Falcons Host Buffalo For Senior Night Friday

BGSU vs. Buffalo
Friday, March 8, 2013; 6:00 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
Akron	14-1	24-5
Ohio	13-2	22-8
Kent State	8-7	18-12
Buffalo	7-8	12-18
Bowling Green	6-9	12-18
Miami	3-12	8-20
WEST TEAMS	MAC	OVERALL
Toledo	9-6	14-13
Western Michigan	9-6	18-11
Ball State	7-8	14-14
Eastern Michigan	7-8	14-16
Central Michigan	4-11	11-18
Northern Illinois	3-12	5-23

QUICK HITS (SIZED FOR YOUR TWITTER ADDICTION)
* Bowling Green closes out the regular season Friday night with a home game against Buffalo at 6 p.m.
* BGSU will honor A'uston Calhoun, Jordon Crawford, James Erger and Luke Kraus for Senior Night.
* Bowling Green is still playing for seeding for the MAC Tournament and could finish as high as fifth or as low as eighth.
* BGSU is 10-4 at home this year, while Buffalo is just 4-9 on the road.
* The Falcons are 16-10 all-time against Buffalo but the Bulls have won the past three meetings.
* This is the third consecutive year in which Bowling Green and Buffalo have played in the final game of the regular season.
* If the MAC Tournament started today, BGSU would be the No. 8 seed and host No. 9 Central Michigan in the first round.
* With 70 blocked shots this year, Richaun Holmes is BGSU's all-time single-season leader.
* A'uston Calhoun is tied with Don Otten for 19th place in career scoring at BGSU, gaining on Nate Thurmond for 18th.
* BGSU went without a three-pointer at Kent State Tuesday. The Falcons last did that at Akron on Feb. 15, 2011.
* Richaun Holmes' .620 field-goal percentage is currently the seventh-best single-season in BGSU history.
* A'uston Calhoun needs seven rebounds to reach 600 for his career.
* BGSU outrebounded four straight opponents and then tied Kent State Tuesday. The Falcons are +49 during the five-game stretch.
* If Bowling Green hosts a MAC Tournament First Round game, the Falcons would play Monday night at 7 pm in the Stroh Center.
* BGSU would host either Central Michigan, Miami or Northern Illinois in a first-round game. Tickets would be just one dollar.

FALCONS HOST BUFFALO FOR SENIOR NIGHT FRIDAY
For the third consecutive season, Bowling Green and Buffalo will close out the regular season against each other. The two teams will face each other Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Stroh Center. Two years ago, BGSU defeated Buffalo in the final game in Anderson Arena but the Bulls avenged that defeat a year ago in Buffalo. This game provides many MAC Tournament implications as both teams could still earn the No. 5 seed for the event and a bye straight to Cleveland. Buffalo has surged lately, winning four of its last six league games.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green is 16-10 all-time against Buffalo but the Bulls have won three straight since the Falcons won in the final game in Anderson Arena to close the 2010-11 season. Buffalo won 68-65 earlier this year after overcoming an eight-point halftime deficit. Jordon Crawford had 18 points and A'uston Calhoun added 16 and seven rebounds in the loss. Javon McCrea had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulls.

LAST GAME: KENT STATE HOLDS OFF FALCONS AT HOME
Bowling Green overcame a 17-point first half deficit to take a brief second-half lead but Kent State outscored the Falcons 12-3 down the stretch for a 69-61 victory in Kent Tuesday night. BGSU closed the first half with 11 points in the final two minutes to get within six at the half and the Falcons took the lead on a Craig Sealey dunk with less than eight minutes to play. A'uston Calhoun led BGSU with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Jordon Crawford added 12 points and eight assists. Richaun Holmes came off the bench for 11 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

THE MAC TOURNAMENT
If the MAC Tournament started today, Bowling Green would be the No. 8 seed for the league tournament. However, the Falcons could still climb as high as fifth with a victory over Buffalo and some help.

MAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
There will be three first round games in the MAC Tournament at campus sites on March 11. The winners of those three contests, along with the top five seeds, will advance to Cleveland for four consecutive days of games March 13-16. The winner of the MAC Tournament will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. If the MAC Tournament started today, the schedule would be as follows:

First Round
March 11 - Campus Sites
Game 1 - #9 Central Michigan (4-11) at #8 Bowling Green (6-9), 7 pm
Game 2 - #10 Northern Illinois (3-12) at #7 Ball State (7-8)
Game 3 - #11 Miami (3-12) at #6 Buffalo (7-8)

Second Round
March 13 - Quicken Loans Arena
Game 4 - #5 Eastern Michigan (7-8) vs. Game 1 Winner, 6:30 PM (STO)
Game 5 - Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner, 9 PM (STO)

Third Round
March 14 - Quicken Loans Arena
Game 6 - #4 Kent State (8-7) vs. Game 4 Winner, 6:30 PM (STO)
Game 7 - #3 WMU (9-6) vs. Game 5 Winner, 9 PM (STO)

Semifinals
March 15 - Quicken Loans Arena
Game 8 - #1 Akron (14-1) vs. Game 6 Winner, 6:30 PM (STO)
Game 9 - #2 Ohio (13-2) vs. Game 7 Winner, 9 PM (STO)

Championship
March 16 - Quicken Loans Arena
Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 6:30 PM (ESPN2)

MAC TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
Bowling Green can still finish as high as the No. 5 seed for the MAC Tournament and as low as eighth. With a loss to Buffalo, BGSU would be the No. 8 seed. With a win, the Falcons could finish in any of four spots. Listed below are those scenarios.

With a win and ...
Ball State and Eastern Michigan losses -- BGSU claims No. 5 seed
Eastern Michigan loss, Ball State win -- BGSU claims No. 6 seed
Ball State loss, Eastern Michigan win -- BGSU claims No. 7 seed
Ball State and Eastern Michigan wins -- BGSU claims No. 8 seed

BLOCK PARTY
With four blocked shots at Akron, Richaun Holmes broke the BGSU single-season record of 59, set by Cornelius Cash in 1973-74. Holmes has 70 blocks this year and ranks 36th in the country with 2.3 per game. He has blocked at least four shots seven times this year and had a string of 15 consecutive games with at least one blocked shot earlier this year. On top of that, Holmes' 70 blocks rank as the 20th best season in MAC history.

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 half of the past 14 games and becoming the Falcons' answer for a third scorer. He had a career-high 18 points in a win over Kent State and is shooting 52.7 percent from the field during the stretch. Orr has also made 11-of-25 three-pointers (44.0 percent) and 25-of-31 free-throws (80.6 percent) and is third on the team in assists and steals during the streak.

THE SHOOTING TOUCH
While Chauncey Orr has made 11-of-25 three-pointers over the past 14 games, teammate Luke Kraus has turned things around and is a threat from long range as well. Kraus has made 15-of-40 three-pointers (37.5 percent) in the last 14 games, connecting on three in a game three times (at Toledo, Northern Illinois and Akron). Those numbers stand in stark contrast to his start when he made just four of his first 35 attempts over the first 16 games of the season.

THE SPLITS
Bowling Green's home and away free-throw shooting numbers are eye-popping. On the road, the Falcons have attempted 35 fewer free-throws than opponents have made, shooting just 68.1 percent. At home, Bowling Green has attempted 32 more free-throws than opponents, shooting 72.0 percent at the stripe. In 13 road games, BGSU has been outscored by an average of 6.6 points per game at the free-throw line.

STIFLING
Five times this year Bowling Green has held an opponent to 44 points or fewer in a game. The last time a BGSU team held their opponents to that few points five times or more came in the 1949-50 season when Harold Anderson's crew kept seven teams below 45 points.

1-2 PUNCH
Senior forward A'uston Calhoun and senior guard Jordon Crawford are one of three sets of teammates in the Mid-American Conference averaging at least 30.0 points per game combined at 30.1 points this year. Kent State's Chris Evans and Randal Holt are averaging a MAC-best 31.3 points, while Toledo's duo of Rian Pearson and Julius Brown are second at 30.8.

67 OR FEWER
Bowling Green is 0-13 this year when opponents score at least 68 points and 12-5 when holding those teams to 67 or less. To go one step further, the Falcons have held their opponents to 60 points or less in each of their last nine wins.

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 10-4 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 22-8 record in the Stroh Center comes out to a .733 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.

DOUBLE-DIGIT HOME WINS
With Wednesday's home victory over Miami, the Falcons have won at least 10 home games in each of the past three years.

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 has 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 23-of-30 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 67 blocks, ranking third 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. The Falcons also won when shooting exactly 40 percent Wednesday against Miami.

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.

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