Falcons Travel To Mount Pleasant To Play Chippewas On Tuesday Night

OPENING NIGHT
• Tuesday night will mark the 76th meeting between Bowling Green and Central Michigan. The Falcons hold a 40-35 advantage in the all-time series.
• Last season, CMU defeated BGSU in both regular-season meetings, but the Falcons beat the Chippewas in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals on Antwon Lillard's final-second triple.
• The Falcons have won six of the last 10 games played at McGuirk Arena.
• Bowling Green will be in search of its second road win of the 2016-17 season.
• BGSU is coming off a thrilling 79-74 victory over Ball State on Saturday at the Stroh Center, while CMU is fresh off a 101-92 home win versus Miami. CMU's Marcus Keene, who leads the nation in scoring, scored 50 points in the ballgame.
• Last week, Demajeo Wiggins posted double-doubles against Toledo and Ball State. In the BSU win, Wiggins scored 14 points and pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds. Through six MAC games, Wiggins is averaging a team-high 14.2 points and 8.5 rebounds.

HUGER'S THOUGHTS ON CENTRAL MICHIGAN
"It was a fun day at the Stroh Center on Saturday, and we got a win against Ball State. Our fans and students had that place louder than I've ever heard it before. Next up, we will travel to Central Michigan and take on one of the best offensive teams in the country. Led by Marcus Keene and Braylon Rayson, CMU can fill up the scoring column in a hurry. Our individual defense will have to be fantastic in order to come away with a win. Our guys showed great effort against Ball State, and now it is time for them to prove they can string together consecutive games with a full 40 minutes of hard-playing basketball."

SCOUTING THE CENTRAL MICHIGAN CHIPPEWAS
Central Michigan got off to a 0-3 start in conference play, but have since won two of three by earning home wins over Toledo and Miami. The Chippewas have one of the most prolific offenses in the country, as their 89.3 points per game average ranks fifth in the nation. CMU makes 12.8 triples per game, 19.3 free throws per game, shoot 42.8 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from downtown. Central Michigan wants to get into a track meet, and simply outscore its opponent. Opponents are scoring 83.4 points per game, and shooting 44.6 percent. The Chippewas have arguably the most dynamic backcourt in all of college basketball. Junior guard Marcus Keene, who scored 50 points last time out against Miami, is averaging a nation-best 29.8 points per game. Senior guard Braylon Rayson scores 19.4 points per game for the Chippewas. Off the bench, freshman forward David DiLeo averages 10.2 points, and is the third and final Chippewa averaging double figures. Each player on CMU that has made a three-pointer is shooting above 33.0 percent. The Chippewas take care of the basketball about as well as anyone in the conference, as they average just 10.8 turnovers per game, and own a 2.9 turnover margin, which ranks 38th in the country. Fifth-year head coach Keno Davis is 73-73 at Central Michigan.

A BGSU WIN WOULD…
• Improve BGSU's overall record to 9-11
• Move Bowling Green's MAC record to 3-4
• Improve Michael Huger's record against Central Michigan to 2-2
• Give BGSU its second road win of the 2016-17 season
• Secure BG's seventh win at McGurik Arena over the last 11 trips
• Improve the Falcons' record to 17-20 at McGuirk Arena
• Increase Bowling Green's lead in the all-time series to six games (41-35)

FALCONS FACE MARCUS KEENE WITH NATION WATCHING
Central Michigan's junior guard, Marcus Keene, who transferred from Youngstown State, scored 50 points last Saturday (Jan. 21) versus Miami. His 50 points marked the highest total scored by a Division I player in nearly four years. Keene's performance was well documented across national media outlets on Saturday evening, and his scoring output increased his nation-leading average to 29.8 points. Defensively, Bowling Green's guards will face their toughest individual challenge of the season, and there is no doubt that at the end of the night, most college basketball fans will be checking the box score to see how Keene faired against the Falcons.

THE LAST TIME BOWLING GREEN PLAYED CENTRAL MICHIGAN
After Central Michigan defeated Bowling Green by double digits in both regular-season meetings across the 2015-16 season, the Falcons pulled off a thrilling victory over the Chippewas to advance to the semifinals at the 2016 MAC Tournament. With the score tied, 59-59, Antwon Lillard hit a game-winning triple with 12.3 seconds left to propel BGSU to the 62-59 win. Lillard finished the game with a career-high 26 points. He went 8-for-12 from the field and 5-for-8 from downtown. With the victory, Bowling Green became the first-ever No. 12 seed to advance to the semifinal round at the MAC Tournament.

BGSU COMPLETES SEASON SWEEP OF BALL STATE
Bowling Green snapped a three-game losing streak last Saturday (Jan. 21) by earning a 79-74 victory over Ball State at the Stroh Center. On Jan. 7, the Falcons picked up their first road win and first MAC win of the 2016-17 season by knocking off the Cardinals in Muncie, 76-71. In the most-recent meeting, Demajeo Wiggins recorded his fifth double-double of the season, as he scored 14 points and registered a career-high 14 rebounds. Zack Denny led the Falcons in scoring with 17 points. With BGSU up by just three points with less than 10 seconds left, Matt Fox stole BSU's inbounds pass, and recorded an assist on Ismail Ali's game-sealing layup. In the first meeting of the season, Bowling Green also led by three points with under 10 seconds left, but in that game, the Falcons forced a miss and secured the rebound. Ball State ranks third in the MAC in three-point percentage (37.3), but in both games, the BGSU defense held the Cardinals to a 12-for-50 (24.0 percent) shooting effort from three-point range.

MORE NOTES ON THE BALL STATE VICTORY
• Bowling Green is now 9-1 against Ball State over the last 10 meetings
• The win marked BGSU's first regular-season home win over a MAC-West foe since Feb. 10, 2015
• The victory gave BG its seventh home win of the season, which ties last season's total
• The regular-season sweep is BG's first over a West Division opponent since BG swept BSU in 2014-15
• The Falcons have lost just once to Ball State at home since 2005. BGSU is 9-1 over that stretch.
• Second-year head coach Michael Huger has two wins over two MAC schools – Ball State and Ohio
• BGSU recorded 45 rebounds in the win – the most in a game this season since Nov. 26, 2016
• The win gave BGSU more MAC wins, or the same amount of MAC wins, as four other schools.

BGSU STILL HASN'T FACED A ROAD OPPONENT WITH A LOSING RECORD
The Falcons are 1-7 on the road in 2016-17. Although five of those losses have been by single digits, and four of them have been by two possessions or fewer, the Falcons' opponents deserve a large amount of the credit for BGSU's struggles away from home. Bowling Green has played eight really difficult road games. In fact, at the time of the game, all eight teams had a winning record, with the exception of Oakland, which was 0-0. The eight opponents – Oakland (15-6), South Dakota (13-9), Cincinnati (17-2), Evansville (10-11), San Jose State (9-9) Akron (16-3), Ball State (12-7) and Toledo (10-9) – have a combined record of 102-56 (.646). Bowling Green's next road opponent – Central Michigan (12-7) – has a winning record, as well. Incredibly, the Falcons won't play a team on the road with a losing record until Feb. 14, which will be 95 days into the season. On Feb. 14, the Falcons will travel to Kalamazoo to take on Western Michigan.

THE FIRST 20 MINUTES
Playing a strong first half has been crucial to the Falcons' success under head coach Michael Huger. In 2016-17, Bowling Green is 6-1 when leading at the half, and 2-10 when trailing at the half. Since the beginning of the Michael Huger Era in 2015-16, the Falcons are 16-4 after taking a halftime lead, but just 8-24 when heading into the intermission with a deficit. In BGSU's last game, the trend held true, as the Falcons closed out the win over Ball State (Jan. 21) after having a 10-point lead at the half. This season, BG erased a seven-point halftime deficit against Detroit Mercy (Dec. 10), as well as a three-point halftime deficit at Ball State (Jan. 7). The only time BGSU has lost this year when having a halftime lead was against UMKC (Nov. 19). The Falcons led, 37-35, at the half before losing on a shot with less than three seconds left.

LATE LEADS ARE LEADING TO WINS
The Falcons have played in quite a few close games this year, and have lost a large number of them. But when BGSU is able to earn a late lead, it almost always leads to a win. When BG has a lead with five minutes left, the Falcons are 8-3. Since head coach Michael Huger arrived for the 2015-16 season, BG is 21-5 in those situations. Furthermore, when BGSU has a lead with two minutes left, they are 7-1 in 2016-17, and 21-2 in the Huger era. On the flip side, BGSU is 3-24 under Huger when trailing at the five-minute mark, including a 0-8 record this year. When the Orange and Brown is looking at a deficit with two minutes remaining, BG is 1-10 in 2016-17, and 3-27 under Huger's watch.

ALL FIVE FALCON STARTERS SCORE IN DOUBLE DIGITS IN MAC OPENER
Bowling Green played a heck of a road game at Akron on Jan. 3. BGSU shot a season-high 54.1 percent from the field, and twice narrowed double-digit deficits to a single possession. Furthermore, all five of BGSU's starters – Demajeo Wiggins (21), Ismail Ali (16), Zack Denny (16), Antwon Lillard (16) and Wes Alcegaire (10) – scored in double figures, marking the first time that has happened since Dec. 15, 2013. For Wiggins, his point total established a new career high, while Ali's 16 points was a season high. But in the end, Akron, which is now atop the MAC standings with a 5-0 mark, escaped with an 89-84 victory. The Zips shot 56.6 percent from the floor and a ridiculous 45.5 percent from downtown on 22 three-point attempts.

NATE THURMOND BOBBLEHEAD DAY SET FOR JAN. 28
Bowling Green will honor Falcon legend Nate Thurmond on Jan. 28 by handing out Thurmond bobbleheads to the first 400 fans through the doors for the Falcons' game against MAC-East foe Ohio. Thurmond, who passed away in July, was inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985 after an All-American career at BGSU from 1959-63. A seven-time NBA All-Star, Thurmond scored 1,356 points across his career as a Falcon, while leading Bowling Green to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 1962 and 1963. Thurmond averaged 15.0 points and 15.0 rebounds across his 14-year NBA career. He was voted as one of the NBA's 50 greatest players when the league celebrated its 50th anniversary of its founding. Tip time for the game was recently moved to 4 p.m., due to the fact that the game was picked up by Spectrum Sports/BCSN television. Originally, the game was set for a noon tip.

BREAKING DOWN THE SIX FINAL-MINUTE LOSSES
In the Falcons' MAC opener on Jan. 3 at Akron, Bowling Green lost a game that went down to the wire for the sixth time this season. The Falcons have now lost six games by single digits, three games by one possession, two games by two possessions, including two games on a shot with less than three seconds left. Prior to the Eastern Michigan (Jan. 10) game, Bowling Green had lost its last three games by a combined nine points.

DEMAJEO'S DOUBLE-DOUBLES AND CONFERENCE DOMINANCE
For the second time this season, sophomore forward Demajeo Wiggins has recorded a double-double in consecutive games. Last week, the Toledo native posted 17 points and 11 rebounds at Toledo (Jan. 17), before scoring 14 points and registering a career-high 14 rebounds versus Ball State (Jan. 21). The sophomore now has five double-doubles in 2016-17. Last season, he didn't even have five double-digit scoring nights, and he had just one double-digit rebound game. Wiggins has been a force through six conference games, as he's averaging a team-high 14.2 points and 8.5 rebounds. He also leads the team in MAC play with a 58.3 (35-of-60) field goal percentage. In the MAC opener, he recorded a de facto double-double, as he scored a career-high 21 points while adding eight rebounds. After averaging 4.6 points and 4.4 rebounds as a freshman in 2015-16, he's averaging 10.9 and 7.8 this season, respectively.

WIGGINS CONTINUES TO "BEAT THE RIM"
Heading into the offseason, free throw shooting, among other aspects, was a huge focus for sophomore forward Demajeo Wiggins. Michael Huger tried to get Wiggins to narrow his focus, and reminded the sophomore that the only obstacle in his way was the rim. Huger constantly told his player to "beat the rim." This season, Wiggins is experiencing one of the biggest turnarounds from the free throw line in college basketball history. After shooting 37.9 percent (22-of-58) in 2015-16, the Toledo native is, incredibly, up to 68.4 percent (67-of-98) in 2016-17. He's made eight-plus free throws in three games this year, including a pair of 9-for-10 contests. Wiggins has already made 45 more free throws than he did last season, and has earned 40 more free throw attempts than he did in 2015-16. Wiggins leads the team in both makes (67) and attempts (98).

FRYE ENTERS THE STARTING LINEUP
Freshman, Dylan Frye, who, heading into last Saturday's (Jan. 21) game versus Ball State, was averaging 10.0 points and shooting over 50.0 percent from the field over the last nine games, made his second career start in BG's win over the Cardinals. Outside of the season opener, BGSU had played with the same starting five of Ismail Ali, Zack Denny, Antwon Lillard, Wes Alcegaire and Demajeo Wiggins in every game this season. Frye replaced Lillard, and head coach Michael Huger was satisfied with the results. Frye pushed the pace in the transition and finished with a career-high five rebounds, while also adding two points, two assists and one steal. Lillard had six points, four rebounds and two assists, and made a number of key plays down the stretch, which included an important and-one layup and a pair of offensive rebounds that led to points.

FRYE'S FANTASTIC FRESHMAN SEASON
Prior to earning the second start of his career in BG's most-recent game against Ball State (Jan. 21), freshman Dylan Frye was leading the Falcon bench in both minutes and points. On the season, the young sharp shooter is averaging 7.4 points, 1.5 assists, and 1.2 rebounds, while shooting 44.4 percent (52-of-117) from the field. Frye has been an absolutely lethal three-point shooter, as well. His 41.8 percentage (23-of-55) from deep ranks sixth in the MAC, and he's made multiple three-balls in sixth games this season, including four games with at least three triples. The Pembroke Pines, Florida native has made at least one three-pointer in 11 of the last 15 games. Frye has scored in double figures six times this season, and he's not missed a free throw since Nov. 26, 2016. He knocked down two more free throws last game to bump his average up to 73.7 percent. Frye has shot at least 50.0 percent from the field in nine ballgames in 2016-17.

DENNY JOINS BGSU'S THREE-POINT FRATERNITY
Senior guard Zack Denny went 2-for-3 from downtown versus Eastern Michigan (Jan. 10) to move into 10th place all-time on the program's three-point field goals list. He entered the game tied with Jordon Crawford (2009-13) at 122 career triples, but he hit his first attempt from deep to break the tie and move into 10th place. Denny also went 2-for-3 from deep in the Falcons' game last Saturday versus Ball State (Jan. 21). He's now made 127 three-point field goals. The Germantown, Ohio native, who has made at least one three-pointer in 15 of BGSU's last 16 games, is shooting 36.7 percent from downtown for his career. With just five more triples, he can move up to seventh place all-time.

DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING NIGHTS HAVE DENNY NEARING 1,000 CAREER POINTS
For the 48th time in his career, senior Zack Denny scored in double figures in BGSU's most-recent contest against Ball State (Jan. 21). The senior tied his season high with 17 points in the winning effort. Denny has scored in double figures a team-best 16 times in 2016-17. The Germantown, Ohio native is now just 87 points shy of becoming the 44th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Denny has increased his scoring output in each of his four seasons as a Falcon. He's averaging a team-high 12.5 points in 2016-17 after scoring 10.6 points as a junior, 9.2 points as a sophomore, and 3.3 points as a freshman. Along with fellow senior Wes Alcegaire and sophomore Demajeo Wiggins, Denny is one of three Falcons averaging double digits this season. The senior is averaging 13.5 points and 6.2 rebounds in six MAC games – both of which rank second on the team.

ALI MAKING THE MOST OF HIS LAST MAC SEASON
After averaging 5.4 points, 3.8 assists and 2.1 rebounds in his first season in BG in 2015-16, senior guard Ismail Ali is up to 6.9 points, 5.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds. His 5.0 assists per game average ranks fourth in the MAC. Ali also ranks first in the conference with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. The senior has played his best basketball within the MAC. Ali notched 13 points, a season-high five rebounds, two assists and two steals last Saturday (Jan. 21) against Ball State. Prior to that, in a game at Toledo (Jan. 17), he stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, eight assists, five rebounds, two blocks and one steal. In two other MAC games, Ali tied his season high in points with 16. In Bowling Green's conference opener at Akron (Jan. 3), Ali went 6-for-9 from the field, and posted 16 points, five steals, five assists and four rebounds. In a loss to Northern Illinois (Jan. 14), Ali scored 16 points again, while also racking up six assists, two steals and two rebounds. He converted on seven field goals (7-for-11) in the NIU contest, which marked a season high. Ali has scored in double digits six times this season, and in each of those games, he's also added five assists or five rebounds.

ALI RANKED FIRST IN THE MAC IN ASSIST-TO-TURNOVER RATIO
Heading into Tuesday evening's game at Central Michigan (Jan. 24), senior guard Ismail Ali sits first in the Mid-American Conference with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. Ali has 90 assists compared to 41 turnovers. Last season, Ali finished with a 1.8 ratio after racking up 130 assists and committing 73 turnovers. Additionally, the senior sits fourth in the MAC in assists per game with 5.0. He's had 12 games with at least five assists, including nine games with at least six assists. Ali has had a pair of seven-assist games at San Jose State (Dec. 18) and versus Morgan State (Nov. 26), an eight-assist night at Toledo (Jan. 17), while also dishing out a season-high nine assists on Nov. 29 in a win over Notre Dame College.

ALCEGAIRE BOUNCES BACK
After scoring 10-plus points in seven of eight games, including a stretch in which he scored in double digits in five-consecutive games, senior forward Wes Alcegaire entered play last week having been held to single digits in three-straight contests. However, Alcegaire has since scored in double figures in consecutive games. Alcegaire scored 14 points, and registered a season-high seven rebounds at Toledo (Jan. 17). He followed that performance up with 10 points against Ball State (Jan. 21). The Miami native ranks second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.7 points per game. He's also made a team-high 28 three-point field goals. Alcegaire, who already has five more assists (26) than he did all of last season, has shot at least 50.0 percent in nine games.

LILLARD LIGHTS IT UP ACROSS OPENING WEEK IN THE MAC
Sophomore guard Antwon Lillard started the MAC schedule with a pair of big games. He shot 5-for-7 from the field and scored 16 points at Akron (Jan. 3). In Bowling Green's first MAC win of the season at Ball State (Jan. 7), Lillard carried the Falcons down the stretch and finished with a game-high 19 points, which tied his season high. He also chipped in with eight rebounds and three assists. However, in BGSU's last three games prior to Saturday's (Jan. 24) contest versus Ball State, Lillard was held to just eight points and four rebounds combined. The sophomore bounced back with six points, four rebounds and two assists in the win over the Cardinals. On the year, the sophomore is averaging a solid 8.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists, while shooting 45.2 percent from the field.

FOX IS FILLING IT UP FROM DEEP
Junior guard Matt Fox, who was put on scholarship just hours before BGSU's win over Murray State (Nov. 21), continues to shoot the three-ball at a high clip. Fox has hit a three-ball in 11 of Bowling Green's last 15 games. Over that 15-game stretch, Fox is 17-for-36 (47.2 percent) from downtown. Last time out, against Ball State (Jan. 21), the Maumee, Ohio native hit at least two triples for the fifth time this season, as he went 2-for-3 and finished the game with eight points and four rebounds. Fox has also had a 4-for-7 game from three-point land versus Morgan State (Nov. 26). Fox ranks 10th in the MAC in three-point percentage at 41.2 percent.

CALDWELL TIES HIS CAREER HIGH WITH 13 POINTS VERSUS NORFOLK STATE
Freshman guard Rodrick Caldwell found his scoring touch at the end of non-conference play. Caldwell has had three double-digit scoring nights, and all three of them came over BGSU's last five games of the non-conference slate. The freshman tied his career high against Norfolk State (Dec. 30) with 13 points. He was 4-for-7 from the field, had four assists, zero turnovers, three rebounds and one steal. Earlier in December, Caldwell had consecutive nights with 10-plus points, as he scored 10 at Evansville (Dec. 6) and 13 versus Detroit Mercy (Dec. 10). In 16.6 minutes this season, Caldwell is averaging 5.4 points, 1.8 assists and 1.8 rebounds.

THE BGSU SPLASH BROTHERS
Bowling Green has five players on the 2016-17 roster that have made 14-plus attempts from three-point range this season, and all five are shooting over 30.0 percent from downtown. As a team, BGSU is shooting 35.0 percent from deep. This mark is virtually all due to the team's five sharp shooters. Bowling Green's Splash Brothers – Wes Alcegaire (28-of-83; 33.7 percent), Dylan Frye (23-of-55; 41.8 percent), Zack Denny (22-of-72; 30.6 percent), Matt Fox (21-of-51; 41.2 percent), and Rodrick Caldwell (14-of-42; 33.3 percent) – have combined to make a total of 108 triples. Collectively, they are shooting 35.6 percent from deep (108-of-303). Frye ranks sixth in the conference in three-point percentage, while Fox sits 10th.

FALCONS REGISTER WIN NO. 50 AT THE STROH CENTER
Bowling Green's 90-58 win over Morgan State (Nov. 26) marked the program's 50th victory at the Stroh Center. The Falcons now own an overall record of 55-35 at the Stroh Center, which opened for the 2011-12 season. The Orange and Brown have won 11-plus games in three seasons at the Stroh, as BGSU went 12-4 in the facility's inaugural season, prior to finishing 11-5 in 2012-13, and 11-6 in 2014-15. BGSU owns a .611 winning percentage at the Stroh Center. BGSU has won seven games at the Stroh Center this season, which ties last season's total.

YEAR TWO OF THE MICHAEL HUGER ERA
Michael Huger has begun his second season at the helm of his alma mater. Huger has brought some needed stability to the program, as the 2016-17 season marks the first time that the Falcons will have a head coach in consecutive seasons since 2013-14. The former Falcon guard will look to build off an exciting run at last year's MAC Tournament. BG defeated both Kent State and Central Michigan to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2009.

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