Golden Flashes Next Up For Falcons

Bowling Green Falcons (7-8, 1-1 MAC) at Kent State Golden Flashes (11-4, 1-1 MAC)
Jan. 14, 2012 • 7 p.m. • Kent, Ohio • M.A.C. Center (6,327)
Radio: Falcon Radio Network • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play)
Television: None
Live Stats: http://www.kentstatesports.com
Live Video: www.mac-sports.com
Live Audio: Stretch Internet
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
PURCHASE TICKETS

QUICK HITS
* BGSU heads on the road for the first time in MAC play to face Kent State. Both teams are 1-1 in conference play and trail Akron by a game for first place in the East Division.
* Bowling Green has faced Kent State 146 times and holds an 80-66 lead in the all-time series, dating back to 1917. The Golden Flashes swept the season series a year ago and have won three straight overall. The Falcons won at Kent State during the 2009-10 season.
* Torian Oglesby's NCAA Division I record for made field goals was snapped at 26 straight against Ohio. However, he is still 36-of-42 on the year from the field for 85.7 percent.
* With nine points against Akron, Scott Thomas climbed two spots on BGSU's all-time scoring list and into 35th place with 1,044 career points.
* BGSU has led at the half just four times this year. The Falcons won each of the first three times, but lost to Akron despite holding a 26-20 lead at the break.
* Cameron Black has 21 blocked shots on the season, fifth in the MAC. He had 18 during his entire freshman campaign.
* The Falcons have averaged 18.8 turnovers in the past four games. After posting more turnovers than their opponents just once in the first 11 games, the team has now had more turnovers in each of the last four contests.
* Jordon Crawford was held scoreless against Akron after posting a double-digit scoring total in five of the previous six games. He also has at least three assists in nine consecutive games.
* Cam Black posted arguably his best game of the year Wednesday against Akron with 10 points and a season-high seven rebounds. He also had a blocked shot and was a defensive factor in the paint.
* BGSU has outrebounded its past five opponents, winning the battle on the boards by an average of 9.2 per game.

BGSU HEADS EAST TO FACE KENT STATE
After opening Mid-American Conference play with two road games, Bowling Green hits the road for the first time in league play to face Kent State. Both teams are 1-1 in league action and trail East Division leader Akron by a game. The two teams are part of a four-way tie for second in the division, knotted up with Ohio and Buffalo.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green has faced Kent State more than any other school except Toledo and the Falcons hold an 80-66 lead in the all-time series. The Golden Flashes swept last year's series and have won three in a row overall, but the Falcons did win at Kent State during the 2009-10 season and have won three of the past seven meetings on the road.

SCOUTING KENT STATE
Kent State enters Saturday's contest against Bowling Green at 11-4 on the year and 1-1 in Mid-American Conference play. The Golden Flashes lost their MAC opener at Buffalo by one point but bounced back for a four-point home win over Miami (Ohio). Kent State had a handful of big non-conference wins but none bigger than a 70-60 win over West Virginia. The Golden Flashes are an excellent defensive team and rank in the top 20 in the country in steals. The team is also holding opponents to just 40.4 percent field goal shooting and 30.2 percent from three-point range. Justin Green is the defending MAC Player of the Year and is averaging 12.4 points and 6.5 rebounds, blocking 15 shots and shooting 49 percent from the floor. Head coach Rob Senderoff is in his first year leading the program and this is his first head coaching position.

LAST GAME: AKRON SCORES LATE TO BEAT FALCONS
Akron's Nick Harney scored on a floater in the lane with 0.5 seconds remaining as the Zips handed Bowling Green a 56-55 defeat Wednesday. His shot ruined a strong night from Cam Black, who posted 10 points and a season-high seven rebounds. Black also picked up an offensive rebound and scored with 12 seconds remaining to give Bowling Green a one-point lead before Harney's heroics. Bowling Green never trailed until the final 32 seconds, jumping out to an early 8-0 lead and holding a 10-point lead with eight minutes remaining.

THE RECORD SETTER
Senior forward Torian Oglesby set an NCAA Division I record by making 26 consecutive field goal attempts, a streak that ended with a first-half miss against Ohio. Despite the miss, Oglesby has made 36-of-42 shots on the year, shooting 85.7 percent. The old record of 25 consecutive field goal attempts without a miss was set by Ray Voelkel of American University in 1978, a mark which stood for 33 years. As if all of that is not remarkable enough, Oglesby has made 22-of-23 shots on the road, for a 95.7 field-goal percentage away from the Stroh Center.

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. With a three-pointer early in the Duquesne game, he became 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. He could finish his career in the top 10 in BGSU history in rebounds (needs 85), steals (already seventh), three-pointers made (needs three), and assists (needs 19 more).

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
Early in the year, Bowling Green was dominating the turnover margin battle, but the Falcons have struggled lately. BGSU had more turnovers than their opponents just once in the first 11 games but has lost the battle in each of the past four games. During the recent stretch, the team has had at least 15 turnovers in each contest and 20 twice. The team is averaging 18.8 turnovers in the last four games, 5.5 more than opponents.

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. This year, the team is fifth in the conference and, once again, Scott Thomas and Jordon Crawford are leading the way individually. The duo has combined for 56 steals, including six in the MAC opener, and Thomas ranks second in the conference, while Crawford is tied for ninth. Thomas is seventh in BGSU history with 158 career steals and Crawford is now over the century mark with 103.

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 10.2 points per game and has started 13-of-15 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 22-of-57 three-pointers (38.6 percent) and 30-of-43 free-throws (69.8 percent). He ranks 10th in the MAC in three-point percentage.

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 15.3 in the last eight. He has also improved his field goal percentage throughout the year.

1,000 POINT SCORERS
With a three-pointer against Duquesne, Scott Thomas became the 38th player in program history to score 1,000 career points. Senior Dee Brown also has a chance to reach 1,000 points this year, which would be just the seventh time in school history that two players have reached the milestone in the same year. Considering 15 regular season games remaining and a minimum of one MAC Tournament game, Brown needs to average 9.4 points through the remainder of the year to reach that total as he sits at 850 career points.

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 32-7 in head coach Louis Orr's four years when making at least half of their shots. This year, Bowling Green shot over 50 percent in wins over Temple, Malone and Ohio, but lost to Valparaiso and Duquesne despite making more than half their shot attempts.

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 14-of-15 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.

A NEW HOLIDAY TRADITION
BGSU men's basketball played on New Year's Day for the second consecutive season as the Falcons lost to Texas San Antonio in overtime, 86-79. Bowling Green is 4-2 all-time when breaking in the New Year and the Falcons were just one of eight NCAA Division I programs to play on New Year's Day in each of the past two seasons (joining Syracuse, DePaul, Marquette, Southern Illinois, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, and Evansville).

WHERE MY FALCONS AT?
Bowling Green finally returned home to open conference action after playing away from the Stroh Center for a month with five consecutive road games in five different States. According to Google Maps, the team traveled a total of 6,442 miles, or slightly more than a quarter of the way around the planet.

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 6-2 (.750) in the Stroh Center, which is on pace for the team's best home record since going 12-3 during the 2004-05 season.

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.

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 also played on STO on Jan. 7 against Ohio in the first MAC game in the Stroh Center. BGSU has two more STO games scheduled, on Jan. 28 at Eastern Michigan and on 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 30 of the Falcons' 35 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 2-5 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.

THOMAS NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Scott Thomas was named MAC East Division Player of the Week on Nov. 28 after guiding the Falcons to a 3-1 week, including a win over Temple. Thomas scored in double-figures in all four games, averaging 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest. He also had seven assists, nine steals, and two blocked shots.

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 Ohio 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 Ohio 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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