Turner’s Career-High 34 Points Leads BGSU To Road Win At Northern Illinois

Saturday, February 16

DeKalb, IL

4:30 PM

Bowling Green State University

18-7

Northern Illinois

12-14

Bowling Green

Northern Ill.

Turner’s Career-High 34 Points Leads BGSU To Road Win At Northern Illinois

February 16, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Box Score
Post-Game Audio: Coach Huger With Todd Walker

DEKALB, Ill. – Behind a career-high 34 points from redshirt-sophomore guard Justin Turner, the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team defeated Northern Illinois University on Saturday (Feb. 16) afternoon by a score of 87-67. The ballgame was played at the NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois.

Bowling Green moves to 18-7 on the season with the win. The Falcons are 10-2 in Mid-American Conference play for the first time since 1979-80. The Orange and Brown, with six regular-season games to play, remain in first place in the MAC.

COACH HUGER QUOTE
"I thought our guys played extremely hard to start the game … Today, I wanted to get off to a great start. I challenged the guys to do such a thing, and we were able to do it and sustain the lead throughout."

TODD WALKER RADIO CALLS
• #DeepFrye
• Another #DeepFrye
• #TwonTriple
• Turner Three-Ball
• Turner Corner Three-Pointer
• Lillard From Downtown
• Laster Sweet Dish To Sierra
• Wiggins SLAM!
• Turner Scores Career-High 34th Point

FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons are 10-2 in Mid-American Conference play for the first time since 1979-80.
• Bowling Green is 18-7 on the campaign. With each win, the Falcons will continue to set a Michael Huger Era high. Prior to this season, BGSU's highest win total under Huger was 16 wins (2015-16 and 2017-18).
• With six regular-season games to play, the Falcons still sit in first place in the MAC.
• For the first time since 2014-15, the Falcons have won 10-plus MAC games. Since the 2000-01 season, BGSU had won 10-plus MAC games just five teams prior to 2018-19.
• Bowling Green is 5-1 on the road within the conference. BGSU has won five-plus MAC road games in the regular season for the first time since 2014-15.
• Bowling Green finishes the 2018-19 regular season with a 7-1 record against MAC West institutions.
• The Falcons' win marks the program's first at the NIU Convocation Center in the Michael Huger Era.
• Bowling Green leads its all-time series versus Northern Illinois by a 34-30 margin.
• BGSU shot a season-high 58.7 percent (27-of-46) from the field, surpassing its previous season high of 53.4 percent (31-of-58) in a home win over Ohio on Jan. 8, 2019. BG's shooting effort was its best since shooting 60.0 percent (27-of-45) in a road win at Miami Jan. 16, 2018.
• After shooting at least 50.0 percent in four games last season, Bowling Green has shot at least 50.0 percent in eight games in 2018-19.
• Bowling Green held the Huskies to 39.0 percent shooting, marking the 11th time in 2018-19 that a Falcon opponent has shot below 40.0 percent. BGSU accomplished that feat four times last season.
• Bowling Green registered 20 assists, marking the fourth time this season that the Falcons have posted 20-plus assists.
• The Falcons went 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) from downtown. Over the last 16 games, Bowling Green is shooting 41.7 percent (151-of-362) from three-point range. BGSU has shot at least 40.0 percent from deep in 14 of those 16 ballgames.
• The Falcons won the battle on the glass by a 36-25 margin. Bowling Green has posted 10-plus more rebounds than its opposition in nine games in 2018-19.
• For the fourth time in the last five games, BGSU made 20-plus free throws. The Falcons went 21-of-32 at the charity stripe.
• Bowling Green controlled the specialty statistics on the evening. The Falcons scored more second-chance points (16-7), while also having more fast-break points (9-6) and bench points (24-4).
• Bowling Green led for 36:49 of the ballgame's 40 minutes.

PLAYER NOTES
• Redshirt-sophomore guard Justin Turner scored a career-high 34 points. Turner went 10-for-14 from the field and from the free throw line, while going 4-for-5 from downtown. Turner has scored 30-plus points four times in his career, including two such games in 2018-19.
• A Falcon has scored 30-plus points a total of 28 times since 2000 – four of those games have been turned in by Turner. Even more impressive, 20 of those games were submitted by juniors or seniors, while Turner has accomplished the feat within his first two seasons at BGSU.
• All four of Turner's 30-plus point games (33 at Drexel on Nov. 10, 2017; 30 at Akron on Jan. 13, 2018; 30 at Central Michigan on Jan. 12, 2019) have come on the road.
• Turner leads the MAC in 20-point games in 2018-19 with 14. He's now scored 20-plus points 24 times in his career. Remarkably, in just 60 games, Turner has already scored 978 points.
• Junior guard Dylan Frye also scored in double figures for the Orange and Brown, as he finished with 13 points, two steals, three rebounds, five assists, and just one turnover.
• Frye is averaging 19.6 points per game over Bowling Green's last five contests. Frye, who made two more triples on the afternoon, has hit multiple three-pointers in 47 games. He ranks sixth all-time at BGSU in three-point makes with 163.
• Frye is just 34 points away from reaching 1,000 career points.
• Senior guard Antwon Lillard flirted with a triple-double, as he finished with 10 points, a career-high six assists, five rebounds and two steals. Lillard, who is just 25 points shy of 1,000 for his career, has scored in double figures in 10 of BGSU's last 14 contests.
• Lillard went 2-for-4 from three-point range. Over the last 13 games, the senior is shooting 51.0 percent (25-of-49) from downtown.
• Junior forward Marlon Sierra tied a career high with nine points. The junior went 3-for-4 from the floor, including a 1-for-2 mark from distance. Sierra also set a conference career high with seven rebounds.
• Senior forward Demajeo Wiggins contributed with eight points, three rebounds and two blocks. Wiggins surpassed Jordon Crawford (2009-13) for 26th all-time on BGSU's scoring list. Wiggins, who is just 17 rebounds shy of 1,000, has scored 1,217 points in the Orange and Brown.
• Also entering the scoring column for the Falcons: freshman guard Caleb Fields (6), junior guard Michael Laster (3), sophomore forward Daeqwon Plowden (2), and senior guard De Andre' Austin (2).

UP NEXT
• Bowling Green returns to the Stroh Center to face the Akron Zips on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
• The ballgame, which will be the first of two meetings with Akron in 2018-19, is set to tip at 7 p.m.