Thomas Goes For Milestone Scoring Total At Duquesne Wednesday

Bowling Green Falcons (6-5) at Duquesne Dukes (7-5)
Dec. 28, 2011 • 7 p.m. • Pittsburgh, Pa. • A.J. Palumbo Center (4,406)
Radio: Falcon Radio Network • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play)
Television: None
Live Stats: http://www.goduquesne.com
Live Video: http://www.goduquesne.com
Online: Stretch Internet (audio)
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
PURCHASE TICKETS

QUICK HITS
* BGSU plays its fourth consecutive road game Wednesday at Duquesne. The Falcons are 1-4 on the road, while Duquesne is 4-1 at home.
* Bowling Green is 9-16 all-time against Duquesne and the Dukes are 3-0 against the Falcons during Louis Orr's tenure at BGSU.
* BGSU is playing the fourth game of a five-game road swing. The Falcons will not play a home game for a one month stretch and are 1-2 in the first three contests.
* Scott Thomas needs just two points to become the 38th player in school history to reach 1,000 points. When he does that, he will become the first player in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 three-pointers and 150 steals in a career. On top of that, he also has over 250 career assists.
* The Falcons have had more turnovers than their opponents only one time this season and rank 23rd in the country in turnover margin.
* With four steals against FIU, Scott Thomas climbed from ninth to seventh place in career steals at BGSU, passing former teammate Nate Miller. He needs 10 more to move into sixth place.
* BGSU is shooting .699 from the free-throw line. The last time a Falcon team shot better for a season was the 2005-06 team that was .720 at the stripe.
* Scott Thomas had the eighth double-double of his career with 18 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals against FIU.
* Torian Oglesby has made 16 consecutive field goal attempts over the past five 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 and followed that up by tying his career best with 17 minutes against FIU.

FALCONS FACE DUQUESNE IN FINAL CONTEST OF 2011
Coming off of its first road win of the year, the Bowling Green men's basketball team will go for two straight Wednesday as the Falcons face Duquesne in the A.J. Palumbo Center. The Dukes have won all three contests the two programs have played in the past four years, including a dominating 90-54 victory in Anderson Arena a year ago.

THE SERIES
BGSU is 9-16 all-time against Duquesne and the Dukes have won the last three meetings. The Falcons are just 2-9 all-time on the road against Duquesne, including a 1-1 record in the A.J. Palumbo Center. A year ago, Duquesne rolled to a 90-54 win in Anderson Arena as T.J. McConnell came up just one assist shy of a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. This is the Falcons' second game against an Atlantic 10 school this year as Bowling Green posted a 67-64 win over Temple in the Stroh Center and the team is 3-6 against A-10 schools under Louis Orr.

SCOUTING DUQUESNE
Duquesne is 7-5 on the year, which includes losses to a pair of teams ranked in the top 20 in the country at time of the game. The Dukes are also 1-1 against Mid-American Conference schools this year, defeating Akron 81-76 in the 2K Sports Classic and losing at Western Michigan 85-71. This contest will feature two teams that both rank among the top 30 in the country in turnover margin and Duquesne is fourth in the country in that statistic. T.J. McConnell, who almost had a triple-double against Bowling Green a year ago, already has one this year and ranks second in the country in steals with 3.2. McConnell is also in the top 20 in the nation in assists at 6.0 per game and Sean Johnson leads the team in scoring at 15.5 points. Head coach Ron Everhart is 90-79 in six seasons at Duquesne and 264-251 in 18 seasons overall.

LAST GAME: FALCONS GET FIRST ROAD WIN AT FIU
Scott Thomas had 18 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals as Bowling Green overcame a 10-point first half deficit to defeat FIU 61-53 in Miami. Jordon Crawford added 15 points, four steals and three assists, while Torian Oglesby came off the bench to score 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting. The Falcons shot only 28 percent in the first half and trailed 29-25 at the break but Thomas' jumper with 7:19 to play gave Bowling Green a lead it would never relinquish.

OGLESBY EQUALS EFFICIENCY
While senior forward Torian Oglesby doesn't take a lot of shots, he rarely misses when he does. The senior forward has made 16 consecutive field goal attempts over the past five games and is shooting a remarkable 85 percent from the field on the year, making 23-of-27 shots. He made his only attempt at Western Kentucky, was 5-for-5 against Malone and went 1-for-1 at Valparaiso. Against Michigan State, Oglesby went 4-for-4 and followed that up with a 5-for-5 effort against FIU. He is 12-for-13 (92 percent) from the field in the team's five 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.

WHAT A STEAL
Over the course of the past two seasons, Bowling Green has been one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference in steals, leading the conference in that category a year ago. Much like last year, Scott Thomas and Jordon Crawford are leading the way individually. The duo has combined for 45 steals and Thomas ranks third in the conference, while Crawford is fifth. Kent State is the only other team in the league with two players among the top 10 in steals and they are ranked ninth and tenth. Thomas is seventh in BGSU history with 150 career steals and Crawford reached 100 in his career with four against FIU.

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 is just 0.4 rebounds per game from ranking in the top 10 in both categories again this year). He needs just two more points 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 also has reached 250 career assists.

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 six games, the combined long-range percentage of BGSU's opponents is just 25.0 percent (26-of-104).

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
Bowling Green leads the Mid-American Conference and ranks 27th nationally in turnover margin, averaging 3.91 less turnovers per game than their opponents. The Falcons are only turning the ball over 12.9 times per game, tied for first in the conference, and are forcing 16.8 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 6.1 points and 4.4 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.

HEIGHT IS OVERRATED
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 10.4 points per game and has started 9-of-11 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 13-of-34 three-pointers (38.2 percent) and 27-of-36 free-throws (75.0 percent). He is tenth in the MAC in three-point percentage and 13th 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 four contests, Crawford is averaging 13.0 points and shooting 52.9 percent from the floor. He scored a career-high 22 points against Valparaiso and has scored in double-figures in three consecutive games, the first time in his career he has done that.

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).

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 10-of-11 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 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 16.0 in the last four. 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 998 points and Brown has 810.

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. Here are the NCAA Division I institutions opening new facilities this year.

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 29 of the Falcons' 34 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 but are just 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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