Falcons Host Ohio In MAC Opener

Bowling Green Falcons (6-7) vs. Ohio Bobcats (12-2)
Jan. 7, 2012 • 6 p.m. • Bowling Green, Ohio • Stroh Center (4,347)
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
Live Video: ESPN3.com
Live Audio: Stretch Internet
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
PURCHASE TICKETS

QUICK HITS
* BGSU returns home for the first time in a month to host Ohio in each team's Mid-American Conference opener. The Falcons are 5-1 at home and Ohio is 5-1 on the road.
* Bowling Green holds a 71-59 lead in the all-time series with Ohio, dating back to 1943. The Falcons hold a 6-3 edge under Head Coach Louis Orr, including 4-0 at home.
* Torian Oglesby has made an NCAA Division I record 26 consecutive field goal attempts (and counting). He went 10-for-10 from the field at Texas San Antonio for a career-high 20 points.
* With a three-pointer early in the game against Duquesne, Scott Thomas became the 38th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. He is the first player in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 three-pointers and 150 steals. He is also closing in on 300 career assists.
* BGSU had two players record double-doubles at Texas San Antonio (Torian Oglesby with 20 points/13 rebounds and Jordon Crawford with 16 points/11 assists). It was the first time two BGSU players had double-doubles in the same game since Feb. 3, 2007.
* The Falcons have averaged 19.5 turnovers in the past two 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 two games.
* BGSU is shooting .695 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.
* Jordon Crawford posted a career-high 11 assists against Texas San Antonio. It is the second time in his career in which he has posted a double-digit assist total.

FALCONS RETURN HOME TO OPEN CONFERENCE PLAY
Bowling Green returns home for the first time in a month as the Falcons host Ohio to open Mid-American Conference play Saturday at 6 p.m. in a game televised on SportsTime Ohio. BGSU went just 1-4 on its five-game road trip but the Falcons are 5-1 at home this year, outscoring opponents by an average of 9.3 points per game in the Stroh Center. Ohio enters the game at 12-2 overall but coming off of a tough loss at home to Robert Morris. The Bobcats are receiving votes in the Associated Press poll.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green is 71-59 all-time against Ohio and the series dates back to the 1943 season. The Falcons hold a 6-3 lead in the series under Louis Orr, including a mark at 4-0 at home, although all four of those contests came in venerable Anderson Arena. A year ago, the two teams each won at home with the Falcons posting a 73-61 victory in Bowling Green behind 19 points from Scott Thomas and 13 points and 10 rebounds from Torian Oglesby.

SCOUTING OHIO
Among a number of impressive non-conference starts around the Mid-American Conference, Ohio has had the best start of any league school, posting a 12-2 record to open the year. The Bobcats, though, are coming off of a 70-67 setback to Robert Morris despite forcing 31 turnovers in the contest. The Bobcats offense is engineered by junior point guard D.J. Cooper, who is 13th in country with 6.5 assists per game and has one of the two triple-doubles recorded in NCAA Division I basketball this year. Sophomore guard Nick Kellogg is a dangerous shooter, making 36-of-73 three-pointers (49.3 percent) on the year. As a team, the Bobcats are one of the best in the country in turnover margin but the team does struggle to shoot free-throws. Head coach John Groce is in his fourth season at Ohio and has a career record of 68-50.

LAST GAME: OGLESBY SETS NCAA RECORD IN LOSS TO UTSA
Torian Oglesby set school and NCAA Division I records but the Falcons lost to Texas San Antonio in overtime Sunday, 86-79. Oglesby set a BGSU record by making all 10 of his field goal attempts and finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Those 10 field goals extended his streak of attempts without a miss to 26 in a row, breaking an NCAA Division I record that had stood for more than 33 years. The Falcons battled back from an eight-point halftime deficit to force overtime, but UTSA made all three of its three-point attempts in the extra session to outscore Bowling Green down the stretch.

THE RECORD SETTER
While senior forward Torian Oglesby doesn't take a lot of shots, he rarely misses when he does. The senior forward has made an NCAA Division I record 26 consecutive field goal attempts over the past seven games and is shooting a remarkable 89 percent from the field on the year, making 33-of-37 shots. 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. For Oglesby, the next mark would be the NCAA All-Division record of 28 straight field goal attempts without a miss.

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, steals (already seventh), three-pointers made, and assists.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
Bowling Green ranks fourth in the Mid-American Conference in turnover margin, averaging 1.92 less turnovers per game than their opponents, but the Falcons have struggled in that category lately. After having less turnovers than their opponents in 10 of the first 11 games, they have committed 18 more turnovers than their opponents in the past two contests. Against Ohio, a team that thrives on forcing turnovers, this will become a key to watch.

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 returns home 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.

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 49 steals and Thomas ranks third in the conference, while Crawford is tied for eighth. No other MAC team has two players in the top eight in the league. Thomas is seventh in BGSU history with 153 career steals and Crawford just went over the century mark and has 101.

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 10.5 points per game and has started 11-of-13 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 18-of-49 three-pointers (36.7 percent) and 27-of-38 free-throws (71.1 percent).

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 six contests, Crawford is averaging 12.5 points, while shooting 50.9 percent from the floor and a team-best 38.9 percent from three-point range. He scored a career-high 22 points against Valparaiso and scored in double-figures in four of the last five 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 16.8 in the last six. 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 17 regular season games remaining and a minimum of one MAC Tournament game, Brown needs to average 9.6 points through the remainder of the year to reach that total as he sits at 827 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 31-7 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 and Malone, 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 12-of-13 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.

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.

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 2-5 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.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Bowling Green State University Athletics

Falcons Host Ohio In MAC Opener

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos