Falcons Look For Revenge Wednesday At WMU

Bowling Green Falcons (9-11, 3-4 MAC) at Western Michigan Broncos (10-11, 4-3 MAC)
Feb. 1, 2012 • 7 p.m. • Kalamazoo, Mich. • University Arena (5,421)
Radio: Falcon Radio Network • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play)
Television: None
Live Stats: http://www.wmubroncos.com
Live Video: http://www.mac-sports.com
Live Audio: Stretch Internet
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
PURCHASE TICKETS

QUICK HITS
* Bowling Green looks to begin a win streak Wednesday night at Western Michigan, a team which is 9-0 at home this year. The Falcons' four conference losses have all been by five points or less, while Western Michigan sits a game ahead of BGSU at 4-3 in MAC play.
* BGSU is 66-45 in 111 meetings all-time against Western Michigan but the Broncos have won the past four meetings and have ended the Falcons' season in the MAC Tournament in each of the past two years.
* Scott Thomas ranks second in the MAC and 10th in the country with 2.5 steals per game. He had a string of three straight games with at least four steals snapped at Eastern Michigan but has at least one steal in every game this year.
* A'uston Calhoun is averaging just shy of a double-double over the past three games with 18.3 points and 9.3 rebounds. Calhoun scored a career-high 29 against Buffalo and had his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds against Central Michigan.
* Thomas needs five assists to break into the top 10 in BGSU history. He is tied for fourth in school history in steals and ninth in three-pointers made.
* Jordon Crawford leads the MAC in assists in conference play and has at least three assists in 14 consecutive games. He needs 10 more to move into the top 10 in BGSU history as a junior.
* BGSU has not led at the half in any road game this year. The Falcons have outscored their opponent on the road in the second half in 7-of-10 games though.
* Bowling Green has shot 50 percent or better in a game eight times this year, including four of the last seven contests. The Falcons are 5-3 when reaching that percentage.
* Cam Black has had at least one block in seven straight games. He recorded his 50th career rejection against Eastern Michigan.

BGSU LOOKS TO EXACT REVENGE ON WESTERN MICHIGAN
In each of the last two years, Western Michigan has eliminated Bowling Green from the Mid-American Conference Tournament. On Wednesday night, the Falcons will look to get a bit of revenge by handing the Broncos their first home loss of the year. Western Michigan is 10-11 overall but 9-0 at home and the Broncos are 4-3 in conference play, one game ahead of Bowling Green's 3-4 mark. The last two meetings between these programs in Kalamazoo have been decided by a total of three points with the Broncos winning twice in the 2009-10 season.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green holds a 66-45 all-time record in 111 meetings against Western Michigan and the Falcons have only played Kent State, Miami, Ohio, and Toledo more often in the history of the program. In fact, the two programs have faced off in the MAC Tournament in each of the past two years. In 2009-10, Western Michigan beat Bowling Green 75-73 in the first round on the Broncos' home floor. Last year, Western Michigan again came out on the winning side with a 67-56 victory in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals at Quicken Loans Arena. In all, Western Michigan has won four consecutive meetings and seven straight in Kalamazoo dating back to a Bowling Green win in the 2001-02 season.

SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN
Western Michigan tackled one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country this year and struggled out of the gate, losing its first six games against teams like Temple, Colorado, Purdue, and Gonzaga. But the Broncos have rebounded and are 10-11 overall and 4-3 in MAC play. As well, Western Michigan is an undefeated 9-0 at home this year. The Broncos are a hard-nosed rebounding team, ranking in the top 35 in the country with a +5.7 rebound margin. Matt Stainbrook leads the team inside with team-highs 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds, while blocking 22 shots. Flenard Whitfield averages 6.7 rebounds alongside him and is one of four players scoring in double-figures. One area Western Michigan struggles, however, is in turnover margin. The Broncos only average 4.4 steals per game and have 97 more turnovers than their opponents on the year. Head coach Steve Hawkins is in his ninth season coaching Western Michigan with a record of 155-123.

LAST GAME: EMU OUTPACES FALCONS FOR 55-50 WIN
Eastern Michigan controlled the pace and forced 19 Bowling Green turnovers as the Falcons lost in Ypsilanti Saturday to the MAC West leaders 55-50. The game was tied at 25-25 at the half and EMU used an 8-1 run late to break a 43-43 tie and the Falcons never got it tied again. A'uston Calhoun led the way with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Dee Brown added 10 points. Scott Thomas had seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal and Jordon Crawford ended with eight points, six rebounds, and four assists.

THE MAC TOURNAMENT
A new format for the MAC Tournament changes the bracket and seeding this year. The teams with the top two records in the league (regardless of division) will earn a double-bye into the semifinals and the next two best records will earn a bye to the quarterfinals. Teams seeded fifth through eighth will host a first-round game and teams seeded ninth through 12th will play on the road in the first round. If the MAC Tournament were to start today, the Falcons would be the No. 8 seed and would host No. 9 seed Central Michigan in the first round.

TORCHING THE NETS
Despite shooting just 35 percent from the field in Saturday's loss at Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green ranks third in the Mid-American Conference in field goal percentage and second in three-point percentage in league games. The Falcons have shot at least 50 percent from the floor in four of the seven conference contests and are shooting 46.2 percent overall, behind only Kent State at 49.0 percent and Akron at 47.2 percent. The team is also making 38.3 percent of its three-point attempts, trailing only Akron at 41.1 percent.

FIRST HALF ROAD WOES
Bowling Green is just 2-8 on the road this year, but most of the team's struggles have come in the first half. The Falcons have not led at the half in any of the team's 10 contests but have outscored their opponent in the second half seven times. In fact, Bowling Green trails by an average of 7.3 points at the break but has outscored their opponents by an average of 3.6 points in the second half. BGSU averages 26.6 first-half points on the road and 38.3 second-half points.

CONSISTENTLY INCONSISTENT
In attempting to build momentum, Bowling Green has struggled to string together wins, but the Falcons have not had any extended losing streaks either. BGSU has not won or lost more than two games in a row all year. The team has had one two-game winning streak (beating Austin Peay and Detroit on consecutive nights) and two two-game losing streaks (the first against Valparaiso and Michigan State and the second against Akron and Kent State).

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. Earlier this year, he tied the program record with eight steals in one game and currently has 176 for his career, tied for fourth all-time at Bowling Green with Keith McLeod. Thomas also ranks ninth in school history with 123 career three-pointers and is closing in on the top 10 in assists and rebounds. He went over 1,000 career points with a three-pointer early against Duquesne and is the only player in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 150 steals and 100 three-pointers in a career.

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 fourth in the conference and, once again, Scott Thomas and Jordon Crawford are leading the way individually. The duo has combined for 76 steals and Thomas ranks second in the conference. In fact, Thomas tied the school record with eight steals against Miami and leads the league in steals in conference games. He is tied for fourth in BGSU history with 176 career steals and Crawford is now over the century mark with 105. Thomas ranks 10th in the country with 2.5 steals per game and his eight against Miami are tied for the second most in a game by an NCAA Division I player this year.

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 50-of-61 shots on the year, shooting 82.0 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 32-of-37 shots on the road, for an 86.5 field-goal percentage away from the Stroh Center.

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. In fact, Crawford's 25 points against Miami are more than the other three have combined to score all season. He is third on the team with 10.8 points per game and has started 18-of-20 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 34-of-88 three-pointers (38.6 percent) and 37-of-53 free-throws (69.8 percent). Thomas ranks ninth in the MAC in three-point percentage in league games only.

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 then averaged 14.4 in the next ten. Over the past three games, Calhoun is averaging 18.3 points per game, while shooting 51.3 percent from the floor and grabbing 9.3 rebounds per contest.

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.

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 34-8 in head coach Louis Orr's four years when making at least half of their shots. This year, Bowling Green is 5-3 when shooting at least 50 percent from the floor, including all three of the team's conference wins.

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 18-of-20 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. BGSU had scored at least 30 points in the paint in seven consecutive games before being held to 16 at Eastern Michigan. In 2009-10 and 2010-11, the Falcons scored 20 or more points in the paint in 57-of-63 games.

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 10 regular season games remaining and a minimum of one MAC Tournament game, Brown needs to average 8.5 points through the remainder of the year to reach that total as he sits at 907 career points.

DEFENSE WINS
Over the course of the past three years, Bowling Green has held its opponent to 45 percent shooting or worse in 32 of the Falcons' 37 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 2-6 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.

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 7-3 (.700) in the Stroh Center.

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 and then again Jan. 28 at Eastern Michigan. The Falcons have one more STO game and that takes place Feb. 4 at home against Northern Illinois.

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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