Falcons to Host the Centennial Game on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 4 p.m.

Saturday, January 23

Bowling Green, Ohio

4:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Kent State

Coach-Huger-&-Coach-Stacey_vs_Miami_1.jpg

BGSU head coach Michael Huger (front right) and assistant coach Anthony Stacey (back left) are both BGSU alums and former men's basketball standouts for the Falcons.

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

Falcons to Host the Centennial Game on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 4 p.m.

January 22, 2016 | Men's Basketball

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

GAMEDAY CENTRAL

STARTING FIVE
(1) CENTENNIAL GAME IS HERE: As part of the Centennial Season, in which the Falcons are celebrating their 100-year history, the Bowling Green State University men's basketball program will host the "Centennial Game" on Jan. 23 at 4 p.m. versus Kent State.

(2) NEVER TOO SOON: It is never too soon to say that first-place in the MAC East Division could be on the line on Saturday afternoon in the Stroh Center. Kent State enters the contest at 4-1 in MAC play and atop of the MAC East standings. BGSU is 3-2 in MAC play and tied with both Akron and Buffalo at one game behind the Golden Flashes.

(3) 1-POINT DIFFERENTIAL: Over the last five meetings, Kent State has combined to score just one more point than the Falcons overall at 342-341. In fact, three of the last four games have been decided by two points or less, including last year's two meetings which were decided by a combined three points overall. BGSU won 66-64 in the first meeting, but was clipped by Kent State 81-80 in the second meeting later on in the year.

(4) BATTLE ON THE BOARDS: Saturday's game could come down to the battle on the boards as both teams are very good rebounding teams. BGSU is a perfect 11-0 when pulling down the same number or more rebounds than their opponent, and ranks third in the MAC with an average of 27.8 defensive rebounds per game. Kent State is 9-2 on the year when out-rebounding its opponent and ranks third in the MAC with 12.4 offensive rebounds per contest.

(5) HONORING THE PAST: A number of BGSU Falcon men's basketball players from all over the country are returning home to BG for the Centennial Game in celebration of 100 years of Falcon basketball.

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

SCOUTING THE KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES
The Kent State Golden Flashes enter Saturday evening's contest atop of the MAC standings at 4-1 in league play and 13-5 overall. Kent State has won three straight games and six of their last seven. Led by a trio of veteran players in Jimmy Hall (15.2 ppg), Xavier Pollard (13.2 ppg) and Kellon Thomas (13.2 ppg), the Golden Flashes offensively rank third in the MAC with a 45.9 field goal percentage on the season and fifth in the MAC in scoring at 77.1 points per contest. KSU is also third in the MAC with an average of 12.4 offensive rebounds per contest. Preseason All-MAC East selection Jimmy Hall leads the Golden Flashes with 15.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He is shooting 50 percent from the field overall and 73 percent from the free throw line on the season.

ALL-TIME SERIES BETWEEN BGSU AND KENT STATE
BGSU leads the overall series over Kent State 84-70, including having gone 50-22 all-time versus the Golden Flashes at home in Bowling Green, Ohio. The Falcons have won two out of the last three meetings between the two MAC East Division foes, however, Kent State won the last match up 81-80 on March 3, 2015, BGSU's Senior Night. BGSU is 3-1 all-time versus the Golden Flashes inside the Stroh Center.

FROM PLAYER TO STAFF - REPRESENTING THEIR ALMA MATER
A combined total of five members in suits and ties on both sidelines will be representing their alma mater, as they moved from player to coach or staff for their respective University. BGSU head coach Michael Huger (1994) is in his first year as the head coach of his alma mater, why he is flanked by former Falcon standout and BGSU great Anthony Stacey (1999) who is now an assistant coach. Kent State has three alums on its sidelines in Assistant Coach Eric Haut (2004), Assistant Coach DeAndre Haynes (2006) and Director of Basketball Operations Mike McKee (2010).

COACH ANDERSON BOBBLEHEAD
As part of the celebration of the Centennial Season for the Falcons men's basketball program with the Centennial Game on Saturday, Jan. 23, the BGSU Athletics Department will be giving out 500 Coach Harold Anderson bobbleheads throughout the game. During the 40 minute contest the cheerleaders will be passing out the bobbleheads throughout the game during timeouts.

CENTENNIAL GAME FAN PHOTOS POSTER
As part of the celebration of 100 years of "Falcontastic" men's basketball at BGSU, the BGSU Athletics Department will be giving away 500 Centennial Game Fan Photos Posters comprised up of photos from fans of all eras of BGSU men's basketball.

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION POSTGAME SOCIAL
Following the men's basketball game versus Kent State, the BGSU men's basketball program, in conjunction with the BGSU Athletics Department, will hold a social event at the Champions Court in the Schmidthorst Pavilion inside the Stroh Center. The event held for the returning alumni is free to season ticket holders and is open to the public for a price of just $5 per person.

COACH'S CORNER
"After a disappointing loss to Toledo, we have regrouped and are ready to get back on the floor in front of our home crowd. Our fan attendance was absolutely incredible on Tuesday, and we will need the same energy for this weekend's competition. Saturday's game holds a special meaning as it marks our 100th year of Falcon Men's Basketball. We are excited to welcome back many distinguished alumni for our Centennial event. One of my goals since becoming head coach has been creating a family atmosphere that our fans, community and alumni can all be proud of. There is a rich history of basketball here at Bowling Green, and as we want our alumni to be part of what we are building here. They will get to see our players match up against an ultra-competitive and hard-nosed Kent State squad. We will need a complete defensive effort in order to walk away with the victory. Our guys know that in order to be the best, we have to beat the best, and right now Kent State is in first place."

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
The Falcons will hit the road to face off with Western Michigan on Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. in Kalamazoo, Mich. BGSU will then remain on the road for a rematch with the Central Michigan Chippewas on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 4:30 p.m. in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

A FALCON WIN WOULD ...
* Put the Falcons at 13-5 overall on the season for the second straight year.
* Mean that BGSU started the MAC season off at 4-2 for the second straight year.
* Place Bowling Green at 7-3 overall at home in the Stroh Center on the season.
* Push the Falcons' record to 5-2 for the month of January.
* Give the Falcons a perfect 3-0 record on the year versus the MAC East Division.
* Avenge a home loss to the Golden Flashes, 81-80, last year on Senior Night.
* Snap a two-game home losing streak at the Stroh Center.

LAST TIME OUT - TOLEDO 81, BGSU 74 (JAN. 19)
The Falcons had four players record double digit points, outscored its opponent 22-9 in bench points and 32-20 in points in the paint, yet came up just short in an 81-74 loss to the Toledo Rockets in the Battle of I-75 on Tuesday night in front of 3,304 fans inside the Stroh Center. The Falcons outscored the Rockets in bench points (22-9), points in the paint (32-20), points off turnovers (19-10) and fast break points (4-2), however, the visitors in gold hit six more free throws (23-17), and three more three-pointers in eight to the Falcons' five, to edge BGSU in a game that saw eight different players register 10 points or more in the 40 minute contest. BGSU was also out-rebounded 36-32 in the contest.

A STROH CENTER ANOMALY
An anomaly occurred in the Stroh Center on Jan. 19, as the Falcons suffered a loss at home despite scoring over 70 points for the game in the 81-74 defeat to the Rockets. The loss is only the second ever loss inside the Stroh Center for the Falcons when scoring over 70 points for the game. The only other loss in which the Falcons scored over 70 points in the Stroh Center was to Kent State, 81-80, last year on Senior Night, Mar. 3, 2015. BGSU is 25-2 all-time in the Stroh Center when scoring 70 points or more for the contest.

PARKER APPROACHING 1,000
Senior Spencer Parker is quietly approaching the 1,000 career points mark in his final year at BGSU. He enters Tuesday night's contest with 939 career points, 61 points away from the career milestone. Parker, who is averaging 14.2 points per game this season, would need to average 4.4 points per game over the remaining 13 regular season games for BGSU to reach the mark and become just the 43rd player in BGSU history to score over 1,000 career points.

CONSISTENCY ACROSS THE STARTING FIVE
Head Coach Michael Huger has sent out the lineup of David Joseph, Zack Denny, Wes Alcegaire, Spencer Parker and Rasheed Worrell to start all 18 games this season for BGSU.

SOLID START A NECESSITY
BGSU has relied on solid starts this season, as the Falcons are 10-0 on the season when leading at the halftime break. Bowling Green is just 2-5 on the season when going into the locker room trailing at the halftime intermission and 0-1 on the year when tied at the half.

LINE OF DEFENSE = UTMOST IMPORTANCE
The defense has been vital to the Falcons success this season, as BGSU is just 1-6 on the season when its opponent records a higher field goal percentage than the Falcons for the game. While on the flip side, BGSU is 11-0 when shooting better from the floor than its foe and a perfect 8-0 when holder its opponent to less than 40 percent shooting for the game. The Falcons are 8-0 when limiting their opponents to 69 points or less for the contest, but are 0-4 when allowing their opponents to score 80 points or more for the game.

POINTS APLENTY OF LATE FOR THE FALCONS
The Falcons have put up a number of points over the last three games, as Coach Huger's squad has totaled 249 points over their last three contests. BGSU poured in 91 points on the road in a come from behind win at Ohio on Jan. 12 and followed that up with 84 points in the road victory over Eastern Michigan on Jan. 16. Last time out, the Falcons totaled 74 points at home versus Toledo on Jan. 19.

BENCH HELP
The BGSU bench has been big for the Falcons thus far in MAC play, as Coach Huger's subs have outscored their opponent's bench in four of the five conference contests with the Falcons matching the Eastern Michigan Eagles at 10 bench points apiece in the other game. In league play, BGSU has totaled 122 bench points, an average of 24.4 points per game. Their opponents have combined to score at total of 58 bench points, an average of 11.6 per contest.

STEPPING UP IN MAC PLAY
A number of Falcons have increased their scoring output thus far this season in MAC play.

Player	Overall Points/Game	MAC Points/Game
Spencer Parker	14.2 ppg	16.4 ppg
Zack Denny	13.9 ppg	15.2 ppg
Antwon Lillard	8.2 ppg	10.2 ppg
Ismail Ali	6.8 ppg	8.6 ppg
David Joseph	4.8 ppg	5.2 ppg
Demajeo Wiggins	3.3 ppg	5.0 ppg

KEY IS CLEANING THE GLASS
BGSU has done well this season when out-rebounding its opponents for the game. In fact, the Falcons are a perfect 11-0 when grabbing the same number or more rebounds than their foes in a game this season. The Falcons are just 1-6 on the year when losing the battle of the boards with the lone win coming versus Miami (Ohio) at home on Jan. 6, 2016.

GETTING TO THE CHARITY STRIPE
Bowling Green has made it a habit to get to the free throw line this year, as the Falcons have shot more foul shots than their opponent in 12 of their 18 games this season. BGSU has attempted 20 or more free throws in 14 games on the year, including a season-high 35 attempts at Detroit on Dec. 12. The Falcons have made more free throws than their opponents have even attempted in six different contests this season.

HOME SWEET STROH
BGSU has called the Stroh Center home since the 2011-12 season and has posted an overall record of 47-26 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 have recorded double digit home wins at the Stroh in three of the last four years. BGSU is 6-3 this season at home in the Stroh with wins over New Orleans, Urbana, UMBC, Drake, Oakland City (Ind.) and Miami.

THAT 70'S STROH
BGSU is an impressive 25-2 at the Stroh Center when scoring 70 points or more in a contest. BGSU is 6-1 at the Stroh this season when scoring 70 points or more.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE
The duo of Zack Denny and Spencer Parker have each tallied multiple double-doubles this season and have combined for eight double-doubles on the year overall. Denny recorded his five double-doubles with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the win over YSU, followed by 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win over the FGCU Eagles. He then tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds in the road win at Cleveland State to close out the month of December and then totaled 15 points and 10 rebounds in the very next game versus Oakland City (Ind.). He recently picked up 12 points and 10 rebounds in the road win at Ohio on Jan. 12. Parker has registered three double-doubles this season with 16 points and 12 rebounds versus North Dakota, 22 points and 10 boards in the win at FGCU and a career-high 33 points and 11 rebounds at Detroit.

MINUTES, MINUTES, EVERYONE GETS MINUTES!
A total of nine players are averaging double digit minutes of playing time on the court thus far this season for the Falcons. In fact, at least nine different players have notched 10 minutes or more of playing time in 10 different games for the Falcons this season. Seven different Falcons are averaging 20 minutes or more of playing time on the year.

SPENCE LEADING BY EXAMPLE
As the most experienced player on the Falcons' roster, senior forward Spencer Parker has been leading by example with career numbers this season. Parker leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.2 points per game and is second in rebounding with 6.0 rebounds per game, both of which are career highs. He is shooting 48.2 percent from the field overall, which is also a career-high. He has scored in double figures in 13 games and has already posted five 20-plus point games with 22 points at FGCU, 20 points versus UMBC, a career-high 33 points at Detroit, 22 points at Ohio and 21 points on the road at EMU.

DENNY DIALING IN FROM LONG DISTANCE
This season, Zack Denny is shooting a career-high 44.7 percent from behind the three-point line and leads the team with 38 made treys on the season. The junior guard is shooting 41.9 percent overall from long distance for his career, as he is 91-of-217 from long range, which has him currently ranked fourth in career three-point field goal percentage at BGSU. He has also made at least one three-pointer in 16 of 18 games this season for the Falcons.

PARKER TABBED YP.COM MAC EAST DIVISION MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK (JAN. 18)
Spencer Parker, who posted back-to-back 20-plus point games to lead the Falcons to two straight MAC road wins last week was rewarded for his efforts by being named the YP.com MAC East Division Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Jan. 18. Parker was clutch from the field offensively, as he shot 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the floor overall, shot 75 percent (3-of-4) from the three-point line and shot 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from the charity stripe.

TWO GOING FOR 20-PLUS
With Spencer Parker's 21 points and Zack Denny's 20 points in the road win at Eastern Michigan on Jan. 16, the duo became the first pair of Falcons to score 20 points or more in the same game since BGSU's Anthony Henderson and Jehvon Clarke each poured in 23 points at Toledo on Feb. 5, 2014.

HUGER FIRSTS ON THE SIDELINE
BGSU first-year head coach Michael Huger picked up his first career win as a head coach in the 79-61 win over New Orleans in the season opener. His first MAC win as a coach with the Falcons' 73-62 home win over Miami (Ohio) in the two teams' conference opener on Jan. 6, at the Stroh Center. He recorded his first MAC road win at Ohio, 91-75, on Jan. 12.

10 POINT POSSESSION
BGSU recorded a 10-point possession in only 37 seconds late in the second half in the win over Ohio on Jan. 12. The Falcons got a three-pointer from Ismail Ali (3), who was also fouled on the play. After the foul, a scuffle ensued with both teams which drew four technical fouls, three to Ohio and one to BGSU. With the technical fouls, BGSU got four free throws on top of Ali's foul shot from being fouled on the play. Ali hit his free throw from the foul (4) and then calmly knocked down 3-of-4 attempts from the Ohio technical fouls (7). BGSU then got the ball out of bounds, where Zack Denny abruptly drove down the lane, hit the layup (9) and was fouled on the play. He then drained the free throw (10) to cap of the possession. BGSU is 9-2 on the season when making more free throws than its opponent compared to just 3-4 overall when its foe makes more free throws than them for the game.

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 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.

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 still appear locally on the Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN) as well as the Time Warner Cable Sports Channel (TWCS). Of the remaining games left this season, BGSU will be on BCSN and TWCS on Mar. 1 at Kent State. A number of other BGSU games could be chosen for TV by either 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.