Metheny Drops 29 And Sinks Eight Triples In BGSU’s Tuesday Win At EMU

Tuesday, February 23

Ypsilanti, MI

7:00 PM EST

Bowling Green State University

13-9,9-7MAC

Eastern Michigan

4-10,1-9MAC

Bowling Green

Eastern Mich.

Metheny Drops 29 And Sinks Eight Triples In BGSU’s Tuesday Win At EMU

February 24, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by BGSU Strategic Communications

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

YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team claimed its third-straight victory Tuesday (Feb. 23) night by knocking off Eastern Michigan, 82-69. Freshman guard Kaden Metheny scored a career-high 29 points and fell one triple shy of matching Boston Celtics' assistant and former Falcon star Jay Larranaga's single-game school record. The Mid-American Conference game was played inside of EMU's Convocation Center.

The Falcons improved to 13-9 on the campaign with the win. Bowling Green is now 9-7 in conference play. BGSU is a league-best 7-2 on the road in league play in 2020-21.

EMU led by as many as 17 points in the first half, but the Falcons closed the opening stanza on a 16-2 run to trim the Eagles' lead to 31-28 at the break. Just 5:01 into the second half, Metheny drilled four more triples and scored 14 points to give BGSU an eight-point lead. The burst was part of a 19-6 run to open the second half, which turned a three-point deficit into a 10-point BGSU lead. Bowling Green would take a 14-point advantage with 12:11 left in regulation – ultimately closing out the game by making its final nine free throws.

As part of his historic night from beyond the arc, Metheny – from the 3:19 mark of the first half until the 14:59 mark of the second half – connected on six-consecutive triples. Metheny broke the freshman record for triples in a game, which was set by teammate Caleb Fields. On this night, Fields finished three assists shy of a triple-double, posting 13 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven assists. The double-double is the first in Fields' career.

Seniors Justin Turner (13 points), Daeqwon Plowden (13) and Trey Diggs (10) each scored in double figures for the Orange and Brown. The Falcons will take on Akron this Friday (Feb. 26) on the road at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

COACH HUGER QUOTE
"He's been great. He's been practicing well and it's finally translating to the game. He seems fresh and mentally ready to go, and he's been playing well for us these last three games … He's done a really good job of knocking down shots. He's playing with confidence. He's playing with so much confidence – I hope that continues for him." – Coach Huger on freshman guard Kaden Metheny

8️⃣2️⃣ — #Team106
6️⃣9️⃣ — Eastern Michigan pic.twitter.com/z1wljUCTtW
— BGSU Basketball (@BGSUMHoops) February 24, 2021

TODD WALKER RADIO CALLS
• Metheny X 1
• Plowden Three-Pointer
• Metheny X 2
• Fields Layup At First-Half Buzzer
• Metheny X 3
• Metheny X 4
• Metheny X 5
• Metheny X 6
• Metheny X 7
• Young SLAM!
• #DowntownDiggs
• Metheny X 8

TEAM NOTES
• The 17-point comeback win marks Bowling Green's largest comeback victory since Feb. 22, 2020. On that day, the Falcons overcame an 18-point deficit to beat Ohio, 62-61, on a Justin Turner jump shot with 2.2 seconds left in regulation.
• Bowling Green has won a league-best seven road games in Mid-American Conference play in 2020-21. BGSU's road winning percentage of .777 in MAC play also leads the conference. BGSU's nine road wins overall and 9-3 road record on the season are league bests, as well.
• The Falcons are 101-84 in the Michael Huger Era. Bowling Green is 56-31 under Huger since the start of the 2018-19 season.
• BGSU has posted a MAC record of 33-19 since the start of the 2018-19 season.
• With the win, BGSU moved to 3-2 in the month of February this season. The Falcons are 29-27 when playing on a Tuesday under head coach Michael Huger.
• Bowling Green improves to 6-1 against Eastern Michigan in the Michael Huger Era. The Falcons have won fight-straight games in the series dating back to 2018. BGSU holds a 53-43 advantage in its all-time series with the Eagles.
• Bowling Green made a season-high 15 three-pointers, going 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) from downtown on the night. BG's 48.4 three-point percentage marks its best in MAC play in 2020-21. BGSU was two made triples shy of tying its school record. The Falcons made a school-record 17 three-pointers on Dec. 4, 1989 versus Siena.
• The Falcons dished out 17 assists. Bowling Green has racked up 10-plus assists in 19-of-22 games in 2020-21.
• The Orange and Brown won the battle on the glass by a 39-29 margin.
• Bowling Green scored 17 points off 14 Eastern Michigan turnovers. The Falcons had more second-chance points (8-2) and fast-break points (19-9) than the Eagles.
• BGSU outscored EMU in the second half by a margin of 54-38. The Falcons have scored at least 11 more points than their opposition over the final 20 minutes of regulation a total of 10 times in 2020-21.
--- By 21 versus South Carolina State (56-35)
--- By 21 points at Northern Illinois (45-24)
--- By 18 points versus Purdue Northwest (48-30)
--- By 18 points at Ohio (51-33)
--- By 16 points at Eastern Michigan (54-38)
--- By 16 points at Robert Morris (44-28)
--- By 14 points at Ball State (41-27)
--- By 15 points versus Wright State (46-31)
--- By 13 points at Central Michigan (49-36)
--- By 11 points versus Central Michigan (44-33)

PLAYER NOTES
• Freshman guard Kaden Metheny scored a career-high 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Metheny went a historic 8-for-14 from downtown, falling just one triple shy of Jay Larranaga's single-game BGSU record. Larranaga connected on nine triples versus Akron on Feb. 8, 1997.
• The freshman from Morgantown, West Virginia has scored 20-plus points in back-to-back games. Metheny is averaging 21.3 points on 56.1 percent (23-of-41) shooting over the last three ballgames. He's 14-of-29 (48.3 percent) from downtown over the same stretch.
• Metheny fell just four points shy of tying the BGSU freshman single-game scoring record, which was set by teammate Justin Turner. In his first start as a Falcon, Turner scored 33 points at Drexel on Nov. 10, 2017.
• Metheny broke the Bowling Green freshman record for triples in a game, which was set by teammate Caleb Fields, who went 6-for-7 from downtown in a non-conference game at the Stroh Center on Dec. 30, 2018 versus Tennessee-Martin.
• Junior guard Caleb Fields finished the contest just three assists shy of Bowling Green's first triple-double in 14 years. Fields posted the first double-double of his career, finishing with 13 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Fields' career high for assists entering the night was five. The junior has grabbed 10 rebounds in back-to-back games, as he also pulled down 10 boards at Ball State on Feb. 16.
• Fields and fifth-year senior guard Justin Turner led all players with on-court ratings of plus-19. Playing near his hometown of Detroit, Turner had 13 points, six rebounds, a career-high five steals and four assists. Turner surpassed 350 career assists on the night, and now has 353 in his Bowling Green career, which is ninth-best in school history.
• By going 2-for-4 from three-point range, Turner broke the tie with Martin Samarco (2005-07 | 180) to move into fifth place all-time on BGSU's all-time three-point field goals list.
• Turner has scored 2,038 points in the Orange and Brown. The native of Detroit already ranks 13th all-time in Mid-American Conference scoring. Turner is three points away from surpassing former Western Michigan Bronco Thomas Wilder (2014-18 | 2,040).
• Senior forward Daeqwon Plowden scored 13 points, moving past three Falcons -- Joe Gregory (1985-89 | 1,061), Dee Brown (2008-12 | 1,065) and Zack Denny (2013-17 | 1,070) -- on Bowling Green's all-time scoring list. Plowden now ranks 41st all-time with 1,072 career points.
• With nine rebounds, Plowden moved within two rebounds of passing Skip Howard (1973-75 | 693) for 11th place on Bowling Green's all-time rebounding list.
• Senior forward Trey Diggs scored in double figures for the 25th time in his Bowling Green career. Diggs poured in 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including a 2-for-3 mark from downtown. Diggs also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Freshmen Cam Young and Josiah Fulcher each entered the scoring column in the game with two points each. Junior center Jacob Washington added one rebound and one assist. Redshirt-sophomore center Dylan Swingle contributed with a rebound.

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