Falcons Earn Huge Road Win At Buffalo In Front Of National Audience

Friday, January 15

Buffalo, NY

7:00 PM EST

Bowling Green State University

10-3,6-1MAC

Buffalo

5-4,3-2MAC

Bowling Green

Buffalo

Falcons Earn Huge Road Win At Buffalo In Front Of National Audience

January 15, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by BGSU Strategic Communications

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

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team picked up a critically-important conference road win on Friday (Jan. 15) night by defeating the University at Buffalo, 76-69. The Mid-American Conference contest, which was played inside of UB's Alumni Arena, aired in front of a national audience on CBS Sports Network.

With the victory, the Falcons move to within a half game of rival Toledo for first place in the MAC. BGSU is now 10-3 (6-1 MAC) in 2020-21. Buffalo falls to 5-4 (3-2 MAC) with the loss. Bowling Green completed its regular-season sweep of the Bulls on the evening, marking its first two-game sweep of Buffalo in 10 years. The Falcons defeated UB in the MAC opener at Stroh Center in early December.

BGSU led by 16 at the half, but needed to survive a Buffalo second-half blitz to close out the victory. With the lead all the way down to a single point, fifth-year senior guard Justin Turner hit a clutch triple to give BG a 62-58 lead with 5:38 to play. The Falcons, which led the entire second half, went on to lead by three-plus points for the remainder of the contest following Turner's three-pointer.

Turner finished with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting. The native of Detroit also added five assists and five rebounds. Junior center Jacob Washington registered the first double-double of his career with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Daeqwon Plowden (13 points) and junior Caleb Fields (12 points) scored in double figures for the Falcons, as well.

COACH HUGER QUOTE
"I definitely wanted this one after the butt-whooping that Ball State put on us. I wanted our guys to compete and fight for everything and they did a great job tonight. We competed and fought from start to finish, and that's what it's about."

7️⃣6️⃣ — Bowling Green
6️⃣9️⃣ — Buffalo Bulls#AyZiggy // #Team106 pic.twitter.com/WJeJrVK5De
— BGSU Basketball (@BGSUMHoops) January 16, 2021

TEAM NOTES
• Bowling Green has won back-to-back games inside of Alumni Arena for the first time since 2001 and 2002.
• The Falcons secured a home-and-home sweep of Buffalo in the regular season for the first time in a decade (2010-11 season).
• Bowling Green has won three of the last four meetings with Buffalo dating back to January of 2020. The all-time series between the two schools is now tied at 22-22.
• The Falcons are 6-1 in Mid-American Conference play for the third-consecutive season.
• BGSU has won six-straight road games in the same season for the first time since its regular-season MAC title campaign in 2008-09. The Falcons are 6-1 on the road in 2020-21. BG's lone road loss this season came in the season opener at Michigan on Nov. 25, 2020. The Wolverines are currently 10-0 and ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25.
• The Falcons have racked up a record of 30-13 in Mid-American Conference play since 2019. Including 2020-21 in the three-run stretch, BGSU is now averaging 10.0 league wins per season since 2019.
• With the win, BGSU moved one-game above .500 in MAC play under head coach Michael Huger. The Falcons are 49-48 in the Huger Era in league play. Huger is closing in on 100-career victories, as the Falcons have accumulated a record of 98-78 under its current head coach.
• Bowling Green's 56 rebounds marked the most for the program since pulling down 61 in the 2019-20 season opener versus Tiffin on Nov. 5, 2019. The 56 boards are the most for BGSU against a Division I opponent since grabbing 57 rebounds in an OT win at Green Bay on Dec. 21, 2017. Tonight marks the first time this millennium that Bowling Green had 26 offensive rebounds. It's also the first time this millennium that BGSU had 56-plus rebounds in a conference game.
• BGSU held an opponent below 40.0 percent shooting for the fourth time this season. Three of those games have taken place within the Mid-American Conference. On the night, the Falcons held the Bulls to 34.8 percent (23-of-66) shooting, including a 7-for-31 (22.6 percent) clip over the first 20 minutes.
• Bowling Green got out to an early 5-0 lead and led for a total of 39:26 of the game's 40 minutes. The Falcons led by as many as 18 points in the contest.
• The Falcons had 24 second-chance points compared to just 13 for the Bulls. Bowling Green also had more bench points (19-6) than Buffalo.
• BGSU is 3-0 in 2020-21 in games following a loss.
• Bowling Green is 30-18 in the month of January under head coach Michael Huger.
• The Falcons are 2-0 in 2020-21 when playing on a Friday.

PLAYER NOTES
• Fifth-year senior guard Justin Turner shot 50.0 percent (9-of-18) from the field and finished with 25 points, five rebounds and five assists. Turner has scored in double figures in all 13 games in 2020-21. The native of Detroit has scored 25-plus points a total of 17 times in the Orange and Brown. Turner's effort marked the 47th game in his collegiate career with 20-plus points.
• Turner has scored 1,868 points in 107 games at Bowling Green. Turner needs just 71 points to become BGSU's all-time leading scorer. With 28 points, Turner will move into second place all-time, surpassing Falcon legend and former NBA guard Keith McLeod (1998-2002 | 1,895 points). Turner has bumped his career scoring average up to 17.5 points, which ranks ninth-best at Bowling Green.
• Senior forward Daeqwon Plowden scored in double figures for the 46th time in his career, including the ninth-such effort in 2020-21. Plowden tied for the team lead in rebounds with eight.
• Junior guard Caleb Fields scored 12 points and went 6-for-6 from the foul line. Eight of Fields' 20 career double-figure scoring games have come in 2020-21. Additionally, Fields registered a career-high eight rebounds in the contest.
• Junior center Jacob Washington had a career night for the Falcons, posting the first double-double of his career. Washington notched career highs with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The big man tied career highs with two steals and four free-throw makes.
• All three of Bowling Green's scholarship freshmen made an impact in the game, combining for 10 points, 14 rebounds and two assists. Kaden Metheny posted five points, four rebounds and two assists. Cam Young and Josiah Fulcher each had five rebounds. Young hit one free throw, while Fulcher scored four points.
• Redshirt-sophomore center Dylan Swingle added two points and two rebounds. Senior forward Trey Diggs contributed with four points and five rebounds.

TODD WALKER RADIO CALLS
• Big-Time Triple For JT (62-58, BGSU)
• Turner For Two (64-59, BGSU)
• Washington Won't Be Denied (BGSU, 66-59)
• Turner Clutch Finish (70-63, BGSU)
• Falcons Sweep Buffalo! (76-69, BGSU)

NEXT WEEK IN FALCON BASKETBALL
Jan. 19 | vs. Akron | 7 p.m. | Bowling Green, Ohio | Stroh Center
Jan. 21 | at Miami | 5:30 p.m. | Oxford, Ohio | Millett Hall

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