Samford Makes Trek To Face Falcons Saturday

BGSU vs. Samford
Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012; 2:00 p.m.
Stroh Center (4,280)/Bowling Green, Ohio
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COMPLETE GAME NOTES (.PDF)

2012-13 MAC STANDINGS
EAST TEAMS	MAC	OVERALL
Ohio	0-0	6-2
Akron	0-0	4-2
Kent State	0-0	5-4
Bowling Green	0-0	4-4
Miami	0-0	3-4
Buffalo	0-0	4-6
WEST TEAMS	MAC	OVERALL
Western Michigan	0-0	6-2
Eastern Michigan	0-0	5-2
Central Michigan	0-0	4-3
Ball State	0-0	3-4
Northern Illinois	0-0	2-5
Toledo	0-0	2-6

QUICK HITS (SIZED FOR YOUR TWITTER ADDICTION)
* Bowling Green plays its fourth straight home game by hosting Samford Saturday at 2 p.m.
* Bowling Green is 15-5 at home all-time in the Stroh Center and 3-1 this year.
* BGSU and Samford have never played each other.
* With a win, BGSU would move above .500 for the first time this year and would equal last year's 5-4 start.
* The Falcons have not had a record better than 5-4 through nine games since the 2006-07 team started 6-3.
* A'uston Calhoun needs 14 points to become the 40th player in BGSU history with 1,000 in his career.
* With 361 career assists, Jordon Crawford ranks eighth in BGSU history.
* With three steals against Wright State, Jordon Crawford moved into 10th place all-time at BGSU with 145 for his career.
* A'uston Calhoun has made 14 consecutive free-throws and is shooting 80 percent on the season.
* Against Wright State, A'uston Calhoun became the first BG player to make 10 free-throws in a game since Martin Samarco (1/27/07).
* Jordon Crawford has made 14 of his last 16 free-throws after making just 9-of-19 attempts to start the year.
* BGSU has trailed at the half just one time this year and has been tied at the break three times.
* A'uston Calhoun posted the 50th double-figure scoring game of his career with 19 points against Wright State.
* Bowling Green's bench has outscored the opponent's bench in five straight games, averaging 18.6 points in that stretch.
* BGSU is shooting 83.3 percent (60-of-72) from the free-throw line in the past four games.

FALCONS HOST SAMFORD IN STROH CENTER
Bowling Green hosts Samford for the first time Saturday, meeting the Bulldogs in the Stroh Center at 2 p.m. It will be the Falcons' fourth consecutive home game and Bowling Green is 3-1 in the Stroh Center this year. BGSU is also looking to move above .500 for the first time this year and has won three of its last four games.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green and Samford have never faced each other and, in fact, the Falcons have only played nine games all-time against members of the Southern Conference. Most recently, BGSU lost to Western Carolina in 2007 and the Falcons are 4-5 all-time against Western Carolina (0-2), Elon (0-1), Davidson (1-1), The Citadel (1-0), Furman (1-1) and Georgia Southern (1-0) of the Southern Conference.

LAST GAME: BG SHUTS DOWN WRIGHT STATE IN WIN
Bowling Green held Wright State scoreless over the final 5:47 and the Falcons pulled away from the Raiders late for a 54-41 win Monday night. A'uston Calhoun had 19 points and eight rebounds, making 12-of-12 free-throws as the Falcons scored the final 10 points of the contest. Richaun Holmes came off the bench to add nine points, four rebounds and three blocks, while Anthony Henderson had a career-best four steals to lead a stout defensive effort.

FRONTRUNNERS
Bowling Green has trailed at the half just once this year, falling behind Youngstown State 23-17 at the break. On three occasions, the Falcons have been tied at the half and four times they have led. In all eight games this year, the halftime scoring margin has been eight points or less.

1,000 POINT SCORERS
At their current rate, A'uston Calhoun and Jordon Crawford will become the eighth set of teammates in school history to score their 1,000th career point in the same season. It would also be the first time that it's happened in back-to-back seasons as Scott Thomas and Dee Brown both did it last year. Calhoun could reach the total Saturday, needing just 14 more points. Crawford is 134 away from the milestone.

STROH IN THE 70'S
BGSU is 6-0 all-time when scoring at least 70 points in the Stroh Center. The Falcons went 5-0 last year and defeated Detroit 70-65 this year.

THE NEXT T.O.?
A year ago, Torian Oglesby shot a remarkable 74 percent from the field and set a new NCAA record by making 21 consecutive field goal attempts. Oglesby graduated, but a new player has stepped into that role. Sophomore transfer Richaun Holmes has made 18-of-24 field goal attempts this year, knocking down 75 percent of his shots thus far. While it was not quite 21 in a row, Holmes did make nine consecutive attempts earlier this year.

PLUS/MINUS
Although they rank just fourth, sixth and seventh on the team in scoring, Richaun Holmes, Luke Kraus and James Erger may have the largest impact on the success of the team so far this year. Bowling Green has outscored its opponents by 24 points when Holmes is on the floor, by 20 points when Kraus is on the floor, and by 20 points when Erger is on the floor. Those are the top three totals on the team.

THREE'S THE KEY?
After shooting three-pointers well for four consecutive games, the Falcons have slid over the past two. BGSU went just 5-of-30 (16.7 percent) from long range against Youngstown State and Wright State.

SENIOR IMPACT
Each of Bowling Green's four seniors have increased their scoring average this year. Combined, A'uston Calhoun, Jordon Crawford, James Erger and Luke Kraus are scoring 39.1 points per game in 2012-13, up from 29.0 points per contest a year ago.

1-2 PUNCH
Senior forward A'uston Calhoun and senior guard Jordon Crawford currently rank as the second-highest scoring duo in the Mid-American Conference. Calhoun and Crawford have combined for 33.2 points per game to trail Toledo's Julius Brown and Rian Pearson at 33.8 points per contest. Kent State's Chris Evans and Randal Holt are next at 30.8 points per game.

MORE OF THE DYNAMIC DUO
Both A'uston Calhoun and Jordon Crawford are averaging at lead 16.0 points per game. The last BG teammates to finish a season at 17.0 points per game or better were John Reimold (18.5 points) and Josh Almanson (17.2 points) in 2004-05.

THE CHARITY STRIPE
In the past four games, BGSU has made 60-of-72 free-throws (83.3 percent), including 19-of-21 against Wright State. In the first four games, the Falcons shot just 60.2 percent from the stripe. The team's season-percentage of 71.7 is the best since the 2005-06 team shot 72.0 percent for the season.

AT THE LINE
Bowling Green is 3-0 when making more free-throws than its opponent this year, but the Falcons have struggled to get to the line at times. Opponents have attempted one more free-throw than Bowling Green on the season despite the fact that the Falcons attempted 21 more than Lake Erie in the team's season-opener, the largest advantage for the team since attempting 21 more free-throws than Eastern Michigan on Feb. 7, 2006. BGSU also attempted 15 more free-throws than Wright State in the team's last contest.

50% IS GREATER THAN 80%
Under Head Coach Louis Orr, Bowling Green has won more than 80 percent of its games when its shoots at least 50 percent from the floor. A year ago, the Falcons went 8-3 in such games and are 37-8 in Orr's five years at Bowling Green when reaching that total. BG is yet to shoot 50 percent in a game this year.

EVEN MORE SHOOTING PROWESS
Bowling Green went 5-0 a year ago when shooting at least 54 percent from the floor, defeating Temple, Malone, Western Michigan, Morehead State, and Kent State.

BLOCKING OUT
Bowling Green has had as many or more blocked shots than its opponent in 7-of-8 games this year. The Falcons had seven blocked shots in each of the first two games and have been led individually by Richaun Holmes (16 blocks), Cam Black (eight blocks) and A'uston Calhoun (seven blocks). All three rank among the top nine shot-blockers in the conference.

HOLMES THINKING RECORDS?
With 16 blocked shots in the first eight games, Richaun Holmes is on pace to finish the 31-game regular season with 62 blocked shots, which would break the school record of 59 for a single-season (Cornelius Cash in 1973-74). Add in a minimum of one MAC Tournament game and Holmes could shatter the mark.

FRESH FACES
BGSU head coach Louis Orr announced the signing of three student-athletes during the fall signing period. J.D. Tisdale (Flint, Mich./Swartz Creek High School), Zach Denny (Germantown, Ohio/Valley View High School) and Garret Mayleben (Milford, Ohio/Milford High School) will join transfer Josh Gomez (Brooklyn, N.Y./Rice High School/Iona) among next year's incoming class.

LITTLE BIG MAN
At 5-feet-6, junior point guard Jordon Crawford is likely the best player in the country at his height. Over the summer, Bleacher Report named him the best Division I player in the nation at his height. Crawford currently ranks third in the MAC at 16.6 points per game.

WINNING UGLY
One sign of a good team is the ability to win games when not playing at its best. The Falcons have done that twice this year, shooting just 33 percent from the field in wins over both Lake Erie and Wright State. BGSU lost all seven games a year ago when it shot below 40 percent and had not won a contest shooting as poorly as it did in the home opener against Lake Erie since shooting 30.2 percent in a 52-49 win over Ohio on Jan. 5, 2008.

THE POST GAME
Head coach Louis Orr's philosophy is always to play inside-out and the Falcons have done that well during his tenure. In the past four seasons, BGSU has scored 20 or more points in the paint in 92-of-102 games. The high-water mark came when Bowling Green scored 58 points in the paint against Malone a year ago.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
In just over one year, the Stroh Center has proven to be a difficult place for opponents to play. The Falcons are 3-1 this year at home after going 12-4 a year ago, including a mark of 3-0 against teams that eventually went to the NCAA Tournament (victories over Detroit, Temple and Ohio).

FALCONS ON REGIONAL/NATIONAL TELEVISION
BGSU will play a minimum of three games on ESPNU and SportsTime Ohio this year. The Falcons will host Michigan State on ESPNU on Dec. 18 and will host Eastern Michigan on STO on Jan. 12. The third guaranteed contest comes on STO on Jan. 30 at home against Akron. There will be 10 more MAC games selected to be aired on ESPN/STO throughout the year.

PRESEASON ALL-MAC
A'uston Calhoun earned East Division Preseason All-MAC honors by voting of 24 members of the MAC News Media. Calhoun was one of five players selected in the East Division, joining Buffalo's Javon McCrea, Akron's Zeke Marshall, and Ohio's D.J. Cooper and Walter Offutt.

MEDIA PICKS BOWLING GREEN FIFTH
Bowling Green was picked to finish fifth in the East Division by vote of 24 members of the MAC News Media. The Falcons were chosen ahead of Miami, while Ohio was selected to win the division, followed by Akron, Kent State and Buffalo.

CSM HONORS CALHOUN, CRAWFORD
College Sports Madness released its preseason All-MAC awards, naming A'uston Calhoun first team preseason All-MAC and Jordon Crawford third team.

A'USTON IS ALL-MAC
A'uston Calhoun was named to the 2012 All-MAC Second Team by vote of the league's 12 head coaches after being named honorable mention in 2011. Calhoun ranked fifth in the MAC in scoring in league games (15.1 points per game), eighth in field-goal percentage (50.3 percent), and 12th in rebounding (5.4 per game).

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