Battle For Bowling Green Takes Place Wednesday

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Bowling Green, Ohio - Bowling Green returns home for the third time this year to host Western Kentucky Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The match-up features two teams from Bowling Green (Western Kentucky from Bowling Green, Ky.). The Falcons will look to snap a six-game losing streak and wash away the bad taste of the team's last home game, a 36-point loss to Duquesne.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Both BGSU and Western Kentucky are looking to snap losing streaks Wednesday. The Falcons have lost six straight and the Hilltoppers are on a four-game losing streak. Four of Western Kentucky's five losses this year have been by double-digits but the team has played a tough schedule with four losses against BCS conference schools.
• Only one BGSU player is shooting above 40 percent from the field in the early-going. Cameron Black has made 21-of-39 shots (53.8 percent) but is the only Falcon consistently making baskets.
• Junior Scott Thomas leads Bowling Green in scoring (10.6 points per game), rebounding (6.6 rebounds per game), and assists (3.3 assists per game). He also ranks second in steals and has made 8-of-18 three-pointers (44.4 percent) over the past three games. He has made multiple three-pointers in three consecutive games, the first time in his career he has done that.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green is 9-20 all-time against Western Kentucky but the two programs have not met since 1991. The Falcons won that game at home 81-74 and the two programs are 2-2 in four meetings all-time in Anderson Arena. The series dates all the way back to Dec. 9, 1944, when a Harold Anderson-led Bowling Green team defeated Western Kentucky 52-51 in Cincinnati. The two programs have faced off once in the postseason, meeting in the 1954 NIT at Madison Square Garden, with the Hilltoppers picking up a 95-81 victory.

SCOUTING THE WESTERN KENTUCKY HILLTOPPERS
Much like Bowling Green, Western Kentucky comes into Wednesday night's contest following a double-digit loss to a highly ranked opponent on the road. The Hilltoppers dropped a 77-61 decision to No. 14 Memphis Saturday. After starting 3-1, Western Kentucky has lost to Davidson, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Memphis in succession to fall to 3-5. Senior forward Juan Patillo, at 6-foot-6, is averaging a double-double with a team-best 15.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 46.2 percent from the floor and adding 11 blocked shots. On the whole, the Hilltoppers are not shooting three-pointers well, but 6-4 sophomore guard Caden Dickerson has made 12-of-21 (57 percent) long-range attempts. WKU is not shooting free-throws well and six of the team's top seven scorers are below 63 percent from the line.

NO. 6 MICHIGAN STATE OVERPOWERS FALCONS
Bowling Green trailed No. 6 Michigan State by just two points early in the second half but the Spartans went on a 21-1 run and closed out a 74-39 victory in front of a sell-out crowd of 14,797 in the Breslin Center Saturday. BGSU held Michigan State to 29.6 percent shooting in the first half and 12 turnovers. When the Falcons scored the first four points of the second half, Michigan State's lead was just two at 25-23. But the Spartans began a three-point assault to pull away. Scott Thomas led Bowling Green with 11 points and six rebounds. Luke Kraus and Jordon Crawford came off the bench to score seven points each, with Crawford adding three steals.

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 ranks fourth in the MAC with 2.0 steals per contest and junior forward Scott Thomas is eighth at 1.8 steals per game. Dee Brown and Joe Jakubowski are also averaging at least 1.0 steal per contest. A year ago, the Falcons averaged 6.8 steals and only two players (Thomas and Jakubowski) averaged more than a steal per game. The 1998-99 team was the last Falcon squad to average at least 9.0 steals per game for a season, posting exactly 9.0 per game (252 in 28 games).

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 and assists, while ranking second in steals. Thomas is averaging 10.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.7 steals per contest. He also leads the team with 12 three-pointers made and has gone to the free-throw line more than any other Falcon (30 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 35.8 percent from the field. Bowling Green had shot 40 percent or higher in two consecutive games but struggled against Michigan State, knocking down just 27 percent of its shots.

PAINTIN' THE TOWN
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 six of the first eight games after reaching that total in 27-of-30 games a year ago. Bowling Green has outscored its opponents in the paint in 5-of-8 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 eight 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 eight 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
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 six different starting lineups in eight games. As well, nine different players have at least one start. Only junior Scott Thomas and freshman Cameron Black have started each of the first eight games, while junior Dee Brown has started six times and sophomore Danny McElroy has started five times.

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. 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 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 4-28 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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