Falcons Begin Year Two Of Huger Era At Oakland Friday Night

OPENING TIP

* Bowling Green will begin its 101st year of basketball on Friday (Nov. 11) night. The Falcons own an all-time varisty record of 1337-1138, which is good enough for a .540 winning percentage.

* Michael Huger enters his second year at the helm of his alma mater. In his first year as head coach, Huger led the Falcons to a 16-18 record. The season concluded with a dramatic run to the MAC Tournament semifinals.
* Friday's matchup will feature a clash of BGSU graduates. Both head coaches, Michael Huger (1989-93) and Oakland's Greg Kampe (1974-78), were Falcon guards across their collegiate playing careers.
* Bowling Green returns eight letterwinners, three starters, and five of its top six scorers from 2015-16. The Falcons return 68.7 percent of its scoring.
* The Orange and Brown have won five-consecutive season openers, but BGSU has only opened a season with a true road game two times over the past 12 seasons.

HUGER SAID IT
"Our guys are ready to open our season against a challenging Oakland squad this Friday. With our foreign tour this summer, we had extra time to prepare for the season and it has really helped our guys gel together. Oakland has the ability to score in bunches and they will really test our transition defense. Our guys have been grinding every day on the defensive end preparing for this game, and that should make for an exciting game Friday night."

SCOUTING THE OAKLAND GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland lost arguably the greatest player in program history from last year's team in Kay Felder. Felder, who averaged 24.4 points and 9.3 rebounds last season, was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft after deciding to leave school after his junior season. Oakland also lost starter Percy Gibson, who averaged 11.3 points and 6.2 rebounds in 2015-16. The Golden Grizzlies went 23-12 (13-5 Horizon League) a season ago, before being upset by Wright State in the semifinals of the conference tournament. OU returns three starters, and four letterwinners, which includes Jalen Hayes and Martez Walker, who averaged double-digit points last season. Oakland also added Oklahoma State transfer Stevie Clark to the fold. The Golden Grizzlies are the definition of an up-tempo team, and averaged 86.4 points per game in 2015-16, while averaging nine made three-pointers per contest. OU scored 98 points in an exhibition win over Grand Valley State on Nov. 7.

FALCON (HUGER) VS. FALCON (KAMPE)
Both head coaches in Friday night's game, BGSU's Michael Huger and Oakland's Greg Kampe, are former Falcon guards. Huger graduated from Bowling Green in 1994, while Kampe graduated in 1978. Huger was an All-MAC selection in 1992 and 1993, and was the runner-up for the conference player of the year in 1993. Kampe, who was also a punter on the BGSU football team, was a part of the successful 1974-75 team that finished the year with an 18-10 record. Dan Hipsher, Oakland's associate head coach, played at Bowling Green with Kampe and graduated in 1977. Below is a breakdown of the careers of Huger and Kampe in Falcon uniforms.

YEAR TWO OF THE MICHAEL HUGER ERA
After guiding the Falcons to a 16-18 record last season, head coach Michael Huger is set to begin his second season at the helm of his alma mater. Huger has brought some needed stability to the program, as the 2016-17 season will mark the first time that the Falcons will have a head coach for back-to-back seasons since 2013-14. The former Falcon guard will look to build off an exciting run at last year's MAC Tournament. The Orange and Brown defeated both Kent State and Central Michigan, two team's that beat BGSU twice during the regular season, to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2009.

FALCONS RETURN YOUNG CORE FOR 2016-17
Oakland lost arguably the greatest player in program history from last year's team in Kay Felder. Felder, who averaged 24.4 points and 9.3 rebounds last season, was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft after deciding to leave school after his junior season. Oakland also lost starter Percy Gibson, who averaged 11.3 points and 6.2 rebounds in 2015-16. The Golden Grizzlies went 23-12 (13-5 Horizon League) a season ago, before being upset by Wright State in the semifinals of the conference tournament. OU returns three starters, and four letterwinners, which includes Jalen Hayes and Martez Walker, who averaged double-digit points last season. Oakland also added Oklahoma State transfer Stevie Clark to the fold. The Golden Grizzlies are the definition of an up-tempo team, and averaged 86.4 points per game in 2015-16, while averaging nine made three-pointers per contest. OU scored 98 points in an exhibition win over Grand Valley State on Nov. 7.

HUGER'S STAFF: SAME FACE, NEW PLACE
Michael Huger's staff is largely the same, but there are a few staff members that have switched roles for the 2016-17 season. Kevin Noon, who served as the Director of Basketball Operations
last season, was promoted to an assistant coach role after Louis Rowe was named the head coach at James Madison in the offseason. Ryan Kardok, who was the team's video coordinator last year, was also promoted, and will be the team's new director of operations in 2016-17. In addition, Jeff Dyer, who previously worked with Coach Huger as a graduate assistant at the University of Miami, was hired to be the new video coordinator in July. Parker Settle, a recent Cincinnati graduate and student manager, also joins the staff as a graduate assistant, while Rob Whitehurst (athletic trainer) and Kenneth Goodrich (strength) both return.

BGSU WELCOMES FIVE NEWCOMERS TO THE FAMILY
The Orange and Brown welcome four freshmen – Dylan Frye (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), Rodrick Caldwell (Dayton, Ohio), Justin Turner (Detroit, Mich.) and Ethan Good (Wapakoneta, Ohio) – as well as junior college transfer Jeffrey Uju (Bolingbrook, Ill. / West Texas College) into the fold this season. Frye (23.2) and Turner (21.0) averaged over 20 points per game as seniors, while Caldwell averaged 12.2 points, 5.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. Good scored 16.3 points per game as a senior. Uju scored 7.1 points and hauled in 5.8 rebounds per game at West Texas College in 2015-16.

FALCONS USE BIG SECOND HALF TO DOWN CAPITAL IN EXHIBITION GAME
Senior Zack Denny (18 points) and freshman Rodrick Caldwell (15 points) combined to score 33 points, as Bowling Green defeated Capital University, 71-56, on Nov. 4 in an exhibition game at the Stroh Center. The Orange and Brown finished the game on a 30-10 run and outscored the Crusaders, 42-24, in the second half. BGSU also out-rebounded Capital by a 24-16 mark in the final half. As a team, Bowling Green shot 49 percent (25-of-51) from the field, while holding Capital to just 34.5 percent (19-of-55). The Falcons had more paint points (32-16), bench points (26-12), and fast-break points (14-2).

THE FIRST-ANNUAL BILL FRACK TOURNAMENT
In 2014, the BGSU men's basketball program decided to honor Bill Frack – one of the program's biggest fans and supporters, who donated over $20 million to the program before he passed away on May 28, 2014 – by dedicating one game per season to William D. Frack. The game later became known as the Bill Frack Challenge. Over the past two years, the Falcons have hosted Cleveland State (Dec. 13, 2014) and Cincinnati (Nov. 18, 2015) for the annual game. However, this season, BGSU is making the event even larger with the inception of the first-ever Bill Frack Tournament. The four-team event will take place from Nov. 19-21, and will feature games against UMKC (Nov. 19), Green Bay (Nov. 20) and Murray State (Nov. 21). For more information on Bill Frack and his impact on the BGSU men's basketball program, visit page 10.

DENNY APPROACHING CAREER MILESTONES
Senior guard Zack Denny is approaching a few significant career milestones. The senior connected on 52 three-pointers in 2015-16, which ran his total to 105 for his career. Denny is just 17 made three-point field goals shy of tying Jordon Crawford (2009-13) for 10th most all-time in program history. Denny, who has made 52 and 50 three-pointers, respectively, over the past two seasons, would rank sixth all-time if he hit another 50 long balls this season. Denny is also 324 points shy of becoming the 44th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. The Germantown, Ohio native scored 361 points last season, and 305 points across the 2014-15 campaign.

WES "EVERYDAY" ALCEGAIRE
There was only one player last season that started all 34 games for the Falcons – Wes Alcegaire. The senior returns to the fold this season, and after playing predominately on the wing last year, he'll be penciled in as the team's stretch-forward in 2016-17. Alcegaire, along with fellow senior Zack Denny, led BGSU with 52 three-point field goals in 2015-16. Alcegaire shot 35.5 percent from three-point range in his first season in the Orange and Brown after transferring in from Dayton State College. He led the team in free-throw percentage (74.7), and averaged 10.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

THERE'S A NEW FLOOR GENERAL IN TOWN...SORT OF
With the graduation of David Joseph, who started 33 of BGSU's 34 games at point guard a season ago, the Falcons will turn the offense over to senior Ismail "Ish" Ali. Ali played in all 34 games in 2015-16, and averaged 21.1 minutes per game off the bench as a junior, which actually was more than the 20.6 minutes per game that Joseph averaged. So, although Ali only started one game last year, the Falcons' new starting point guard is extremely experienced. Along with averaging 5.4 points, 3.8 assists and 2.1 rebounds in 2015-16, Ali is the only player on the BGSU roster that has had a 10-point game, 10-rebound game, and a 10-assist game. Ali shot 70.1 percent from the free throw line last season, which ranked third on the team.

LILLARD'S STARTING-FIVE, MAC-TOURNAMENT MAGIC
Sophomore guard Antwon Lillard made just three starts last year, but they were Bowling Green's three-most important games of the 2015-16 season. Lillard started all three MAC Tournament games, after being the Falcons' primary scoring option off the bench all season. Lillard took his game to the next level when entering the starting five. In the three games, he shot 62.1 percent (18-of-29) from the field, 50.0 percent (7-of-14) from three-point range, and averaged 17.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest. His incredible three-game stretch was highlighted by a 26-point outburst against Central Michigan in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament, where he gave the Falcons a one-point victory by nailing a last-second triple. Lillard, who will look to continue the momentum earned from last season's run, is expected to start this season for the Orange and Brown.

RICHAUN HOLMES BEGINS SECOND YEAR WITH THE PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
Richaun Holmes, the 2014-15 MAC Defensive Player of the Year and the 37th overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft, averaged 5.6 points and 2.6 rebounds while averaging 13.8 minutes across his rookie season with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2015-16. Holmes, the program's all-time leader in blocked shots with 244, earned his second-career NBA start on Nov. 2 against the Charlotte Hornets. Holmes went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, made his only three-point attempt, and went a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. He finished the game 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and one block. As of Nov. 9, Holmes has appeared in 56 NBA games. Holmes and the Knicks' Maurice Ndour (Ohio) are the only active players in the league from the Mid-American Conference.

#BGinItaly
Due largely in part to Bill Frack's extreme generosity, financial commitment and unwavering support towards the men's basketball program, the team went on an 11-day cultural immersion tour in Italy from Aug. 8-18. The program spent days in Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan and Lake Como, and saw some of the most famous landmarks in Italian history. The Falcons traveled to The Vatican, spent time inside the Roman Colosseum, visited the Ferrari Museum and saw the famous gondolas in Venice, among many other stops, which include Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. The Orange and Brown also played four games, and accumulated a 3-1 record while playing professional and national competition.

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Wes Alcegaire

Rodrick Caldwell

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Ethan Good

David Joseph

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