in the second half and never trailed in the final 20 minutes after holding a 30-27 halftime lead.

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 rebounding, assists, steals, three-pointers made, and free-throws made, while ranking second in scoring. His all-around game has been on display lately as he is averaging 11.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.7 steals in the past three games. He ranks in the top 10 in the MAC in rebounds, assists, and steals, along with assist/turnover ratio, defensive rebounding, and minutes played.

BACK ON THE LEADERBOARD
Entering the 2010-11 season, junior guard Dee Brown ranked among the top 10 three-point shooters in school history. After starting the year by making just six of his first 28 three-point attempts, he fell out of the top 10. But Brown has now made 5-of-7 over the past four games to raise his career percentage to .396 and move back into nine place in program history.

THREE-POINT SHOOTING, PART TWO
Joe Jakubowski has made eight of his last 10 three-point attempts after going just 4-of-16 in the first 10 games of the year. He made his only attempt against Milwaukee and was 3-of-4 in a win over Manhattan. Jakubowski then made 4-of-5 in Thursday's victory over UTSA to improve to 46.2 percent from long range this year, which would rank second in the MAC if he had made just one more on the season. He is shooting 39.2 percent from three-point range over the course of his career, just outside the top 10 all-time at BGSU, and is eighth in career three-pointers made in school history with 120.

THIEVERY
Bowling Green leads the MAC and ranks in the top 20 nationally in steals, averaging 10.2 per game. The Falcons have had six games with at least 10 steals and three with at least 15 this year, including a 19-steal performance against Western Kentucky, the most in a game for a MAC school this year. The 19 steals were just one shy of the program record (the team had 20 steals against Heidelberg in 1990) and Scott Thomas had six steals individually in that game. Thomas ranks third in the MAC with 2.33 steals per game and Jordon Crawford is fifth at 1.85 per game. Both Dee Brown and Joe Jakubowski are also averaging at least a steal per contest. A year ago, the Falcons averaged just 6.8 steals per game.

POINTING THE WAY
Point guard play has been critical for the Falcons this year and when BGSU has played well, Joe Jakubowski and Jordon Crawford have played well. Jakubowski and Crawford have combined for 26 assists and just five turnovers in the team's four victories. Over the last four games, Jakubowski has 11 assists with just one turnover in 100 minutes of on-court time. In back-to-back wins over Manhattan and UTSA, Jakubowski and Crawford combined for 41 points on 15-of-22 shooting, 11 assists, six steals, and three turnovers.

LARGER ROLES
Four players on this year's team are averaging at least seven minutes per game more than they did a year ago. Jordon Crawford, A'uston Calhoun, Luke Kraus, and Danny McElroy combined to play 666 minutes a year ago but have already played 1,021 this season.

SHOOTING THE ROCK
A year ago, Bowling Green led the Mid-American Conference with a 44.4 field goal percentage. After struggling to shoot through the first nine games, the Falcons have again found their rhythm. Bowling Green has shot 50.5 percent over the course of the past four games, including identical 27-of-53 shooting nights in three victories. The team is 4-1 when shooting at least 44 percent from the field this year but has been below 35 percent five times.

DOWN LOW
Head coach Louis Orr's philosophy is always to play inside-out and the Falcons have continued to do that well in 2010-11. The Falcons have scored at least 20 points in the paint in 11 of the first 13 games after reaching that total in 27-of-30 games a year ago. Bowling Green has outscored its opponents in the paint eight times (and tied both Florida International and Manhattan) after doing it in 23-of-30 games a year ago. The Falcons have scored at least 28 points in the paint in each of the past four games, including a season-high 44 against Milwaukee.

STARTING A CAREER
Freshman Cameron Black has started the first 13 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. While Black is not scoring at the same rate Stacey did as a freshman, the rest of his statistics compare favorably.

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 5-28 in Head Coach Louis Orr's first four years when an opponent shoots better than 45 percent, including 1-11 a year ago and 1-6 this year. Duquesne shot a remarkable 60.7 percent, while Michigan, Niagara, Detroit, Michigan State, and Milwaukee all shot over 45 percent. The Falcons' lone victory this year when a team shot better than 45 percent came against Manhattan, as the Jaspers shot 48.9 percent.

CONSISTENT INCONSISTENCY
Head Coach Louis Orr has used seven different starting lineups in 13 games this year with nine different players picking up at least one start. Only freshman Cameron Black has started every game so far and Orr has not used the same lineup for more than three consecutive games. A year ago was a different story, however, as Orr used just three starting lineups all year and only seven different players got at least one start.

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.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
Anderson Arena has always been a difficult place for opponents and the Falcons are 4-2 so far in 2010-11. The Falcons are 460-187 (.711) all-time in Anderson Arena and 174-61 (.740) in the past 18 years.

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.

JAKUBOWSKI NAMED COUSY AWARD CANDIDATE
Bowling Green senior Joe Jakubowski was named as one of 66 candidates for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award, given to the top point guard in the country. Jakubowski was BGSU's starting point guard during the last half of his freshman campaign and then started every game at the position as both a sophomore and junior. He entered the 2010-11 season with 85 career starts and is one of the most experienced point guards in the country entering the year.

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.

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

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Falcons Face St. Louis On New Year's Day

Next Event

Related Videos