Falcons Fly South To Face FIU Thursday

Bowling Green Falcons (5-5) at FIU Panthers (3-8)
Dec. 22, 2011 • 7:30 p.m. • Miami, Fla. • U.S. Century Bank Arena (5,000)
Radio: Falcon Radio Network • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play)
Television: None
Live Stats: http://www.fiusports.com
Online: Stretch Internet (audio)
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
PURCHASE TICKETS

QUICK HITS
* BGSU continues to search for its first road win. The Falcons are 0-4 on the road, but 5-1 at home. FIU is 1-1 at home.
* Bowling Green is 2-0 all-time against FIU, winning games in each of the past two seasons in Anderson Arena.
* BGSU is playing the third game of a five-game road swing. The Falcons will not play a home game for a one month stretch.
* A'uston Calhoun is averaging 19.0 points over the past three games, shooting 60 percent from the floor. He has scored in double-figures in five consecutive contests.
* Scott Thomas needs just 20 points and four steals to become the first player in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 three-pointers and 150 steals in a career.
* The Falcons have had more turnovers than their opponents only one time this season and rank 23rd in the country in turnover margin.
* With three steals against Valparaiso, Scott Thomas moved into ninth place in career steals at BGSU. He needs two more steals to move into eighth and three more to move into seventh.
* BGSU scored 58 points in the paint against Malone and followed that up with 44 more against Valparaiso and 36 against No. 21 Michigan State. A'uston Calhoun, Cameron Black, and Torian Oglesby are a combined 40-of-59 (67.8 percent) from the floor in those two games.
* Torian Oglesby has made his last 11 field goal attempts over the past four games since missing a first-half dunk attempt against Temple.
* Freshman Jehvon Clarke scored a career-high 14 points (double his previous high of seven) against Michigan State with 12 coming in the final 10 minutes. He was 4-of-5 shooting and 5-of-5 at the free-throw line.

FALCONS HEAD SOUTH LOOKING FOR FIRST ROAD WIN
Bowling Green plays its third consecutive road game Thursday as the Falcons take a long trip to Miami to face FIU and head coach Isiah Thomas. BGSU has beaten FIU in each of the past two years but those contests were both played at home. Bowling Green has not played a game in the state of Florida since losing to South Florida 88-79 on Jan. 2, 1978.

THE SERIES
BGSU is 2-0 all-time against FIU as the Panthers have traveled to Ohio to face the Falcons in each of the past two seasons. Bowling Green won 67-62 two years ago and then posted a 76-67 win last year. Dee Brown has scored at least 20 points in each of those meetings. This is the Falcons' second meeting against a Sun Belt Conference school this year as the team lost at Western Kentucky 60-53 earlier in the year.

SCOUTING FIU
Led by NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, FIU is off to a 3-8 start to the 2011-12 season. The Panthers have played only two games at home so far, defeating Coastal Carolina and losing to Alabama State. DeJuan Wright, a 6-feet-4 senior guard, leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 15.9 points and 6.7 rebounds but he did not play in the team's last game due to an injury. Phil Taylor, a 5-10 sophomore guard, adds 14.0 points and 6-4 senior guard Jeremy Allen is scoring 12.2 per game. Thomas is still working to turn the corner with the program and is 21-52 in three years at FIU.

LAST GAME: FALCONS CHALLENGE NO. 21 MICHIGAN STATE
Bowling Green and No. 21 Michigan State were tied at 35-35 early in the second half but the Spartans used a 20-3 run to pull away from the Falcons for a 74-60 win Saturday. Freshman point guard Jehvon Clarke came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points, 12 in the second half, but Bowling Green was unable to overcome a poor shooting night. The Falcons dominated on the boards in the first half and went into the break trailing by just two points. After an A'uston Calhoun lay-up on Bowling Green's first possession of the second half, the game was tied but Michigan State went on its run to put the game away.

OGLESBY EQUALS EFFICIENCY
While senior forward Torian Oglesby doesn't take a lot of shots, he rarely misses when he does. Oglesby is shooting 82 percent from the field for the season, making 18-of-22 shots. In fact, Oglesby has made 11 consecutive attempts over the past four games. He made his only attempt at Western Kentucky, was 5-for-5 against Malone and went 1-for-1 at Valparaiso. Against Michigan State Saturday, Oglesby was 4-for-4. He is 7-for-8 from the field in the team's four road games.

WHERE MY FALCONS AT?
Bowling Green is in the midst of playing away from the Stroh Center for a month, heading on the road for five games in five different states. According to Google Maps, the BGSU men's basketball team will travel a total of 6,442 miles during the road trip, or slightly more than a quarter of the way around the planet.

STAT STUFFER
While Scott Thomas has proven to be the team's most consistent scoring threat this year, he will also go down as one of the most versatile players in program history. A two-time All-MAC honorable mention performer, Thomas was the only player in the conference to rank in the top 10 in both rebounding and assists a year ago. He needs just 20 more points and four more steals to become the first player in BGSU history to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 150 steals, and 100 three-pointers. On top of that, he needs only three assists for 250 in his career.

DEFENDING ON THE PERIMETER
Since George Washington made 11-of-17 three-pointers on the final day of a three-game-in-three-day stretch for the Falcons, Bowling Green has defended the three-point shot well. In the past five games, the combined long-range percentage of BGSU's opponents is just 26.4 percent (24-of-91).

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
Senior Dee Brown has always been an integral scorer for the Falcons, but this year he has taken on a new role, serving as the point guard when regular starter Jordon Crawford is getting a breather. In the team's past three wins (over Detroit, Temple and Malone), Brown has 15 assists with just one turnover. He posted a career high eight against Detroit and then followed that up with six when he started at point guard for the first time in his career against Temple. On the year, Brown has a solid 2.0 assist/turnover ratio.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
Bowling Green leads the Mid-American Conference and ranks 23rd nationally in turnover margin, averaging 4.10 less turnovers per game than their opponents. The Falcons are only turning the ball over 12.6 times per game, second-best in the conference, and are forcing 16.7 turnovers by opponents, third-best in the league.

CRAIG'S LIST
Craig Sealey is beginning to fulfill the potential he flashed a year ago as a freshman. In the first two games of the season, he posted consecutive double-digit scoring efforts for the first time in his career. Sealey played a career-high 30 minutes against George Washington and is averaging 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game a year after averaging 2.4 points and 1.1 rebounds. In fact, he has already scored more points and grabbed twice as many rebounds as he did a year ago.

CALHOUN GETS INTO THE RECORD BOOK
By going 9-for-9 from the field in a win over Malone earlier this year, A'uston Calhoun etched his name into the record book for making the most shots without a miss in program history. Brent Klassen and Erik Marschall shared the previous record at 8-for-8.

ONLY SMALL BY THE RULER
At 5-feet-6, junior point guard Jordon Crawford is the fourth-shortest player in NCAA Division I basketball. Green Bay's Eric Valentin measures in as the shortest player at 5-4, while Denver's Charles Webb and George Washington's Malik Tonkins are both 5-5. None of those players have the type of impact that Crawford has on the Falcons though as none of the three have started a game and none are averaging more than 1.0 point per contest. Crawford, on the other hand, is third on the Falcons at 9.9 points per game and has started 8-of-10 contests.

IMPROVING EFFICIENCY
While Scott Thomas does just about everything on the floor for the Falcons, the area in which he most needed to improve coming into the 2011-12 season was shooting from three-point range and the free-throw line. A year ago, Thomas shot 29 percent on three-pointers and 59 percent from the charity line. This year, he has made 11-of-28 three-pointers (39.3 percent) and 21-of-27 free-throws (77.8 percent). He is ninth in the MAC in three-point percentage and 11th in free-throw percentage.

JORDON IS SCORIN'
Junior point guard Jordon Crawford started the first five games of the season and then came off the bench for the next two. Since being moved back into the starting lineup for the last three contests, Crawford is averaging 12.3 points and shooting 51.9 percent from the floor. He scored a career-high 22 points against Valparaiso.

A NEW HOLIDAY TRADITION
BGSU men's basketball will play on New Year's Day for the second consecutive year as the Falcons play at Texas San Antonio on Jan. 1. The Falcons are 4-1 all-time when breaking in the new year, including last year's 67-61 win at St. Louis. Bowling Green is just one of eight NCAA Division I programs playing on New Year's Day in both 2011 and 2012 (joining Syracuse, DePaul, Marquette, Southern Illinois, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, and Evansville).

THE BIG APOSTROPHE
Junior A'uston Calhoun has turned his game up as the 2011-12 season has worn on. He averaged just 2.5 points in the first two games of the season, improved to 12.4 points over the next five, and has averaged 19.0 in the last three. He has also improved his field goal percentage throughout the year.

1,000 POINT SCORERS
In BGSU basketball history, 37 different players have scored 1,000 points in their careers. This year both Scott Thomas and Dee Brown could reach that plateau. Only six times in BGSU history have two players reached 1,000 career points in the same year. Thomas currently has 980 points and Brown has 804.

DOWN LOW
Head coach Louis Orr's philosophy is always to play inside-out and the Falcons have done that well during his tenure. This year, the Falcons have scored at least 20 points in the paint in 9-of-10 games with a season-high 58 against Malone. In fact, the 58 points in the paint represents the most in a game in Orr's tenure. In 2009-10 and 2010-11, the Falcons scored 20 or more points in the paint in 57-of-63 games.

THE STROH CENTER
BGSU played its first regular season game ever in the Stroh Center against Howard. After 51 years in venerable Anderson Arena, the Falcons opened one of the newest facilities in the country.

BALANCED PRODUCTION
Bowling Green is getting offensive production from its entire lineup as seven players or more have scored in every game this year. Against Malone, all 14 players who saw court time scored. Against both Austin Peay and Detroit, 10 different Falcons scored. Against George Washington and Western Kentucky, nine different players got into the scoring column.

PARKER/HOLMES SIGN WITH THE FALCONS
Louis Orr announced the signing of Spencer Parker and Richaun Holmes during this year's early signing period. Parker is from West Bloomfield, Mich. and is playing for Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Va. this year. He will have four years of eligibility remaining. Holmes is from Lockport, Ill. and is playing this year at Moraine Community College. As a full qualifier out of high school, he will transfer to Bowling Green and be able to play immediately with three years of eligibility remaining.

FOREIGN TOUR
The BGSU men's basketball team got the opportunity to travel to Toronto for a summer foreign tour and play three games. The Falcons went 2-1 on the trip, gaining experience and the opportunity for extra practices.

50 PERCENT PROVIDES BETTER THAN A 50/50 CHANCE
When Bowling Green shoots at least 50 percent from the floor, the Falcons have an excellent chance of winning the game. The Falcons went 8-1 a year ago in such instances and are 31-6 in head coach Louis Orr's four years when make at least half of their shots. This year, Bowling Green shot over 50 percent in wins over Temple and Malone, but lost to Valparaiso despite shooting 53.6 percent.

THE NEW HOUSE
Anderson Arena provided BGSU with an excellent home court advantage as the Falcons went 466-190 (.710) all-time in The House That Roars. Bowling Green will attempt to build a new home court advantage after going 10-5 in Anderson Arena a year ago. This year, the Falcons are 5-1 (.833) in the Stroh Center.

FALCONS TO PLAY ON REGIONAL/NATIONAL TELEVISION
BGSU will play a minimum of five games on ESPNU, SportsTime Ohio, or the Big Ten Network this year. The Falcons played on ESPNU at Georgia on Nov. 13 and then played on the Big Ten Network Dec. 17 at Michigan State. The Falcons will also play three games on STO (Jan.7 vs. Ohio, Jan. 28 at Eastern Michigan, Feb. 4 vs. Northern Illinois). On top of those contests, there are approximately a dozen other opportunities for STO or ESPN to choose the Falcons for television games.

DEFENSE WINS
Over the course of the past three years, Bowling Green has held its opponent to 45 percent shooting or worse in 28 of the Falcons' 33 wins. A year ago, Bowling Green went just 2-12 when an opponent shot at least 45 percent, posting victories against only Manhattan (48.9 percent shooting) and Ohio (45.8 percent). This year, the Falcons have already equaled that win total and are 2-4 when an opponent shoots over 45 percent. Bowling Green actually won for the first time in Louis Orr's tenure when a team shot 50 percent as Austin Peay scored at a 51 percent clip, but the Falcons won 82-72.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON?
Head coach Louis Orr was an All-American at Syracuse and he will have the opportunity to help his son, freshman Chauncey Orr, grow into a strong collegiate player. Chauncey was a first team all-state player at Bowling Green High School.

FIRST TEAM ALL-STATE
Bowling Green has brought in an Associated Press Division I First Team All-State player Ohio first team all-state player for three consecutive years. Junior Luke Kraus was named first team all-state at Findlay High School in 2008-09. Redshirt freshman Anthony Henderson earned the honor at Toledo Start High School in 2009-10 and Chauncey Orr was named to the team from Bowling Green High School in 2010-11. BGSU is the only school in the country with three players from the AP Division I First Team All-State teams from the past three years on the roster. Miami (Ohio) and Ohio State each has two.

FALCONS PICKED SIXTH
Bowling Green was picked to finish sixth in the Mid-American Conference East Division in the preseason media poll. Defending MAC champion Kent State was selected to win the East while Western Michigan was selected to win the West.

MAC Preseason Media Poll
East Division - 1. Kent State (132 points/16 first-place votes), 2. Akron (104 points/8 first-place votes), 3. Ohio (94 points), 4. Miami (80 points), 5. Buffalo (62 points), 6. Bowling Green (32 points)
West Division - 1. Western Michigan (128 points/14 first-place votes), 2. Ball State (111 points/9 first-place votes), 3. Central Michigan (92 points/1 first-place vote), 4. Toledo (76 points), 5. Northern Illinois (59 points), 6. Eastern Michigan (38 points)
Tournament Champion - Kent State 12, Akron 6, Ball State 3, Western Michigan 2, Central Michigan 1

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