BGSU Heads To IPFW For BracketBusters

BGSU at IPFW
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013; 7:00 p.m.
Memorial Coliseum (5,800) / Fort Wayne, Ind.
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COMPLETE GAME NOTES (.PDF)

2012-13 MAC STANDINGS
EAST TEAMS	MAC	OVERALL
Akron	12-0	22-4
Ohio	11-1	20-6
Buffalo	6-6	11-15
Bowling Green	5-7	11-15
Kent State	5-7	14-12
Miami	3-9	8-16
WEST TEAMS	MAC	OVERALL
Toledo	8-4	12-11
Western Michigan	8-4	16-9
Eastern Michigan	5-7	12-14
Ball State	4-8	10-14
Northern Illinois	3-9	5-19
Central Michigan	2-10	9-16

QUICK HITS (SIZED FOR YOUR TWITTER ADDICTION)
* Bowling Green plays in the final BracketBusters event Saturday, facing IPFW in Fort Wayne at 7 p.m.
* Saturday's game is the second consecutive non-conference game for BGSU. The Falcons beat New Orleans 87-56 Thursday.
* IPFW is 6-9 in Summit League play this year. The Falcons are 0-1 (80-66 loss vs. IUPUI) against teams from the Summit this year.
* IPFW is 9-4 at home this year, while Bowling Green is just 1-10 on the road.
* BGSU is 1-1 all-time against IPFW. The two contests came in 2003 and 2004.
* If the MAC Tournament started today, BGSU would be the No. 5 seed and earn a bye to the second round in Cleveland.
* With 63 blocked shots this year, Richaun Holmes is BGSU's all-time single-season leader.
* A'uston Calhoun has scored in double-figures in 12 straight games.
* Luke Kraus has made 13 of his last 28 three-pointers, including a 3-for-5 effort at Akron this past Saturday.
* Luke Kraus ranks sixth in the MAC in three-point shooting in conference games only at 42.9 percent.
* BG's A'uston Calhoun and Jordon Crawford are the second-highest scoring duo in the MAC, averaging 30.8 points per contest.
* Richaun Holmes ranks 27th in the country in blocked shots at 2.4 per contest.
* Richaun Holmes has more blocked shots than three MAC teams.
* Richaun Holmes had a career-best 10 rebounds against New Orleans Thursday.
* Freshman Spencer Parker came off the bench for career-highs of seven points and five rebounds against New Orleans.
* Bowling Green's March 2 game at home against Ohio has been picked up by STO and the start time has been moved to noon.

FALCONS PLAY AT IPFW IN FINAL BRACKETBUSTERS
Bowling Green looks for its second road win of the year Saturday as the Falcons play at IPFW in the final BracketBusters event at 7 p.m. BGSU is 6-4 all-time in BracketBusters contests, including a 73-60 win over Morehead State a year ago. Saturday's contest will mark the final non-conference regular season game of the year for BGSU. That Falcons enter the game at 11-15 on the season, including 4-2 in February, while IPFW is 13-16 with three straight wins.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green and IPFW are 1-1 in the all-time series, with each team winning at home. IPFW won 81-75 in Memorial Coliseum on Dec. 10, 2003 and BGSU evened the series with an 86-70 victory in Anderson Arena on Dec. 21, 2004. Bowling Green is 0-1 against Summit League schools this year and IPFW is 1-1 against Mid-American Conference opponents.

LAST GAME: FALCONS RUN PAST NEW ORLEANS
A'uston Calhoun and Jordon Crawford scored 16 points each and Chauncey Orr added 12 as BGSU used a 29-5 run that spanned halftime to defeat New Orleans 87-56. It was a season scoring high for BGSU and tied the most the team has scored in the two-year history of the Stroh Center. The Falcons led 35-25 late in the first half but scored the final seven points of the period and then the first eight of the second half to pull away. BGSU led by as many as 39 in the second half before New Orleans finished the game on an 8-0 run.

BRACKETBUSTERS
Bowling Green is 6-4 in the first 10 years of the BracketBusters series, but this will be the first meeting against a Summit League school. The Falcons have played six games against Horizon League opponents (Youngstown State twice, Illinois-Chicago, Wright State, Detroit, and Valparaiso), two against the Ohio Valley Conference (Morehead State twice) one Sun Belt school (Arkansas Little Rock), and one Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference school (Canisius). A year ago, Bowling Green defeated Morehead State in the Stroh Center 73-60 behind eight Scott Thomas three-pointers.

Complete BGSU BracketBusters Series History
2/22/03 at Illinois-Chicago, 83-72 loss
2/21/04 vs. Youngstown State, 76-64 win
2/19/05 vs. Arkansas Little Rock, 74-66 win
2/18/06 vs. Wright State, 70-51 loss
2/17/07 at Morehead State, 90-72 win
2/23/08 at Detroit, 81-65 win
2/21/09 vs. Canisius, 71-66 loss
2/20/10 vs. Valparaiso, 87-70 win
2/19/11 at Youngstown State, 83-76 loss
2/18/12 vs. Morehead State, 73-60 win

BLOCK PARTY
With four blocked shots at Akron a week ago, Richaun Holmes broke the BGSU single-season record of 59, set by Cornelius Cash in 1973-74. Holmes has 63 blocks this year and ranks 27th in the country with 2.4 per game. He has blocked at least four shots seven times this year and ranks eighth in the country in block percentage (percentage of non-three-point shots blocked while on the floor) at 13.8 percent, according to StatSheet.

10 ORR MORE
Sophomore Chauncey Orr, son of head coach Louis Orr, has put together the strongest stretch of his young career, scoring at least 10 points in six of the past 10 games. He scored a career-high 18 points in a win over Kent State and is averaging 10.1 points on 56.3 percent shooting during the stretch. Orr has also made 10-of-19 three-pointers and 19-of-21 free-throws to go with 18 assists and 15 steals. In MAC games only, Orr ranks in the top seven in the conference in field goal percentage and steals.

THE SHOOTING TOUCH
While Chauncey Orr has made 10-of-19 three-pointers over the past 10 games, teammate Luke Kraus has turned things around and is shooting even better lately. Kraus has made 13-of-28 three-pointers in the last 10 games, connecting on three in a game three times (at Toledo, Northern Illinois and Akron). He ranks sixth in the MAC in three-point shooting in league games only. Those numbers stand in stark contrast to his start when he made just four of his first 35 attempts.

THE MAC TOURNAMENT
With four league games remaining before the MAC Tournament, Bowling Green has put itself into position to battle for one of the five byes. The Falcons would currently be the No. 5 seed and would earn a bye to the MAC Tournament second round in Cleveland. Bowling Green is tied with Kent State and Eastern Michigan, but holds the three-way tiebreak advantage by virtue of a 2-0 record against those teams.

THE SPLITS
Bowling Green's home and away free-throw shooting numbers are eye-popping. On the road, the Falcons have attempted 37 fewer free-throws than opponents have made, shooting just 67.4 percent. At home, Bowling Green has attempted 30 more free-throws than opponents, shooting 71.6 percent at the stripe. In 10 road games, BGSU has been outscored by an average of eight points per game at the free-throw line.

1-2 PUNCH
Senior forward A'uston Calhoun and senior guard Jordon Crawford are currently tied as the second-highest scoring duo in the Mid-American Conference, averaging 30.8 points per game. Toledo's Rian Pearson and Julius Brown lead the way at 31.5 points, while Kent State's Chris Evans and Randal Holt are tied with Calhoun and Crawford at 30.8 points.

MORE OF THE DYNAMIC DUO
Both A'uston Calhoun and Jordon Crawford are averaging at least 15.0 points per game. The last BG teammates to finish a season at 15.0 points per game or better were John Reimold (18.5 points) and Josh Almanson (17.2 points) in 2004-05.

68 OR LESS
Bowling Green is 0-10 this year when opponents score at least 68 points and 11-5 when holding those teams to 67 or less.

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 9-3 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). The 21-7 record in the Stroh Center comes out to a .750 winning percentage, which is higher than the program's .709 winning percentage in Anderson Arena, the home for the Falcons from 1960-2011.

STROH IN THE 70'S
BGSU is 10-0 all-time when scoring at least 70 points in the Stroh Center. The Falcons went 5-0 last year and are again 5-0 this year with wins over Detroit, Kent State, Ball State, Western Michigan and New Orleans when scoring 70 or more.

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 39-9 in Orr's five years at Bowling Green when reaching that total. BG shot 50 percent from the field three times this year, beating Ball State and Western Michigan at home after losing to Miami on the road.

HINDSIGHT IS 20-20
When Jordon Crawford and A'uston Calhoun each scored 21 points at Miami, it marked the second time this year that the senior duo has each reached the 20-point mark in the same game. Unfortunately, the Falcons have lost both of those contests (the other being a triple overtime loss at South Florida). In fact, Bowling Green has lost all three games in their careers when they both scored 20 points (losing at Valparaiso a year ago).

BLOCKING OUT
Bowling Green has blocked as many or more shots than its opponent in 20-of-26 games this year, including a season-high 10 against USF. It marked the first time the Falcons had 10 blocked shots in a game since blocking 11 at Illinois State on Dec. 6, 2008. Sophomore transfer Richaun Holmes has led the way with 63 blocks, ranking second in the MAC.

WINNING UGLY
One sign of a good team is the ability to win games when not playing at its best. Four times this year, the Falcons have won games when shooting below 40 percent from the field, beating Lake Erie, Wright State, Samford and Eastern Michigan. A year ago, BGSU lost all seven contests when it show below 40 percent.

D-FENSE! D-FENSE!
Earlier this year, Bowling Green held Wright State and Samford to 42 points or less in back-to-back games. It was the first time the team had done that in successive games since doing so against Loyola and Pepperdine on Dec. 22 and Dec. 27, 1949. It also marked the first time the team held back-to-back opponents to 83 points or less since holding Western Ontario and Miami to 82 points on Dec. 8 and Dec. 12, 1962.

NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE OVERTIMES
While the school record for overtimes in a single game is four, Bowling Green played a triple overtime contest for the first time in 20 years against South Florida earlier this year. The last time the Falcons went that deep into the night came in a 91-88 loss to Ball State on Jan. 29, 1992. Overall, the Falcons have played in four overtime sessions already this year, the most since the team played four overtime games in the 2001-02 season.

1,000 POINT TEAMMATES
With a fastbreak lay-up early in the game at Buffalo, Jordon Crawford joined teammate A'uston Calhoun in reaching 1,000 career points this year. The duo are the 40th and 41st players in program history to reach that milestone. They are the eighth set of teammates to score 1,000 career points in the same season, but it is the first time that it's happened in back-to-back seasons as Scott Thomas and Dee Brown reached that total a year ago.

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 108-of-120 games. The high-water mark came when Bowling Green scored 58 points in the paint against Malone a year ago.

CALHOUN NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior forward A'uston Calhoun averaged 17.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in two contests to earn MAC East Division Player of the Week honors on Feb. 11 for the second time in his career. Calhoun had his fourth double-double of the season as the Falcons won their first road game of the year, beating Northern Illinois 57-41. He finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds, adding a blocked shot and a steal. In a tough 72-63 road loss at second-place Ohio, Calhoun had 19 points and eight rebounds. He was also 9-of-11 at the free-throw line on the week.

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.

FALCONS ON REGIONAL/NATIONAL TELEVISION
BGSU will play a minimum of four games on ESPNU and SportsTime Ohio this year. The Falcons hosted Michigan State on ESPNU on Dec. 18 and then played host to Eastern Michigan on STO on Jan. 12 and Akron on Jan. 30. It was also announced that the Falcons would host Ohio on March 2 on STO with a game time set for 12 p.m. 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.

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).

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.

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