Falcons Host Kent State For Senior Night

Bowling Green Falcons (12-17, 7-7 MAC) vs. Kent State (19-10, 10-4 MAC)
March 1, 2011 • 7:30 p.m. • Bowling Green, Ohio • Anderson Arena (3,500)
Radio: Falcon Radio Network • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play)/Kirk Cowan (Color)
Television: SportsTime Ohio • Michael Reghi (Play-by-Play)/Steve Mix (Color)
Live Stats: http://www.bgsufalcons.com
Online: Stretch Internet (audio)/America One Network (video)
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
Senior Night/Student Appreciation Night (Drawstring Bag Giveaway)
All-Anderson Team Nate Thurmond Card Giveaway (First 500 Fans)

Bowling Green returns home to close out the season with the final two regular season games in Anderson Arena history this week. Tuesday night, the Falcons host Kent State for Senior Night, honoring Mike Dabney and Joe Jakubowski. The game will be televised on SportsTime Ohio and will tip at 7:30 p.m.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Bowling Green has lost five straight games (including four league games) to fall from the top of the MAC East Division to a tie with Buffalo for fifth. If the MAC Tournament were to start today, the Falcons would be the No. 7 seed and would host a first-round tournament game. Kent State, on the other hand, is tied atop the MAC East Division standings but would lose the tiebreak with Miami and would be the No. 3 seed in the league tournament.
• During the current five-game losing streak, the Falcons have struggled to defend the perimeter. Opponents are 47-for-104 (45.2 percent) from long range in the past five games and all five have made at least 40 percent of those attempts.
• Jordon Crawford has at least nine assists in three consecutive games, including a career-high 10 against Ohio. He was inserted into the starting lineup Saturday at Miami and is averaging 10.7 points and 9.3 assists during the three-game stretch.
• Because the BGSU women's basketball team clinched a bye for the first round of the MAC Tournament, the official start time for the March 5 game against Buffalo will be 1 p.m. This is the final regular season home game in Anderson Arena and the Athletics Department will honor the All-Anderson Team, the 13 greatest BGSU players in the Anderson Arena era.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green is 80-65 all-time against Kent State, which represents the most wins over one opponent for BGSU. The Golden Flashes did pick up a win earlier this year and the Falcons are 2-1 at home against Kent State in the Louis Orr era. The two programs have actually split the season series in each of the past three years, but the Falcons will need a win Tuesday to extend that streak.

SCOUTING THE KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES
Kent State sits atop the MAC East Division standings with a record of 19-10 overall and 10-4 in league play, tied with Miami. The Golden Flashes excel defensively, holding opponents to just 41.3 percent shooting and only 31.9 percent from three-point range. Kent State is also near the top of the MAC with 8.0 steals per game and averages 4.0 blocks per contest as well. Justin Greene is a conference Player of the Year candidate and he is averaging 15.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per contest, while shooting 47.5 percent from the floor and blocking 41 shots. Carlton Guyton, who did not play in the first meeting between BGSU and Kent State, is second on the team with 13.0 points per game and Rodriguez Sherman is putting up 12.8 points per contest.

BROWN'S 17 SECOND-HALF POINTS NOT ENOUGH FOR COMEBACK
Bowling Green battled back from a 15-point second-half deficit to get within two, but the Falcons came up just short of a road win at Miami Saturday. Dee Brown scored all 17 of his points in the second half as the Falcons furiously rallied from 10 points down with two minutes left. Bowling Green had possession with less than 30 seconds left, trailing by three, but the Falcons were unable to score and Miami made free-throws down the stretch. A'uston Calhoun led the Falcons with 21 points and Scott Thomas added 14. Jordon Crawford had nine points and nine assists, compared to just one turnover.

SENIORS TO BE HONORED
Bowling Green will honor two seniors Tuesday night in Mike Dabney and Joe Jakubowski. Dabney is a walk-on senior playing his first season with the Falcons. As the season has progressed, he has become a bigger part of the rotation. He had career highs of seven points, four rebounds, and three blocked shots in a conference win over Eastern Michigan. Jakubowski will go down as one of the great point guards in BGSU history. He took over a starting role midway through his freshman season and ranks sixth in career assists at Bowling Green, eighth in career three-pointers made, and 10th in career steals. He is a two-time Academic All-District player as well as a two-time Academic All-MAC performer.

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.

FINAL GAME ANNOUNCED
The final BGSU men's basketball game in Anderson Arena will be held on Saturday, March 5 against Buffalo. That game will also serve as All-Anderson Team recognition night as the Athletics Department will honor the 13 greatest BGSU men's basketball players of the Anderson Arena era. Game time is now set for 1 p.m.

ROUNDING UP THE POSTSEASON
With two games left in the regular season, much is still to be decided for the Mid-American Conference Tournament. However, if it were to start today, Bowling Green would play one more game in Anderson Arena with a home game on Tuesday, March 8 for the first round. The top four teams in the MAC receive a bye and the next four host the bottom four in the tournament. The Falcons would be the No. 7 seed and host No. 10 seed Northern Illinois. The winner would head to Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena for the remainder of the MAC Tournament March 10-12. With a win Saturday over Buffalo (regardless of Tuesday's result against Kent State), Bowling Green would clinch a first round home game.

VERSATILITY
Junior forward Scott Thomas really knows how to fill up a stat sheet. He is the only player in the Mid-American Conference to rank in the top 10 in the league in both rebounding and assists, ranking sixth on the boards and 10th in passing. He is also among the top 10 in the conference in steals, assist/turnover ratio, defensive rebounds, and minutes played.

ONE OF A KIND
In another measure of Scott Thomas' versatility, he is averaging 7.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game. 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 this year.

THE BIG APOSTROPHE
A'uston Calhoun has turned up his game lately, scoring 20 or more points six times and posting his first two career double-doubles. 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 19 games, Calhoun is averaging 14.6 points and 5.9 rebounds, while shooting 46 percent from the floor. He also has a team-high 15 blocked shots during that stretch and is third on the team with 17 steals.

SAY WHAT?
Bowling Green shot 66.7 percent from the field in the first half against Central Michigan Saturday but still lost the game. In fact, the Falcons have lost the last five games when they have shot at least 61.5 percent from the floor in a half.

THIEVERY
Bowling Green leads the MAC and ranks 10th nationally in steals, averaging 9.2 per game. The Falcons have had nine 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 28th nationally with 2.1 steals per game and Jordon Crawford is fourth in the league at 1.8 steals per game. The Falcons rank sixth in the country in steals per possession, picking up a theft on 13.1 percent of their opponents' possessions.

BLOCK PARTY
Through the first 21 games of the season, sophomore forward Danny McElroy had just one blocked shot. However, he picked up at least one blocked shot in each game of a five-game stretch and swatted away three shots against both Northern Illinois and Western Michigan for 10 blocks in the last eight contests.

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 went without making a three-pointer for a second time this year in a recent loss to Akron. Bowling Green is attempting just 15.1 three-pointers per game, while opponents are shooting 20.2 per contest.

WHAT A STEAL
Despite being held to just three steals in the past five games, Scott Thomas still ranks 28th in the country with 2.07 steals per game and ranks third in the conference in MAC games only at 1.92 per contest. With a total of 58 steals this year, he is tied with Keith Traylor (1983-84) for the 10th highest single season total in program history. Trent Jackson (2000-01) is ninth with 59, Nate Miller (2008-09) is eighth with 60, and Anthony Stacey (1998-99) and David Jenkins (1982-83) are tied for sixth with 61.

DISHING OUT THE ASSISTS
Sophomore point guard Jordon Crawford has become an assisting machine over the past three games. Coming off the bench, he set a career-high with nine assists against Youngstown State and then increased that with 10 at Ohio. He was inserted into the starting lineup Saturday at Miami and responded with another nine assists for a total of 28 (9.3 per game) in the past three contests. That is the most for a BG player since Brandon Pardon had 31 in a three-game stretch late in the 2001-02 season. Crawford ranks second in the league with 4.85 assists per game in conference action only.

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 46.4 percent over the course of the past 20 games, including identical 27-of-53 shooting nights in four victories. The Falcons have shot better than 50 percent from the field eight times this year, going 7-1 in those contests.

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 26 of the first 29 games after reaching that total in 27-of-30 games a year ago. Bowling Green has outscored its opponents in the paint 20 times (and tied Florida International, Manhattan, and Ball State) 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, 42 at Saint Louis, and 40 at Central Michigan.

A RARE DEFEAT
Bowling Green shot 50.8 percent from the floor in the BracketBusters loss to Youngstown State. It is the only time this year the Falcons have lost when shooting at least 50 percent, posting a win in each of the first seven occurences.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
Anderson Arena has always been a difficult place for opponents and the Falcons are 8-4 so far in 2010-11, winning six straight at one point. The Falcons are 464-189 (.711) all-time in Anderson Arena and 178-63 (.739) in the past 18 years.

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 10-of-12 wins this year. In fact, the Falcons are just 6-31 in Head Coach Louis Orr's first four years when an opponent shoots better than 45 percent, including 2-11 this year. The two victories came against Manhattan (48.9 percent shooting) and Ohio (45.8 percent).

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.

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 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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