Falcons to Host the RedHawks in MAC Opener on Wednesday, Jan. 6

GAMEDAY CENTRAL

STARTING FIVE
(1) RECENT SUCCESS IN MAC OPENERS: The Falcons have gone 8-3 overall in their last 11 Mid-American Conference openers, including snapping a two-year losing skid last year with a 66-64 win at Kent State in the conference opener. BGSU last opened up the league slate with a home win back in 2011-12, when the Falcons defeated Ohio 67-57 to start the conference season at 1-0 overall with a home win.

(2) NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: BGSU had a successful non-conference season this year, as the Falcons went 9-4 overall under first-year head coach Michael Huger. BGSU's nine non-conference regular season wins are the most in a single season since the 2006-07 team totaled 10 non-conference wins in regular season play.

(3) SOLID START A NECESSITY: BGSU has relied on solid starts this season, as the Falcons are 8-0 on the season when leading at the halftime break. Bowling Green is just 1-4 on the season when going into the locker room trailing at the halftime intermission.

(4) NO STRANGER TO THE MAC: First-year BGSU head coach Michael Huger will be coaching his first-ever MAC game on Wednesday night in the MAC opener versus Miami (Ohio). However, Coach Huger is no stranger to MAC play, as he was a part of 25 conference wins as a player for the Falcons for three seasons from 1991-93 under then BGSU head coach Jim Larrañaga.

(5) CENTENNIAL GAME SET FOR JAN. 23: As part of the Centennial Season, the Bowling Green State University men's basketball program will host the "Centennial Game" on Jan. 23 at 4 p.m. versus Kent State.

(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 MIAMI REDHAWKS
The RedHawks of Miami (Ohio) finished their non-conference season at 6-7 overall and enter MAC play on Wednesday night having dropped three straight contests. Miami, who is 0-4 on the road this season in true road contests, is last in the MAC in scoring with an average of 65.9 points per game, but is fourth in the MAC in scoring defense in holding its opponents to just 66.3 points per contest. The RedHawks are also ranked second in the conference in free throw percentage, shooting 74.1 percent on the season as a team from the charity stripe. Senior guard Eric Washington leads MU in scoring with 13.8 points per game and in assists with 4.8 per contest, while LJ Livingston, Jr. is second in the MAC in shooting with a field goal percentage of 68.3 on the season. Livingston, Jr. also leads the team in rebounding at 5.0 boards per game. Picked to finish fifth in the 2015-16 MAC East Division Preseason Poll, the RedHawks' roster consist of eight seniors.

ALL-TIME SERIES BETWEEN BGSU AND MIAMI (OHIO)
The two MAC East Divisional foes will be meeting for the 135th time on Wednesday night, Jan. 6, with Miami leading the overall series at 81-53. Miami has won five of the last seven meetings between the two teams, including a 67-56 win over the Falcons at the Stroh Center last year. The Falcons, who won the last meeting between these two squads 62-57 in Oxford, Ohio on Feb. 28, 2015 of last season, is 35-29 all-time at home versus the RedHawks in Bowling Green, Ohio. However, BGSU is just 2-3 versus Miami inside the Stroh Center and have dropped each of the last three contests to the RedHawks at the Stroh.

SPLITSVILLE IN 2015
Last season, BGSU and Miami split the two regular season games last season with each team winning on the other team's home floor. Miami upended BGSU 67-56 in BG on Feb. 18, while just 10 days later the Falcons got revenge over the RedHawks with a 62-57 road win at Millett Hall in Oxford, Ohio on Feb. 28.

COACH'S CORNER
"I am very proud of how the guys competed and improved throughout the non-conference season. Our schedule was set up in a way to prepare us for a tough MAC slate. As we start conference play versus Miami (OH), our focus will remain on the defensive end. There will be no easy games in the MAC which means we will need to bring our energy for 40 minutes every single night. There is a sense of urgency and excitement throughout our team to get to the point where we contend as one of the MAC's best teams, Wednesday night is the first test in the process."

MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY
In support and appreciation for all our Military services and veterans BGSU will host "Military Appreciation Day" on Wednesday, Jan. 6. There is free admission to the men's basketball game versus Miami (Ohio) for fans with a valid veteran and/or military ID. Also available are discounted tickets for friends and family. For more information and to claim your tickets contact Doug at 419-372-4019 or by email at ddepres@bgsu.edu. (Click Here)

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
BGSU will remain at home to host Central Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 2 p.m. ET. The game will be the first game of a doubleheader with the women's basketball team who will host Ohio at 4 p.m. ET.

A FALCON WIN WOULD ....
* Put the Falcons at 10-4 overall on the season.
* Mean that BGSU started the MAC season off at 1-0 for the second straight year.
* Place the Falcons at 6-1 overall on the year at home in the Stroh Center.
* Give BGSU head coach Michael Huger his first-ever MAC win as a head coach.
* Hand the Falcons a 2-0 start to the month of January.
* Give BGSU a two-game winning streak over the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks.
* Extend BGSU's current winning streak to three straight games.

LAST TIME OUT - BGSU 87, OAKLAND CITY (IND.) 56 (JAN. 2)
The Falcons shot 51.5 percent overall from the field for the game, while all 13 Falcons that took the floor scored in the 87-56 non-conference win over Oakland City (Ind.) University on Saturday afternoon inside the Stroh Center. With the win, BGSU finished its regular season non-conference slate at 9-4 and will tip-off MAC play at home on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The nine regular season non-conference wins for the Falcons on the season are the most by a BGSU team since the 2006-07 team tallied 10 non-conference victories over its regular season slate. The Falcons were 34-of-66 (51.5 percent) shooting on the afternoon and held Oakland City to only 22 made baskets on 34.9 percent shooting. BGSU outscored the Mighty Oaks 54-16 in points in the paint, 20-9 in points off turnovers, 18-6 in second chance points, 19-4 in fast break points and 51-19 in bench points for the contest.

FALCONS' SUCCESS IN RECENT MAC OPENERS
The Falcons have gone 8-3 overall in their last 11 Mid-American Conference openers, including snapping a two-year losing skid last year with a 66-64 win at Kent State in the conference opener. BGSU last opened up the league slate with a home win back in 2011-12, when the Falcons defeated the Ohio Bobcats 67-57 to start the conference season at 1-0 overall with a home win.

STROLL DOWN THE MAC MEMORY LANE
Last season in 2014-15, BGSU went 11-7 in MAC play and finished in third-place overall in the East Division. Since winning the MAC East in 2008-09 with an 11-5 conference record, the Falcons have been over .500 in MAC play just twice, going 11-7 last season and then posting an 9-7 overall record in league play in 2011-12. Over the last six seasons, since 2009-10, Bowling Green has gone 47-53 in MAC play.

FALCONS PICKED AS A WILDCARD SELECTION VERSUS EMU ON JAN. 16
The Mid-American Conference office has announced that Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN) has selected the cross-divisional contest between Bowling Green State University and Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 16, as its MAC Wildcard selection. The game time will now be 2 p.m. ET at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Mich. The MAC clash on Jan. 16 will be broadcast live by BCSN, Time Warner Cable Sports and ESPN3.

NON-CONFERENCE WINS
The Falcons finished their non-conference regular season slate with a 9-4 record this season. The nine non-conference wins, not including postseason play, are the most by a Falcons' team in a single season since posting 10 non-conference wins in 2006-07. BGSU won eight non-conference games, not counting postseason wins in the MAC Tournament or the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), last year.

CONSISTENCY ACROSS THE STARTING FIVE
BGSU head coach Michael Huger has sent out the lineup of David "Pep" Joseph, Zack Denny, Wes Alcegaire, Spencer Parker and Rasheed Worrell to start all 13 games thus far this season for the Falcons.

GRABBING 50
For the first time in eight years, the Falcons as a team reached the 50 mark in rebounds in a single game. BGSU pulled down a season-high 50 rebounds in the win over Oakland City (Ind.) on Jan. 2, 2016. The last time a Falcons' squad totaled 50 rebounds or more was back in the 2008-09 season, when BGSU hauled in 50 boards versus Detroit on Dec. 14, 2008.

YOU PLAY, YOU SCORE
In BGSU's 87-56 win over Oakland City (Ind.) on Jan. 2, a total of 13 players saw playing time for head coach Michael Huger's squad in the game with all 13 players scoring at least two points in the contest for the Falcons.

PARKER APPROACHING 1,000
Senior Spencer Parker is quietly approaching the 1,000 career points mark in his final year at BGSU. Parker enters Saturday's contest with 857 career points, 143 points away from the career milestone. Parker, who is averaging 13.4 points per game this season, would need to average 7.9 points per game over the rest of the season to reach the mark and become the 43rd player in BGSU history to score over 1,000 career points.

SEVENTEEN AND COUNTING FOR DENNY
Junior guard Zack Denny has made at least one three-point field goal in 17 straight games dating back to last season. He has knocked down at least one three-ball in all 13 games thus far this season. The last game that Denny did not make at least one three-point basket was last season in the regular season finale at Buffalo on Mar. 6, 2015.

CLEAR LINE BETWEEN WINS AND LOSSES
This season, the stats show a clear line between wins and losses for the Falcons. In their nine wins, BGSU is averaging 79.0 points per game and have scored 72 points or more in eight of those nine contests. The Falcons have shot on average 49.2 percent from the field as a team in their nine victories and have shot over 44.0 percent in every win this season. BGSU is also averaging 41.7 rebounds per game and 14.9 assists per game in their nine wins. However, in their four losses, the Falcons are averaging just 59.0 points per game, and have scored less than 60 points in three of those four losses. BGSU has also shot just 35.6 percent on average in its four losses and have twice shot less than 30 percent for the contest. The Falcons are also averaging just 34.5 rebounds and only 9.5 assists per game over their four L's on the season.

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 9-0 when grabbing the same number or more rebounds than their foes in a game this season. The Falcons are 0-4 on the year when losing the battle of the boards.

SHARP SHOOTING FALCONS
The Falcons have shot over 44 percent from the floor as a team in each of their nine wins thus far this season, including shooting a season-high 55.7 percent overall from the field in the blowout win over Urbana on Nov. 29. The Falcons are also a perfect 9-0 on the season when shooting better than their opponents from the field as a team overall.

GETTING TO THE CHARITY STRIPE
Bowling Green has made it a habit to get to the free throw line, as the Falcons have shot more foul shots than their opponent in 10 of their 13 games this season. BGSU has attempted 20 or more free throws in eight 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 four different contests this season.

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, nine different players notched 14 minutes or more of playing time over the 40 minute contest versus New Orleans (11/14), while nine different Falcons logged 13 minutes or more against Cincinnati (11/18). Nine different players also played 10 minutes or more versus North Dakota (11/21) and in the win over Youngstown State (11/22). Eleven different Falcons logged 10 minutes or more in the home win over Urbana on Nov. 29, while nine different players notched 13 minutes or more in the road win at Southeast Missouri on Dec. 8. Nine players also tallied 10 minutes or more in the road loss at Wright State on Dec. 20. Nine different Falcons also played 14 minutes or more in the road win at Cleveland State on Dec. 23, while 10 different players saw 10 minutes or more of playing time in the home win over Oakland City on Jan. 2.

THAT 70'S STROH
BGSU is an impressive 24-1 at the Stroh Center when scoring 70 points or more in a contest. BGSU is 5-0 at the Stroh this season when scoring 70 points or more.

HOME SWEET STROH
BGSU has called the Stroh Center home since the 2011-12 season and has posted an overall record of 46-24 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 5-1 this season at home in the Stroh with wins over New Orleans, Urbana, UMBC, Drake and Oakland City (Ind.).

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.

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Wes Alcegaire

Jehvon Clarke

Zack Denny

Anthony Henderson

Richaun Holmes

Spencer Parker

Rasheed Worrell

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