Falcons to Tip-Off Centennial Season at Home on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 2 p.m.

Saturday, November 14

Bowling Green, Ohio

2:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

New Orleans

Buy tickets

Falcons to Tip-Off Centennial Season at Home on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 2 p.m.

November 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball

By: by Kevin Davis, BGSU Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

GAMEDAY CENTRAL

STARTING FIVE
(1) Falcons' head coach Michael Huger will be making his head coaching debut on Saturday, Nov. 14, versus New Orleans. He has spent the last 10 years as an assistant coach at Miami (Fla.), George Mason and Longwood (Va.).

(2) The Falcons have won 23 straight home openers dating back to the 1992-93 season under then head coach Jim Larrañaga. BGSU's last loss in a home opener came back in 1991-92 against Findlay, 68-79, at Anderson Arena.

(3) BGSU lost 64 percent of its scoring from last season, including three of its top four scorers from a year ago in Richaun Holmes (14.7 ppg), Jehvon Clarke (10.7 ppg) and Anthony Henderson (8.8 ppg).

(4) The Falcons return eight letter award winners from last season's team that went 21-12 overall, including three starters in senior Spencer Parker, senior David Joseph and junior Zack Denny.

(5) Bowling Green will have five newcomers and one redshirt-freshman suit up in the BGSU orange and brown for the first time in the regular season opener on Saturday afternoon. Transfers Wes Alcegaire and Ismail Ali, as well as freshmen Antwon Lillard, Demajeo Wiggins and Malik Hluchoweckyj will all be seeing their first action as a Falcon. Redshirt-freshman Rasheed Worrell, who sat out all of last season, will also be playing in an official game for the first time for the Falcons versus New Orleans.

(6th man) The 2015-16 is the Centennial Season for the BGSU men's basketball program, which began playing basketball in 1915-16.

SCOUTING NEW ORLEANS
The Privateers were picked to finish eighth overall in the 2015-16 Southland Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing the 2014-15 season with an 11-18 overall record and in 10th-place in the conference with a league record of 6-12. UNO returns nine letter winners from last year's team and is an experienced team with eight seniors and juniors on the roster. The Privateers return four of their top-five scorers from last season in Christavious Gill (12.3 ppg), Kevin Hill (10.6 ppg), Nate Frye (10.3 ppg) and Tevin Broyles (8.7 ppg) from a team that averaged 71.1 points per game in 2014-15.

FALCONS VERSUS BGSU ALL-TIME SERIES
The BGSU Falcons are 1-0 all-time versus the Privateers having defeated UNO 87-56 at the Stroh Center back on Feb. 21, 2013. The Falcons shot 46.1 percent from the field overall and 45 percent from long range in the win. BGSU led by as many as 39 points with 3:29 to go in the second half.

COACH'S CORNER
"The season is finally here. This is what our staff and our guys have been working so hard for since we got here last April. We are excited to be opening the season at home in front of our home crowd. This is a special year for our program being our Centennial Season and we are ready to tip-off this weekend against a very good New Orleans team that returns four of its top-five scorers and a very experienced roster."

HUGER MAKING HC DEBUT
BGSU head coach Michael Huger will be making his head coaching debut on Saturday, Nov. 14, versus New Orleans. While it is not his Falcon debut, as he was a two-time MAC All-Conference player for BGSU from 1989-93, he is moving one seat over the head coaches' chair after serving the last 10 years as an assistant coach at Miami (Fla.)(2011-15), George Mason (2007-11) and Longwood (2005-07).

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
BGSU will host the Bearcats of Cincinnati on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. for the second annual Bill Frack Challenge. The game will be a WHITE OUT, as Coach Huger and his team are asking all Falcon fans to #PACK4FRACK. First 500 fans will receive a Bill Frack bobble head. The first 1,000 fans will receive a free T-shirt, while the first 4,000 fans will also receive a rally towel. Each season the BGSU men's basketball program will host a home game tabbed the Bill Frack Challenge in honor of long time BGSU supporter and philanthropist William "Bill" D. Frack, who passed away on May 28, 2014.

STREAKING SINCE 1992-93 IN HOME OPENERS
BGSU has won 23 straight home openers heading into the 2015-16 home opener versus New Orleans on Saturday, Nov. 14. The Falcons last dropped their home opener back in 1991-92 against Findlay, 68-79, when current head coach Michael Huger was a junior point guard on the team.

SEASON OPENERS FOR THE FALCONS
The Falcons have fared well in season openers since starting basketball in 1915-16, as BGSU has posted a record of 73-27 in their 100 season openers. BGSU has won each of its last four season openers and six of their last seven regular season opening contests.

HISTORY IN HOME OPENERS
BGSU has been almost unbeatable in their home openers over the program's 100 year history. The Falcons have posted an overall record of 87-13 in home openers since tipping-off the inaugural season in 1915-16.

THAT 70'S STROH
BGSU is an impressive 19-1 at the Stroh when scoring 70 points or more in a contest That means the Falcons have scored 70 or more points in nearly half of their wins in front of the home fans in the Stroh, as BGSU is 41-23 all-time at the Stroh Center over the building's four year history.

HOME SWEET STROH
BGSU has called the Stroh Center home since the 2011-12 season and has posted an overall record of 41-23 at the venue. The Falcons have won seven or more games at home every season since the Stroh's opening for the 2011-12 season and has recorded double digit home wins at the Stroh in three of the last four years.

EXAMINING THE EXHIBITION WIN
With a new coach and a total of six new players taking the court when counting redshirt-freshman Rasheed Worrell, the Falcons were able to outscore the Notre Dame College Falcons 17-8 in the overtime period to come away with the 74-65 exhibition win. BGSU had 12 different Falcons step on the court for game action with 11 of those players getting into the scoring column. The Falcons got to the free throw line often, as BGSU shot 57 free throws overall. In fact, BGSU made more free throws (34) than NDC attempted (29) for the game. Three players scored in double figures led by freshman Antwon Lillard's 20 points, while junior guard Zack Denny registered a double-double of 12 points and 16 rebounds.

A FALCON NOW LEADING THE FALCONS
It seems fitting that a former Falcon would lead the program during its Centennial Season, as former BGSU standout and 1994 graduate Michael Huger returns to his alma-mater as the head coach in 2015-16. Huger, who returns to his alma mater where he was a standout player for the Falcons from 1989-93. While a player at BGSU, Huger helped the Falcons to a pair of NIT appearances. Tabbed the BGSU Team MVP in 1992-93, he earned all-conference honors in his final two seasons, and was a Naismith Award nominee and the runner-up for MAC Player of the Year his senior year.

DENNY DIALING IN FROM LONG DISTANCE
Entering his junior season this year, guard Zack Denny has been lights out behind the three-point line over his first two years at BGSU. Denny, who made a team-high 50 three-pointers last season, enters the year ranked fifth on BGSU's career three-point field goal percentage list shooting at a clip of 40.2 percent overall. He is 53-for-132 overall from long range over his short Falcon career.

SCORING OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND
Scoring opportunites will be abound in 2015-16, as the Falcons lost 64 percent of their scoring from last year's 2014-15 team that averaged 66.5 points per game overall, highlighted by the graduation of three of their top four scorers in Richaun Holmes, Jehvon Clarke and Anthony Henderson,

WATCH ME: BGSU ON ESPN3, BCSN AND THE TWC SPORTS CHANNEL
Every Falcons' home game over the 2015-16 season will broadcast live on ESPN3. A number of road contests will also be video steamed live over the ESPN3 network, while the Falcons will also appear locally on the Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN) on Jan. 6 vs. Miami (Ohio) and Jan. 19 vs. Toledo. BGSU will also be on the TWC Sports Channel on Jan. 12 at Ohio and Mar. 1 at Kent State. A number of BGSU games could be chosen for TV by eight ESPN or the CBS Sports Network throughout the season as wildcard selections.

CAPTAINS NAMED FOR 2015-16
The Falcons have three team captains for the 2015-16 season in junior JD Tisdale, junior Wes Alcegaire and redshirt-sophomore Garrett Mayleben.

PICKED TO FINISH SIXTH IN THE MAC EAST IN PRESEASON POLL
With the loss of its top three scorers from last season in Richaun Holmes to the NBA, and both Jehvon Clarke and Anthony Henderson due to graduation, the Falcons were picked to finish sixth in the MAC East Division in the 2015-16 MAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, which was determined by a 23-member MAC News Media Panel. The Falcons garnered 42 points overall.

FALCONS INK TWO DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
On Nov. 11, Bowling Green State University head men's basketball coach Michael Huger announced the signing of Dylan Frye (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Mater Academy) and Rodrick Caldwell (Dayton, Ohio/Wayne H.S.) to National Letters of Intent to continue both their academic and athletic careers at Bowling Green State University in 2016.