Falcons Move To 8-1 In MAC Following Road Win At Western Michigan

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

NEXT HOME GAME
Bowling Green hosts the Battle Of I-75 versus Toledo on Saturday, Feb. 9. Tip is slated for 6 p.m. inside the Stroh Center. The game will stream live on ESPN3. Bowling Green's 2008-09 MAC regular-season championship team will be honored during the ballgame.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team traveled to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and picked up an 85-72 victory on Tuesday (Feb. 5) night over the Western Michigan University Broncos. With the win, Bowling Green moves 16-6 overall in 2018-19, and 8-1 in Mid-American Conference play.

The Falcons' pushed their first-place lead in the MAC to a full a game over the 23rd-ranked Buffalo Bulls. Western Michigan drops to 6-16 (0-9 MAC) following the defeat.

With nine more regular-season games to go, the Falcons have already set a Michael Huger Era high with eight conference wins. BGSU's 16 wins overall ties a Huger Era high.

COACH HUGER QUOTE
"It's always nice to win on the road. It's so difficult to win on the road in the MAC. I didn't want our guys to look at the record. The biggest thing was not looking at the record of 0-8, and thinking that they can't play. We didn't take them lightly. We came out and we fought from the beginning. We had to clean up some things and we were able to make adjustments, and that was the difference in the game."

TODD WALKER RADIO CALLS
• Fields And-1
• Lillard Steal And Trey
• #DeepFrye
• Turner Slips Screen For Score
• Wiggins And-1
• #TwonTriple
• Crossover Into A #DeepFrye
• Wiggins DUNK!
• FALCONS WIN!!!

FALCON FACTS
• For just the fourth time in school history, Bowling Green is 8-1 in the Mid-American Conference. The 1961-62, 1979-80 and 1982-83 Falcon teams also started MAC play at 8-1.
• With nine more regular-season games to go, the Falcons have already set a Michael Huger Era high with eight conference wins. BGSU's 16 wins overall ties a Huger Era high.
• Bowling Green's four MAC road wins is a Huger Era high, as well. The Falcons are 4-1 on the season in conference away games.
• For the first time since 2014-15, Bowling Green is 10 games above the .500 mark. BGSU is 16-6 in 2018-19.
• With tonight's win, Bowling Green moved a full game ahead of No. 23 Buffalo for first place in the MAC. Additionally, BGSU currently owns the tiebreaker with the Bulls.
• Bowling Green swept the 2018-19 season series with Western Michigan, as the Falcons picked up a 79-48 win over the Broncos inside the Stroh Center on Jan. 19.
• Bowling Green increased its all-time series lead over Western Michigan to 73-48.
• The Orange and Brown won in WMU's University Arena for the first time since Jan. 26, 2016.
• The Falcons went 12-for-28 (42.9 percent) from downtown. Over the last 13 games, Bowling Green is shooting 42.8 percent (126-of-294) from three-point range. BGSU has shot at least 40.0 percent from deep in 11 of those 12 ballgames.
• Bowling Green has made 10-plus triples in seven games in 2018-19, including four such games in conference play. In MAC play, BGSU leads the league with a 43.7 three-point shooting percentage.
• Bowling Green forced 22 Western Michigan turnovers, and took advantage by scoring 21 points off those turnovers. On the flip side, BGSU had 18 assists compare to just 11 turnovers.
• The Falcons posted a season-high 13 steals, marking the most steals in one game for the program since collecting 13 steals in a win over Morehead State on Dec. 15, 2013.
• BGSU took care of the specialty statistics on the evening, as the Falcons had more points off turnovers (21-13), while also scoring more fast-break points (8-2) and bench points (37-7).

PLAYER NOTES
• Senior guard Antwon Lillard had a huge night for the Falcons, finishing with a career-high 27 points and season-high 11 rebounds. Lillard tied his career high for made triples in a game, as he went 5-for-8 from downtown.
• Lillard – who has scored in double figures in nine of the last 11 games – is averaging 12.1 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 50.6 percent from the floor over the last 11 contests.
• Over the last 11 games, Lillard is shooting 53.3 percent (24-of-45) from three-point range.
• Lillard is now just 44 points away from becoming the 46th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. In order to hit the 1,000-point plateau in the regular season, the Cleveland native will need to average 4.8 points over the next nine games.
• For the first time in his career, junior guard Dylan Frye has scored 20-plus points in back-to-back games. Frye, after scoring 25 versus No. 18 Buffalo, scored 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting. The junior had three assists, as well, and tied a career high with four steals.
• By going 4-for-9 from downtown, Frye surpassed Scott Thomas (2008-12) for sixth all-time in three-point makes at Bowling Green. Frye, who has hit multiple triples in 44 career games, has made 154 three-pointers as a Falcon.
• Frye has made four-plus triples in five games in 2018-19. Two of those efforts have come against Western Michigan. Frye is shooting 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from deep versus WMU in 2018-19.
• Senior forward Demajeo Wiggins, who now has 36 career double-doubles, notched his 14th double-double of 2018-19. Wiggins finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
• With his 15 points, Wiggins surpassed Rich Walker (1968-71) and Joe Moore (1987-91) on BGSU's all-time scoring list. The senior now ranks 28th all-time with 1,176 points. Wiggins pushed his career rebounding total up to 958, and is just 42 rebounds shy of becoming the third player in school history to register 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
• Junior guard Michael Laster scored six points on 2-of-3 shooting. More impressively, Laster posted seven assists and did not commit a single turnover. Laster's seven assists set a career high for the Manhattan native.
• Redshirt-sophomore guard Justin Turner earned some well-deserved rest down the stretch, as the Falcons led by as much as 18 points in the closing minutes. Still, Turner was able to add eight points, two rebounds, two assists, and a season-high three steals.
• Underclassmen starters Caleb Fields and Daeqwon Plowden scored three points and two points, respectively. Both players posted two assists, while Plowden pulled down five rebounds.
• Redshirt-senior forward Jeffrey Uju and junior forward Marlon Sierra added two points apiece. Sierra also recorded a career-high three steals.

UP NEXT
• Bowling Green hosts the Battle Of I-75 versus Toledo on Saturday, Feb. 9. Tip is slated for 6 p.m. inside the Stroh Center. The game will stream live on ESPN3.
• Bowling Green's 2008-09 MAC regular-season championship team will be honored during the ballgame.
• It is important to point out that the arena will be cleared following the BGSU women's basketball team's game versus Miami on Saturday at 2 p.m. One ticket does not get you into both games.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results