March 10, 2008

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -

THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team, having concluded Mid-American Conference regular-season play, now prepares for the First Energy MAC Tournament ... the Falcons of head coach Louis Orr, the ninth seed for the league tourney, head to Cleveland for a first-round game vs. the eighth-seeded University of Toledo ... BGSU will meet the arch-rival Rockets in Wednesday (March 12) action ... tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena (20,562) ... the BGSU-UT winner will advance to Thursday's (March 13) quarterfinal round, taking on top-seeded Kent State University in a 7:00 p.m. start.

THE OPENING TIP
• The Falcons have an all-time record of 16-25 in the MAC Tournament ... BGSU is looking to win a first-round game for the first time since the 2005 tourney.

• Junior Nate Miller tied his career high with 21 points in the Falcons' loss at Miami Sunday (March 9) ... he leads the Falcons with 22 double-digit scoring games and five games of 20 points or more this season ... Miller has scored exactly 21 points on five career occasions, including four times this season.

• Junior Brian Moten, a top candidate for MAC Sixth-Man-of-the-Year honors, made just his second start of the season on Sunday, and his first in MAC play ... Moten's other starting assignment came in the Eastern Illinois game (Dec. 29).

BGSU's MAC TOURNAMENT BREAKDOWN
The Falcons, as mentioned, are 16-25 all-time in MAC Tournament games ... BGSU enters the Toledo game with a record of 4-2 in first-round contests ... the Falcons are 9-13 all-time in quarterfinal-round contests, 3-7 in the semifinals and 0-3 in championship games ... BGSU is 7-2 in home games, 2-3 in road contests and 7-20 in neutral-site affairs in the MAC Tournament over the years.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Toledo game with an overall record of 13-16, and BGSU finished MAC play with a 7-9 ledger ... the Falcons finished fifth in the East Division, and BG is the ninth overall seed for the 12-team First Energy MAC Tournament ... BG saw a two-game winning streak halted with Tuesday's (March 4) 96-50 loss at Buffalo, before ending the regular season with Sunday's (March 9) 75-59 setback at Miami ... the loss to UB snapped a two-game losing streak, as the Falcons had posted a road win over Detroit, 81-65, in the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters event (Feb. 23) before downing nationally-ranked Kent State, 89-83, in the final home game (March 1) ... BGSU went 4-6 against MAC East Division teams and 3-3 vs. West Division programs ... the Falcons downed Wednesday's opponent - arch-rival Toledo - by a 69-58 count at home before a national-TV audience on Feb. 10, but then dropped five-of-six games, prior to the wins over UDM and KSU.

• The Falcons opened the league schedule with a 2-2 record, with home wins over Ohio (52-49; Jan. 5) and Buffalo (83-70; Jan. 17) and road losses to KSU (49-63; Jan. 12) and Akron (44-80; Jan. 20) ... after that MAC start, BG then won three-straight games, posting narrow home wins over Miami (55-52; Jan. 23) and Northern Illinois (63-59; Jan. 27) before heading to Ball State and picking up a 63-53 decision (Jan. 30) to move to 5-2 in league action ... that win streak came to an end with a 64-50 loss at Western Michigan (Feb. 2), the first game in that six-game stretch in which the Brown and Orange went 1-5.

• The Falcons opened the 2007-08 season with a 4-2 record, including a 2-1 mark at the season-opening Peggy Cronin Classic at Cincinnati ... the wins in that tourney came over Belmont and host UC ... the Falcons' other victories over the first six games of the year came against Morehead State and at Furman ... then, however, BG suffered a four-game losing streak in December, with three of those losses coming on the road.

• The Falcons won two of three games on the homestand that bridged the New Year, with a 52-48 win over Eastern Illinois (Dec. 29), a 96-78 loss to Duquesne (Jan. 2) at Anderson Arena and the MAC-opening victory over Ohio.

• The Falcons finished with records of 8-5 at home and 4-10 on the road, and the team enters the UT contest at 1-1 in neutral-site games ... BGSU is averaging 64.0 points per game to the opponents' 68.5 ppg ... the Falcons are shooting 44.1 percent from the field, while allowing the opponents to shoot 41.5% ... opponents have made a total of three more field goals than the Brown and Orange through 29 games (678 FTM for opponents to 675 for BGSU).

• Individually, junior Nate Miller leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.3 points per game ... Miller, who tied his career best with 21 points at Miami Sunday, has 22 double-digit scoring games this year, and five games of 20 points or more ... he leads BG in both categories ... Miller also paces the Falcons in steals (1.5 spg), and is second on the squad in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and assists (2.7 apg).

• Redshirt freshman Chris Knight is second on the team in scoring, and leads the Falcons in rebounding ... Knight, a MAC Freshman-of-the-Year candidate, has 10.7 points and 7.3 boards per game, and is third on the team in blocked shots (1.0 bpg) ... Knight has a team-leading four double-doubles, and has been just one rebound away from a double-double on four other occasions.

• Junior Brian Moten, a top candidate for MAC Sixth-Man-of-the-Year honors, is third on the team in scoring, averaging 9.4 ppg ... Moten, who is averaging 16.5 points over the last four games, is shooting 51.9 percent from the field, ranking second on the team, and has shot a BG-best 44.1% from the three-point line ... Moten, who hit a career-high six three-pointers vs. KSU, enters the league tournament having made a team-leading 41 triples.

• Guards Joe Jakubowski and Darryl Clements have 7.9 and 7.4 points per game, respectively ... Jakubowski, a freshman, leads the Falcons in assists, with 3.1 per outing ... he posted career-high scoring totals in two-straight games, with 17 at UDM and 21 vs. KSU, and also set a career assists standard in the latter game, with 12 helpers vs. the Golden Flashes ... Jakubowski is second on the team in three-pointers made, with 33 ... Clements is second on the Falcons in steals (1.2 spg), third in assists (2.3 apg) and fifth on the team in rebounding (2.9 rpg) ... the junior is third on the Falcons with 25 three-point FG made.

• Sophomores Otis Polk and Marc Larson have split time at center, and are averaging 5.2 and 4.9 points per contest, respectively ... Polk has 4.3 rpg, ranking third on the team ... he is shooting a team-leading 52.5% from the field, and also leads the Falcons in blocked shots, with 48 (1.7 bpg) - the third-highest single-season total in school history ... Larson has 3.0 rpg and 1.2 blocks per game, and is shooting 50.5% from the floor ... he is second on the team in blocks and ranks third in FG pct.

• Soph Ryan Sims has played in 27 games off the bench, and is averaging 1.6 ppg ... Sims has posted double-digit minutes totals in each of the last six games, including a MAC season-high 17 at Buffalo ... freshman Cameron Madlock has seen action in 16 games, and has 1.0 ppg and 1.1 rpg ... sophomore Matt Karaffa has played in six games, all on the road ... Karaffa made his collegiate debut in the Indiana State contest, and also saw action at Akron, Western Michigan, Ohio, Detroit and Miami.

• In MAC action, Miller led the Falcons in scoring, with 13.3 ppg, while Moten had 12.7 ppg in those 16 games ... Miller scored 212 points to Moten's 203 ... Miller tied for the team lead in assists (3.0 apg) in MAC play, and was second in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and steals (1.3 spg) ... Moten had a team-leading 32 three-pointers in conference action, and also paced the Falcons in field-goal pct. (51.4%) and three-point accuracy (44.4%) ... Knight had 8.7 ppg and a team-leading 6.9 rebounds in MAC action, with Miller at 6.5 rpg ... Jakubowski had 8.3 ppg and tied with Miller for the assists lead ... Clements had 8.0 ppg and a team-leading 1.4 steals per game in MAC play ... Polk had 4.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg and a team-best 1.9 blocked shots per game off the bench in conference contests ... BGSU shot 43.4% from the field to the opponents' 42.7% in MAC action.

• Clements, Larson and Miller each have started all 29 games to date for first-year BGSU head coach Louis Orr ... Jakubowski has started each of the last 21 games, while Knight has started a total of 27 times ... that lineup took the floor at the beginning of the first 17 games in calendar year 2008, before Moten replaced Knight in the starting five at Miami ... the Falcons went 13-18 overall and 3-13 in MAC play in 2006-07.

A WIN OVER TOLEDO WOULD ...
• advance the Falcons to Thursday's (March 13) quarterfinal round of the First Energy MAC Tournament, where BGSU would face top-seeded Kent State;
• give the Falcons 14 overall wins, topping last year's mark (BG was 13-18 last year);
• advance BGSU into the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament for the first time in three years (BG's last first-round win came at home over Ball State, 75-73, in the 2005 tourney);
• make BGSU 17-25 in MAC Tournament play, including 5-2 in first-round action;
• snap the following losing streaks: two games in MAC Tournament first-round action; three games in the league tourney overall; and five games at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena); and
• give the Brown and Orange multiple March wins for the first time in five years (since BGSU went 3-2 in March games in the 2002-03 season).

SCOUTING TOLEDO
Toledo takes an overall record of 10-18 to Cleveland, and the Rockets finished with a 7-8 MAC record ... UT placed fourth in the West Division, and earned the eighth seed for the conference tourney ... Toledo went 9-3 at home and 1-15 on the road during the regular season ... the road win came on Sunday (March 9), as UT posted a 90-83 victory at Central Michigan in overtime ... coupled with a win over Eastern Michigan (72-63; March 4) in the team's final home game, the Rockets enter the league tourney on a two-game winning streak ... in MAC action, UT went 6-1 at Savage Hall and 1-7 on the road ... individually, junior G/F Tyrone Kent leads the team in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game ... Kent also has 4.0 rebounds per game, and leads the Rockets in assists, with 3.1 per game ... he has made a team-leading total of 65 three-point field goals ... junior guard Jonathan Amos has 12.4 ppg and 5.2 rpg, and paces the team with 2.5 steals per contest ... senior forward Jerrah Young is also scoring in double digits, with 10.3 ppg, and leads the Rockets in rebounding, at 6.5 rpg ... junior guard Ridley Johnson has 9.0 ppg and has made 47 three-pointers ... Amos, Johnson, Kent and Young each have scored all 28 games this year to date for head coach Stan Joplin ... junior guard Anthony Byrd (4.6 ppg) has started 17 games, including all 15 of the Rockets' MAC contests, this year ... Joplin welcomed back a total of four letterwinners, including one starter, from last year's team that finished 19-13 overall and 14-2 in the MAC ... Joplin has a record of 202-154 in his 12th year as a collegiate head coach, all at his alma mater ... the school's athletics web site is www.utrockets.com.

THE SERIES
The Falcons have met Toledo more often than any other opponent in program history ... Wednesday's meeting is the 158th between the arch-rival schools ... the Falcons trail UT, 82-75, in the series, but BGSU won the lone meeting of the 2007-08 regular-season ... BG picked up a 69-58 home win over the Rockets on Feb. 10 ... that win snapped a three-game UT series winning streak ... last season's only confrontation was a 64-48 Rocket win at Savage Hall (Feb. 3, 2007) ... Toledo holds a 2-1 lead in MAC Tournament games between the arch-rivals, including a 77-52 home win over the Falcons two years ago in the first round of the tourney ... the other MAC Tournament matchups came in the 1980 championship game (a Toledo win, 85-70, in Ann Arbor, Mich.) and the 1997 quarterfinals (a BGSU 94-69 win at Anderson Arena) ... the complete list of BGSU-UT series results can be found on page 62 of the 2007-08 BGSU media guide (available in pdf format here at BGSUFalcons.com), and a list of the most recent meetings can be found in the PDF of these notes.

LAST TIME OUT
Michael Bramos scored 24 points and Tim Pollitz added 18 as host Miami downed the Falcons to close the regular season ... junior Nate Miller led the Falcons with 21 points, tying his career best, while classmate Brian Moten and freshman Joe Jakubowski had 13 apiece ... Eric Pollitz rounded out the game's double-digit scorers, with 11 points for the home team ... the RedHawks shot 48.1 percent from the field to the Falcons' 40.0% on the day ... Miami held BGSU to just an 8-for-25 field-goal rate (32.0%) in the first half, opening up a 36-20 lead at the intermission ... Bramos was 5-for-7 from three-point range on the afternoon ... he scored nine-straight points, hitting three consecutive triples in a span of just 80 seconds as the RedHawks opened up a 15-3 lead with just over six minutes gone in the game ... the Falcons never got within single digits the rest of the way ... a 7-0 RedHawk run gave the hosts a 22-5 lead midway through the first half ... when Miller converted two shots in the lane, the Falcons were within 11 points, 27-16, at 5:24 ... the hosts scored the last five points of the half to take the 16-point halftime lead ... a Moten three-pointer cut Miami's lead to 11 points at 40-29 in the second half ... but, the Falcons would get no closer ... a Bramos steal led to a Tim Pollitz layup and a 60-39 score, the largest advantage of the day... BG scored the next seven points, but MU had a 7-0 run as well, to put the lead back to 21 ... the closest BG could get was 16 points over the final few minutes.

BLOCK PARTY, HOSTED BY OTIS
Sophomore Otis Polk tied his career high with four blocked shots in Tuesday's (March 4) Buffalo game, the fourth time this season he has amassed that total ... Polk now has 48 blocks this year, the third-highest single-season total in school history ... the Detroit native is just one block behind second-place Skip Howard (49 blocks in the 1972-73 season) ... Cornelius Cash holds the record, with 59 blocks in 1973-74 ... with 78 career blocks, Polk has moved into 10th place on that BG chart.

BLOCK PARTY II: CHRIS & MARC STOPPING BY, TOO
Sophomore Otis Polk, as mentioned, is now third on the BGSU single-season list for blocked shots ... classmate Marc Larson and redshirt freshman Chris Knight are adding their names to that same list ... both players blocked three shots in the win over Kent State ... Larson now has 35 blocks this year to date, moving into a tie for eighth place on the school list ... Knight now has 29 rejections in 2007-08.

MILLER TIME
Junior Nate Miller has been a go-to player for the Falcons this year ... the Springfield, Ohio, native tied his career high with 21 points in Sunday's (March 9) game at Miami, his fifth game of 20 points or more this year ... he leads the team in that category, and in double-digit scoring games (22) ... not surprisingly, Miller paces the Falcons in scoring, and also leads the team in steals ... he ranks second in rebounding and assists this season, with averages of 13.3 points, 6.4 boards, 2.7 helpers and 1.5 steals per outing ... Miller has led or tied for the team lead in scoring 11 times this season, and has paced BG in rebounding in 15 games this year and in assists nine times ... he is BGSU's active career scoring leader, with 711 points in just 52 games in the Brown and Orange (13.7 ppg).

MOTEN OFFENSE
Junior Brian Moten is making a strong bid for MAC Sixth-Man-of-the-Year consideration ... he has provided the Falcons with an offensive spark this season, especially since the 2008 calendar year began ... Moten has hit double digits in scoring 15 times this year, including 14 times in the last 18 games ... he had a team-leading 18 points at Detroit, then scored a game- and career-high 24 points in the Falcons' win over nationally-ranked Kent State ... Moten hit double digits in each of last week's two games, tying for team honors with 11 points at Buffalo, then scoring 13 at Miami ... he is averaging 9.4 points per game this season, and was second on the team in scoring in MAC games, with 12.7 ppg vs. conference opposition ... Moten leads the entire conference in three-point field goal percentage (44.1%) ... he finished second in the league in that category (44.4%) in MAC games only.

ORR, FALCONS HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Falcon head coach Louis Orr has performed one of the top coaching jobs in the MAC this season ... taking over a team that lost two starters, including the league's leading scorer from a year ago, Orr lost one of his top big men (Erik Marschall) to injury on the eve of the 2007-08 season ... then, one of the team's top playmakers and BG's only senior, Ryne Hamblet, was declared academically ineligible on the eve of the conference season ... still, BGSU more than doubled the MAC win total for all of last season (7-9 MAC record this year after the team went 3-13 in 2006-07), and has posted wins over the teams picked to finish first, second and third in the East Division in the preseason poll ... those wins include a victory over Kent State, the eventual MAC regular-season champion and a nationally-ranked team at the time.

PHALCON PHRESHMAN PHENOMS
Several first-year Falcons are at the top of their class when it comes to the MAC statistics ... Chris Knight has made a case for league freshman-of-the-year honors ... Knight leads all MAC freshmen in rebounding (7.2 rpg; sixth) and field-goal percentage (45.2%, 16th), and is also the MAC's top freshman shot-blocker (1.04 bpg; seventh) ... Knight is second among MAC frosh in scoring (10.7 ppg, 21st) ... Joe Jakubowski paces all league freshmen in both assists (3.07 apg; T-ninth) and assist/turnover ratio (1.20; sixth).

JAKUBOWSKI NAMED MAC PLAYER OF WEEK
On March 3, Falcon freshman guard Joe Jakubowski was named MAC Player of the Week ... Jakubowski, who shared the East Division honor with Miami's Michael Bramos, was recognized after setting career bests in both points (21) and assists (12) in BG's win over then nationally-ranked Kent State ... Jakubowski became the second BGSU player - and the second Falcon freshman - to earn the honor this year ... redshirt freshman Chris Knight earned MAC P-O-W honors in November, for his performance at the Peggy Cronin Classic in his hometown of Cincinnati.

LEADERS OF THE MAC
The Falcons continue to lead or rank near the top of the Mid-American Conference in several team defensive categories ... BGSU paces the MAC in blocked shots (5.07 bpg), and the Falcons are second in three-point field-goal percentage defense (32.4%) ... in MAC games only, BG had 5.69 blocks per game, more than a block a game ahead of second-place Toledo (4.67 bpg).

BLOCK IT OUT
As mentioned, the Falcons lead the MAC in blocked shots, averaging 5.07 per game ... individually, BGSU has three players among the top-seven blockers on that list ... soph Otis Polk is second in the MAC, while classmate Marc Larson and redshirt freshman Chris Knight are fifth and seventh, respectively.

HOME COOKIN'
The Falcons finished the home portion of the schedule with an overall mark of 8-5 ... BGSU went 6-2 in MAC home games, doubling the total for last season (3-5 in 2006-07) ... the six conference victories included wins over the teams picked to finish first (Kent State), second (Miami) and third (Ohio) in the East Division in the league's preseason poll.

GOT OUR MO-JO(E) WORKIN': GUARD COMBO FILLING IT UP
Guards Brian Moten and Joe Jakubowski have provided solid play for the Falcons all year long, but have stepped up their scoring totals as of late ... the tandem combined for a total of 80 points in the Detroit and Kent State games, both wins ... in the Falcons' victory at UDM (Feb. 23), Moten scored a game-high 18 points, while Jakubowski had a career-high 17 ... one week later (March 1), Moten scored a game- and career-high 24 points in a win over KSU, while Jakubowski set a career standard for the second-straight game, with 21 points vs. the Golden Flashes ... Jakubowski also had a career-best 12 assists, with five of his six second-half helpers coming on Moten baskets ... the duo each scored 13 points at Miami to close the regular season.

THREE-MENDOUS
The Falcons tied a season high with 11 three-point field goals made in the win over Kent State ... after averaging 4.4 successful triples over the first 24 games of the year, BGSU has made 42 treys (8.4 per game) in the last five contests.

KNIGHT TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME
Chris Knight is a candidate for MAC Freshman-of-the-Year honors ... Knight had two double-doubles in a recent four-game span, with identical totals of 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds against both Akron and Detroit ... he missed a double-double by one rebound in the win over KSU ... Knight has hit double digits in scoring in 18 games this year, and is averaging 10.7 points per game ... he is second in scoring, and leads the Falcons in rebounding, with 7.3 per contest (fifth in the MAC) ... Knight has four double-doubles this season - the highest total of any freshman in the MAC - and has missed a double-double by a single rebound on four occasions ... Knight has hit double digits in rebounding six times this year, and has had nine boards in six other games ... his three 20-point games include a 24-point outing in his hometown, in a win at Cincinnati.

JUNIORS STEPPING UP
Of the 10 players on the Falcons' active roster, only two - juniors Darryl Clements and Brian Moten - are in their third playing season with the BGSU program ... both players have had successful 2007-08 seasons, and have topped their career totals in numerous categories ... Clements has scored 215 points this season, more than his total for the previous two years combined (129) ... he has 25 three-pointers, 85 rebounds, 67 assists and 35 steals to top his career totals in each of those categories as well (eight treys, 79 rebounds, 59 assists and 28 steals in his career entering '07-08) ... Moten has 272 points this season, after scoring a total of 188 in his first two years ... he has topped his career totals in field goals made (96 this year after 68 in his first two years), three-pointers (41, 21), rebounds (57, 53), assists (20, 19) and blocks (8, 5).

FRIES FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG *
* phrase shamelessly stolen from Nate Ewell, former Michigan State hockey SID now with the NHL's Washington Capitals ...
• The Falcons' March 1 win over Kent State enabled BGSU to match the victory total for all of last season ... BGSU, after going 13-18 a year ago, is now 13-16 heading into the MAC Tournament.

• BGSU more than doubled last season's MAC win total, finishing 7-9 in conference play ... the 2006-07 team went 3-13 in league regular-season action.

• The Falcons enter the Toledo game with a 1-2 record vs. the Rockets in the MAC Tournament ... BGSU has faced 10 of the other 11 schools in the current MAC configuration, with winning records against Akron (2-0), Ball State (4-1), Ohio (4-3) and Western Michigan (1-0), and losing marks vs. Central Michigan (0-1), Eastern Michigan (1-4), Kent State (1-5), Miami (1-7), Northern Ilinois and UT (both 1-2).

• Useless note of the day: both the BGSU men and women's teams have played at least one MAC Tournament game against every other school in the conference, except Buffalo.

• Three of BGSU's highest three-point field-goal totals of the year came in a recent four-game span ... BGSU made a season-high 11 triples at Ohio (Feb. 19), and hit nine more at Detroit (Feb. 23) and 11 vs. KSU ... BG had hit 10 treys in the Northern Colorado game on Dec. 6.

• The Falcons went a combined 31-for-65 (47.7%) in the Ohio, Detroit and Kent State games ... over a two-and-a-half game span, beginning with the final few minutes of the OU contest, the Falcons were 26-of-47, for a blistering 55.3% rate.

• Freshman Joe Jakubowski, who set a career best with four three-pointers made in the Ohio game, made four more triples the next time out, at UDM ... after hitting two more treys vs. KSU, Jakubowski went 10-for-17 from long range in that three-game span ... junior Brian Moten hit a career-high six treys vs. the Flashes ... Moten was 11-for-20 (55.0%) from three-point land in those same three games.

• The Falcons scored a season-high 89 points in the win over Kent State ... BGSU tied season bests in both three-point field goals made, with 11, and blocked shots, with 10.

UP NEXT
The First Energy MAC Tournament runs from Wednesday through Saturday (March 12-15) at Quicken Loans Arena ... the winner of Wednesday's BGSU-UT game will face top-seeded Kent State on Thursday (March 13) at 7:00 p.m. ... the semifinals are Friday (March 14), with the championship slated for Saturday night (March 15) ... the quarterfinal and semifinal games all will be televised by FSN Ohio, with the championship contest on ESPN2.