Falcons To Face One Of Nation's Top Scorers At NIU

Bowling Green Falcons (10-11, 5-2 MAC) at Northern Illinois (7-12, 3-4 MAC)
Feb. 2, 2011 • 8:00 p.m. • DeKalb, Ill. • Convocation Center (9,100)

Radio: Falcon Radio Network (99.1 FM) • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play)
Television: None
Live Stats: http://www.niuhuskies.com
Online: Stretch Internet (audio)/Live Video
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)

Bowling Green, sitting in a tie for first place in the Mid-American Conference, heads on the road to face Northern Illinois Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. The Falcons will need to find a way to contain the Huskies' Xavier Silas, the second-leading scorer in the country at 24.2 points per game. BGSU, on the other hand, has used balanced scoring and a strong bench to rise to the top of the conference.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Bowling Green remains tied for first in the MAC East Division with Kent State and Buffalo at 5-2 in the conference. Those three teams are also tied with Ball State in the West Division for the best overall record in the league. If the MAC Tournament were to start today, the Falcons would be the No. 3 seed and would receive a bye through the opening round.
• Bowling Green is looking for a 6-2 start to MAC play for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign. The Falcons ended that season at 18-11 overall and 10-8 in conference play, good enough for third place in the West Division.
• Bowling Green's bench broke the 40-point barrier for the third time this year in Saturday's win over Eastern Michigan, outscoring the Eagles 42-8. On the year, the Falcons' bench is producing almost 10 points per game more than opponents.
• Scott Thomas has shown his versatility this year as the only player in the country to be averaging 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Along with those numbers, he leads the team in scoring and three-pointers made.

THE SERIES
In 51 meetings all-time, Bowling Green holds a slight 26-25 edge over Northern Illinois, dating back to a 99-86 win during the 1964-65 season. The Falcons have won the last three meetings in the series and beat the Huskies 69-61 two years ago in the Convocation Center.

SCOUTING THE NORTHERN ILLINOIS HUSKIES
Northern Illinois is 7-12 overall and 3-4 in Mid-American Conference play, splitting its first two crossover games against the East Division. Xavier Silas is one of the most dynamic scorers in the country, ranking second in the nation at 24.2 points per game (just slightly ahead of UConn's Kemba Walker). He has become an efficient player this year, shooting almost 48 percent from the field and making 43 percent of his 95 three-point attempts, while shooting 86 percent from the free-throw line. As a team, though, Northern Illinois is allowing opponents to score 74.6 points and shoot over 45 percent from the floor.

FALCONS WIN SIXTH STRAIGHT HOME GAME IN WIN OVER EMU
Bowling Green's bench scored 42 points as the Falcons beat Eastern Michigan 68-63 Saturday to keep pace atop the Mid-American Conference East Division. After falling behind 12-2, the Falcons went to the bench and got strong efforts from Jordon Crawford (14 points, seven assists, four rebounds), Dee Brown (11 points), Danny McElroy (six points and a career-tying 11 rebounds), and senior walk-on Mike Dabney (seven points, four rebounds, three blocked shots). Bowling Green led 34-31 at the half, trailed briefly in the second half, and pulled away late for the win.

TRANSFORMING BGSU BASKETBALL
Bill Frack has watched Bowling Green basketball since 1948 and on Jan. 19, 2011, he showed his appreciation to the program by announcing the formation of an endowment that will exceed $10 million to the program. The gift is the largest in University history and the largest to a men's basketball program in MAC history. When realized, the endowment will be used to build the program to an elite non-BCS level through additional funding for buying home games against quality opponents, competitive coaching salaries, recruiting, strength and conditioning, academic support, and marketing, among other things.

PROGRESSION OF A PROGRAM
In the course of the past four years, the Bowling Green men's basketball program has had its share of headline news. Consider:

• On April 4, 2007, Louis Orr, a former Big East Coach of the Year, was named the new head coach of the men's basketball program.
• On March 1, 2008, Kermit and Mary Lu Stroh announced an $8 million donation as a lead gift for a new basketball arena, named the Stroh Center. The $8 million donation was, at that time, the largest gift in University history. The Stroh Center will open for the 2011-12 season.
• On March 9, 2009, Bowling Green beat Ohio 75-41 to win the MAC regular season championship. Orr was later named MAC Coach of the Year.
• On Sept. 30, 2009, Orr announced the hiring of Dennis Hopson as an assistant coach. Along with Orr, BGSU is one of the few programs in the country to have two college first-team All-Americans and NBA players on staff.
• On Jan. 19, 2011, longtime fan Bill Frack annnounced the formation of a $10 million endowment for the men's basketball program. The $10 million gift is the largest in University history and the largest for a men's basketball program in MAC history.

FALCONS AND PENGUINS TO TANGLE FOR BRACKETBUSTERS
For the sixth time in nine years, Bowling Green will face a team from the Horizon League for ESPN's BracketBusters series when the Falcons play at Youngstown State Feb. 19. It is the second time that BGSU has met Youngstown State for the event. Bowling Green is 5-3 all-time in BracketBusters contests and 6-1 in the follow-up return games.

DUNK-TASTIC
Most experts measure good offense through stats like field-goal percentage, points per possession, effective field-goal percentage, or scoring average. We like to measure good offense by dunks and, by that measure, the Falcons are on fire. Bowling Green has 18 dunks in the past five games, including seven in a win over Ohio. Torian Oglesby has had the lion's share of those buckets, with 11 of his 14 field-goals in the last five games coming on dunks.

THE BIG APOSTROPHE
A'uston Calhoun has turned up his game lately, scoring 20 or more points four times in the past 11 contests. In the first 10 games of the year, he average 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds, while shooting 31 percent from the field, but as he's become more comfortable in his role, his numbers have gone up dramatically. In the last 11 games, Calhoun is averaging 13.8 points and 5.5 rebounds, while shooting 47 percent from the floor.

THE MCELROY FACTOR
When Bowling Green gets strong offensive production from sophomore forward Danny McElroy, the Falcons' chances of winning increase exponentially. The team is 5-0 in McElroy's career when he scores at least eight points, including 4-0 this year. In wins over Ohio Dominican, Florida International, Buffalo, and Miami, he shot 57 percent from the floor and made at least four field goals in each.

VERSATILITY
Junior forward Scott Thomas really knows how to fill up a stat sheet. He is the only player in the country to be averaging at least 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He leads the Falcons in scoring, rebounding, steals and three-pointers made, while ranking second on the team in assists and free-throw made.

PLAYING BIGGER THAN HIS SIZE
Sophomore point guard Jordon Crawford stands just 5-foot-6 but plays a big role for the Falcons. Even though he starts the game on the bench, he has taken over the team assist lead by posting at least seven in four of the last five games. He also has 13 steals in the last five games and is 20-of-36 (55.6 percent) from the field.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
Anderson Arena has always been a difficult place for opponents and the Falcons are 7-2 so far in 2010-11 with six straight wins. The Falcons are 463-187 (.712) all-time in Anderson Arena and 177-61 (.744) in the past 18 years.

THIEVERY
Bowling Green leads the MAC and ranks ninth nationally in steals, averaging 9.6 per game. The Falcons have had eight 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 and 22nd nationally with 2.35 steals per game and Jordon Crawford is fourth in the league at 2.00 steals per game. The Falcons rank third in the country in steals per possession, picking up a theft on 14.0 percent of their opponents' possessions (only Oregon State and Alabama are better).

WHO NEEDS THREE?
Some teams rely on the three-pointer to win games but Bowling Green is not one of those teams. The team snapped a string of 356 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer made by going 0-for-4 in a road win at St. Louis and followed that up by going 1-for-5 in a double overtime road victory at Buffalo. The Falcons are only attempting 15.6 per game, much less than the 20.1 per game opponents are shooting.

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 75 assists and just 27 turnovers in the team's 10 victories (a 2.78 assist/turnover ratio). In 11 losses, the duo has 53 assists and 42 turnovers (a 1.26 assist/turnover ratio).

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 48.4 percent over the course of the past 12 games, including identical 27-of-53 shooting nights in four victories. The team is 9-2 when shooting at least 44 percent from the field this year but has been below 35 percent five times (all in the first nine games). The Falcons are 9-3 in the past 12 games and have shot better than 50 percent in seven of those wins.

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CHARITY
Through the course of the year, Bowling Green has been one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the MAC, but the Falcons have been much better lately. The team did not reach 80 percent from the line in any of the first 15 games but has done that three times in the last six contests, shooting a combined 61-of-85 (71.8 percent) from the stripe.

NOW TO GET TO THE LINE
While the Falcons have shot the ball better from the free-throw line in the past six contests, the trips to the line have decreased. The team averaged 19.2 free-throw attempts per game in the first 15 contests but are averaging just 14.2 attempts in the last six.

STARTING A CAREER
Freshman Cameron Black started the first 17 games of the 2010-11 season before coming off the bench against Ohio. 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.

DEFENSE WINS
A year ago, Bowling Green held opponents below 45 percent shooting in 13 of its 14 victories and have done the same in 8-of-10 wins this year. In fact, the Falcons are just 6-29 in Head Coach Louis Orr's first four years when an opponent shoots better than 45 percent, including 2-7 this year. The two victories came against Manhattan (48.9 percent shooting) and Ohio (45.8 percent).

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 18 of the first 21 games after reaching that total in 27-of-30 games a year ago. Bowling Green has outscored its opponents in the paint 14 times (and tied both Florida International and Manhattan) after doing it in 23-of-30 games a year ago. The team had a season-high 50 in the win at Buffalo, as well as 44 at Milwaukee and 42 at Saint Louis.

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.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
Junior guard Dee Brown was named MAC Player of the Week Jan. 3 for the second time in his career after averaging 14.5 points in leading the Falcons to wins over UTSA and Saint Louis in a three-day span. Brown scored a team-high 21 in the win at Saint Louis and had eight points, six rebounds, and three steals in the victory over UTSA.

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. One other Findlay resident is a large contributor to the Bowling Green program as Bill Frack, who just announced a $10 million donation to the program, is a lifelong Findlay resident.

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)

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:

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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