Falcons Tally 10th Home Win With Victory Over Buffalo

Tuesday, February 6

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

16-7,7-4MAC

Buffalo

2-20,1-9MAC

Buffalo

Bowling Green

Photo by: Samantha Peebles, BGSU Athletics

February 06, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-Buffalo Game Stats Coach Simon Interview Marcus Hill, Trey Thomas Interview BGSU Highlights Support Our Student-Athletes Photo Gallery

Hill Records Eighth-Straight 20-Point Game

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

Ziggyville Population: 213
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team tallied their 10th win at home this season, topping the Buffalo Bulls Tuesday night (Feb. 6) by a score of 87-73. The first 18 minutes of action was close, playing to a 26-26 score, but the Falcons went on an 8-0 run in the final two minutes of the first half for a 34-26 lead. The momentum carried into the second half with the lead reaching double-digits halfway through at 51-41, soon igniting a 10-0 run to push the lead to 61-44. The Orange and Brown were able to maintain the advantage for the victory, moving to 16-7 on the season and 7-4 in MAC play.

The Falcons were led in scoring by Marcus Hill's 27 points, his eighth-straight 20-point game this season, tying him for the longest 20-point streak in the nation this season. Rashaun Agee added his 11th double-double in the last 15 games with 18 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Jason Spurgin added 14 points and six rebounds while Trey Thomas stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, a team-high six assists and five rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons won the opening tip and Marcus Hill set the tone with a layup from under the basket. Buffalo added three to their tally, but Rashaun Agee slammed down a putback for a 4-3 score.
Buffalo answered with a dunk of their own before DaJion Humphrey utilized a fast break to score and make it a 6-5 BGSU lead.
Back-to-back Bulls buckets swung the score to them at 9-6. On the next BGSU possession, Agee used a post pass to find a cutting Jason Spurgin on the baseline for the dunk.
Hill added a free throw to tie it at 9-9 and a layup to keep it tied at 11-11, starting a 6-0 run for the Falcons. Spurgin and Hill each added layups for the run to send the teams to the under-12 media break with a 15-11 BGSU advantage.
Buffalo attempted to close the gap, but three consecutive monster jams by Agee kept the Falcons in front 21-19 at the media timeout.
Spurgin connected on a corner triple to push the lead to 24-19, but a 5-0 UB run tied the game at 24-24.
A technical foul on Buffalo awarded Trey Thomas two free throws to give the Falcons a 26-24 lead. The Bulls added a layup to tie it up at 26-26 at the under-4 media timeout.
Thomas added another free throw before Spurgin hit a three to force a Buffalo timeout with BGSU leading 30-26.
Agee began the second half with a jumper to set the scoring span at 10-0 over the half for the Falcons.
Buffalo added a three before two Agee free throws to make it a 38-29 BGSU lead, but a 7-0 Buffalo run closed the gap to 38-36.
Hill dropped back-to-back floaters to make it 44-38. UB answered with a three before another Hill layup to make it 46-41.
Agee converted an and-one after a media timeout followed by a Hill jumper to make it a 10-point BGSU lead at 51-41.
Buffalo hit a three before another Agee and-one opportunity at the under-12 media timeout to keep it at a 10-point lead, 54-44.
The run continued for BGSU. EJay Greer found Spurgin for a dunk. Humphrey then swiped a steal that turned into a Greer layup on the offensive end. Greer's stretch continued with a corner three to push the lead to 61-44 with a 10-0 BGSU lead, forcing a Buffalo timeout.
The teams traded baskets before a Thomas three pushed the lead to 66-49 at the media timeout.
The two teams continued trading points before a 4-0 burst at the line for BGSU with Hill and Humphrey each hitting two free throws to make it 73-56. Humphrey added a layup for a 75-58 score at the final media timeout.
Bowling Green and Buffalo kept going back-and-forth to an 81-66 score with BGSU taking a timeout. The same stretched to an 83-68 score with another Bowling Green timeout.
Thomas hit two more free throws before Anthony McComb III got a layup to fall on a fast break following a steal for an 87-68 lead.
Buffalo added five points down the stretch for the 87-73 victory for the Falcons.

STAT LEADERS

Marcus Hill: 27 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
Rashaun Agee: 18 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Jason Spurgin: 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals
Trey Thomas: 11 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
DaJion Humphrey: 6 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds, 2 assists

FALCON STAT FACTS

The win marks the 10th at home for the Falcons this season, the most home wins for BGSU since the 2019-20 season.
At the free throw line, Bowling Green went 17-of-19 for a mark of 89.5%, the team's best free throw percentage in a game this season.
As a team, the Falcons shot 54.1% from the field, their best mark in conference play and second-best of the season. BGSU has shot 50% or better five times this year and are 5-0 in those games.
In the second half, Bowling Green logged a field goal percentage of 70.4%, their best mark for any half this season.
The Orange and Brown made 33 field goals in the game, two shy of their season high, and logged 19 assists, one shy of their season high.
Marcus Hill paced the Falcons in scoring with 27 for the Orange and Brown. Hill now has eight straight 20-point games, tied for the longest streak in the nation this season with North Carolina's RJ Davis and Northern Colorado's Saint Thomas. Hill's is the only active streak of the three.
Rashaun Agee continued his strong stretch with his 11th double-double in the last 15 games, finishing with 18 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. He added BGSU's lone block for the game as well. Agee now has three straight double-doubles for the third separate time this season.
With 11 points, Trey Thomas brought his season scoring total to 201 points. The mark sets a new career-high for points in a single-season for Thomas, surpassing his 192 from a season ago.
Thomas added a team-high six assists for the Falcons, marking the sixth time he has led BGSU in the stat. In those six games, Bowling Green is 6-0. Thomas matched his career-high for assists (6), rebounds (5) and defensive rebounds (5).
Getting his first start in conference play, DaJion Humphrey tallied six points for the Falcons while matching his career-high for steals with a team-leading three.
The starting lineup of Thomas, Hill, Humphrey, Jason Spurgin and Agee is now 4-0 this year for BGSU.
Coming off the bench, EJay Greer tallied a career-high three assists for the Falcons. He also matched his career-high for rebounds with three.
The Falcons are up to seven conference wins now, the most since having 10 in 2020-21.
Now 16-7 on the season and 7-4 in MAC play, both records are the best for the Falcons through 23 games played and 11 conference games since 2019-20.
This is the first win for Bowling Green over Buffalo since Jan. 15, 2021 and the first at home over Buffalo since Dec. 6, 2020.

TODD WALKER RADIO CALLS
Humphrey Steal and Layup
Agee Dunk 1.0
Agee Dunk 2.0
Spurgin Triple
Hill Closes First Half At Buzzer
Spurgin Slam
3Jay Greer
McComb Layup Late
Falcons Win!
Postgame Interview With Assistant Coach Bob Gallager

QUOTE FROM COACH SIMON
"Good bounce back coming off a heartbreaker to Central Michigan. We wanted to shore up a few things and I thought we responded very well on some things we challenged the team on. We played much faster. We shared the ball, obviously with 19 assists. We attacked the paint, we didn't settle for shots the defense wanted to give us. We wanted to dictate the terms of what shot we were going to get and I thought that showed a little bit. Having the lead for 31 minutes, you're starting to play from ahead and not relinquishing things and that was an emphasis we really had. We made 89% from the free throw line. So, things were looking a little more cleaned up from the last couple times out."

UP NEXT
The Falcons will be off until Sunday (Feb. 11) when they take on Louisiana in the second leg of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. EST tip and will be the first of three straight road games for the Orange and Brown.

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