Falcons Set For Thursday Matinee Against Alabama A&M At The Stroh

Thursday, December 22

Bowling Green, OH

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Alabama A&M

Wes Alcegaire on the bench vs. Detroit Mercy

Falcons Set For Thursday Matinee Against Alabama A&M At The Stroh

December 20, 2016 | Men's Basketball

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

OPENING TIP
* Bowling Green and Alabama A&M will meet for just the second time ever on Thursday. The Falcons won the only game in series history in 2014 at the Stroh Center by a score of 64-47.
* The Falcons will be in search of their fifth-consecutive win at the Stroh Center. Bowling Green is 4-2 in 2016-17 on its home court. BGSU has knocked off Murray State (Nov. 21), Morgan State (Nov. 26), Notre Dame College (Nov. 29) and Detroit Mercy (Dec. 10) at the Stroh Center.
* Bowling Green is coming off a devastating 77-76 loss at San Jose State (Dec. 18). After taking the lead with eight seconds left, SJSU scored on a put-back layup with 1.2 seconds left.
* Senior Zack Danny has scored in double figures in each of Bowling Green's last nine games.
* Senior Wes Alcegaire has scored 16 points in two-straight contests, and has now scored at least 16 points in four of BGSU's last five games.
* For the second time in his young career, freshman Dylan Frye has scored in double figures in consecutive games. Frye scored 10 points at SJSU, and dropped a career-high 18 vs. UDM.

HUGER'S THOUGHTS ON ALABAMA A&M
"Next up on the schedule for us is Alabama A&M – a tough, hard-nosed team who has the ability to do a little bit of everything. They are a team that is hungry for a win and have increased their level of play over their past few games. This is a big matchup for our team, as we look to finish the non-conference strong and build some momentum going into a tough MAC schedule. We have dropped far too many close games this year, so we will need to make some adjustments and use these final two non-conference games to play with some increased energy and effort. Our home court has been good to us this season, so we will need our home fans behind us cheering us on to victory."

SCOUTING THE ALABAMA A&M BULLDOGS
Alabama A&M will enter Thursday afternoon's game with an overall record of 0-9. The Bulldogs have played eight road games, and just one home game, and will not play another home game until conference play begins. Senior center Quinterian McConico leads the Bulldogs in minutes (31.4), points (12.0), and rebounds (8.0). Freshman guard De'Ederick Petty is Alabama A&M's only other play averaging double figures, as he is averaging 10.3 points per game, while senior guard Rakiya Battle leads the team in assists (5.6). The Bulldogs are allowing 86.7 points per game, and opponents have shot 53.9 percent from the field against Alabama A&M. The Bulldogs, who are scoring 59.2 points per game, are shooting 70.0 percent from the free throw line and are scoring 13.2 points from the line per contest. Sixth-year head coach Willie Hayes owns a 52-103 record.

THE ONLY BALLGAME IN SERIES HISTORY
In the only contest in series history, the Falcons defeated Alabama A&M in 2014 at the Stroh Center by a score of 64-47. Senior Zack Denny is the lone Falcon on the current roster that played in that game. Denny got the start, scored 10 points, and added two rebounds, one assist and one steal. He shot 3-for-6 from the field, went 2-for-2 at the line, and made 2-of-4 attempts from downtown. BGSU held Alabama A&M to just 35.4 percent shooting, while the Falcons shot 50.0 percent. Current Philadelphia 76er Richaun Holmes led BGSU with 12 points and seven rebounds.

BREAKING DOWN THE FIVE FINAL-MINUTE LOSSES
At this point, the Falcons probably feel a little snake bitten. Bowling Green's 4-7 record does not even begin to describe the type of dog fights that the Falcons have taken part in this season. However, BG's most-recent loss at San Jose State (Dec. 18) told a similar story. And for the fifth time this season, Bowling Green came up on the short end of a game that went down to the wire. Below is a breakdown of the Orange and Brown's five devastating losses in 2016-17.

Game                        Date            Result Notes
at Oakland      11/11/16 L, 70-78 Trailed by 3 with 6:08 to go; within 5 with 1:51 left
at South Dakota    11/13/16 L, 72-78 Tied with 1:34 left in regulation
vs. UMKC 11/19/21 L, 69-71 UMKC hit game-winner with 2.2 seconds left
at Evansville 12/6/16 L, 66-69 Antwon Lillard's game-tying 3 at the buzzer rimmed out
at San Jose State   12/18/16 L, 76-77 SJSU scored the winning put-back layup w/ 1.2 seconds left

ISMAIL ALI PLAYS BIG IN HOMECOMING GAME
Playing in front of about 50 friends and family members, senior guard Ismail Ali had a strong game in the Falcons' one-point loss at San Jose State (Dec. 18). Ali, who was playing approximately 40 minutes away from his hometown of South Hayward, California, scored 12 points and had seven assists. In 25 minutes of play, he had three rebounds, two steals, and went 6-for-11 from the field. Ali has had at least five assists in five of the last six games, and is averaging 5.6 assists per game, which ranks second in the MAC, after averaging a 3.8 mark last season. Ali's scoring and rebounding numbers are also up from a year ago, as he's averaging 6.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per contest.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE AT THE STROH CENTER
The Falcons will enter Thursday afternoon's game having won four-consecutive games at the Stroh Center. BGSU defeated Detroit Mercy by a score of 74-61 on Dec. 10 to move to 4-2 at the facility this season. Along with the Detroit Mercy win, Bowling Green has knocked off Murray State (Nov. 21), Morgan State (Nov. 26) and Notre Dame College (Nov. 29). Over the four-game winning streak, the Orange and Brown have been winning games by an average of 18 points. The Falcons have scored an average points 82 points, while holding opponents to an average of 64 points. Opponents are shooting a combined 37.9 percent from the field in Bowling Green's last four games played at the Stroh Center.

LAST TIME AT STROH: FALCONS DOMINATE DETROIT MERCY IN SECOND HALF
Bowling Green erased a seven-point halftime deficit on Dec. 10 to earn a 74-61 victory over Detroit Mercy. The win pushed BGSU's record to 4-6 on the young season. After Detroit Mercy scored the first bucket of the second half, which bumped its advantage up to nine points at 40-31 at the 18:38 mark, the Falcons went on a 16-0 run. Over that 16-0 run, the Orange and Brown held Detroit Mercy scoreless for 6:55. Over that span, the Titans went 0-for-8 from the floor and committed five turnovers. Bowling Green outscored UDM, 43-23, over the final 20 minutes of play, while holding the Titans to 33.3 percent shooting from the field. Detroit Mercy was 0-for-6 from downtown in the second half.

MID-MAJOR MADNESS
Bowling Green continued its extremely difficult non-conference schedule over the weekend at San Jose State. For a mid-major program, BGSU has played one of the more difficult schedules in the country. Along with playing traditional mid-major powers in Oakland, Murray State, Evansville and Green Bay, the Falcons went on the road to play Top-25 Cincinnati. In 11 games, BGSU's 2016-17 opponents have combined for a 71-53 record as of Dec. 20. If Detroit Mercy, which is having a difficult down season under a first-year head coach, is excluded from that list, the record improves to 69-44. The Falcons have played an AP Top 25 team in Cincinnati, which is ranked No. 24 in the country, while also battling a total of six teams that are ranked, or receiving votes, in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Additionally, all five of Bowling Green's road games – at Oakland (9-1), South Dakota (9-5), Cincinnati (9-2), Evansville (8-4) and at San Jose State (6-4) – have come against schools that currently have winning records.

CONFERENCE PLAY IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER
A handful of conferences begin playing league games as early as next week. The Falcons have two more non-conference games to go, but the first week of the MAC schedule appears to be extremely difficult. BGSU opens at Akron (8-3) on Jan. 3. Akron, along with being the predicted MAC Tournament champion, has beaten the Falcons 16-straight times. Ball State is off to a 7-4 start and was picked to finish second in the MAC West. When looking at the combined records of first-week opponents across the league, no team will pay two opponents that have more combined wins than Akron and Ball State. The Zips and Cardinals currently have a combined record of 15-7. Western Michigan plays at Ohio (7-2) and at Akron (8-3), while Kent State also has a tough draw having to face Ball State at home and Ohio on the road.

DENNY CLOSE TO EARNING MEMBERSHIP INTO THREE-POINT FRATERNITY
Bowling Green's three-point fraternity will have a new member soon. Senior guard Zack Denny has made 119 three-point field goals in his career, and is just three triples shy of moving into a tie with Jordon Crawford (2009-13) for 10th most all-time. Denny, who has made at least one three-pointer in each of the last eight games, made 50 triples in 2014-15 and 52 bombs in 2015-16. If he were to make 50 more three-pointers this season, Denny would finish his career ranked sixth all-time in made three-point field goals. For his career, Denny is shooting 37.4 percent from downtown.

NINE-STRAIGHT DOUBLE-FIGURE GAMES FOR DENNY
Germantown, Ohio native Zack Denny has scored in double figures in each of Bowling Green's last nine games. For his career, the senior has had 42 double-digit nights, and he's now 186 points shy of becoming the 44th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Denny, who is averaging a career-best 12.5 points per game, which ranks second on the team, had seven points, seven rebounds and two assists at South Dakota (Nov. 13) in the one game this season that he didn't reach double figures. The senior scored 16 points, and had seven rebounds and two steals in BGSU's most-recent contest at San Jose State (Dec. 16). He is also leading the team in free throw shooting, as he is shooting a career-best 88.0 percent (22-of-25) from the charity stripe. One of the more complete players in the conference, Denny, who is widely thought of as BGSU's top perimeter defender, is averaging 5.9 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in 2016-17.

#DeepFrye
Freshman Dylan Frye has been filling it up from deep across the first season of his collegiate career. Over BGSU's last seven games, he has made 13-of-25 (52.0 percent) attempts from downtown. He has made at least one triple in six of those seven games, and is shooting 44.8 percent (13-for-29) from deep for the season. Frye nailed four three-pointers in a win over Detroit Mercy (Dec. 10), while also connecting on 3-of-4 triples in the Falcons' victory over Morgan State (Nov. 26). Frye has hit multiple three-balls in four games this season, and has shot at least 50.0 percent from three-point land in a total of five games.

TWON AVERAGING 10.5 AND 5.0 IN 13 CAREER STARTS
Sophomore guard Antwon Lillard has made 13 career starts. He's scored in double figures in six of those starts, and is averaging 10.5 points and 5.0 rebounds. This season, Lillard has had a number of huge games. He recorded the first double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) of his career against Notre Dame College (Nov. 29). And in consecutive days in games versus UMKC (Nov. 19) and Green Bay (Nov. 20), he scored 19 points and 15 points while shooting a combined 14-of-21. Lillard's made three of his last five three-point attempts, bumping his average for the season up to 26.9 percent.

LEADING SCORER WES ALCEGAIRE SCORES 16 POINTS … AGAIN
Senior forward Wes Alcegaire scored 16 points at San Jose State (Dec. 16) for the second-consecutive game. He's now scored 16 points in three of the last four games. Furthermore, he's registered 16-plus points in four of the last five games, as he also dropped a season-high 20 points on Notre Dame College (Nov. 29). Alcegaire, who leads the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game, has had seven games of double-digit scoring. Across his current five-game stretch, the Miami, Florida native is shooting 52.8 percent (28-of-53) from the field.

BOWLING GREEN'S DIAPER DANDY'S
Famous college basketball announcer Dick Vitale often talks about "Diaper Dandy's," which refer to college basketball's most elite freshmen. At Bowling Green, guards Dylan Frye and Rodrick Caldwell seem to be settling in and finding their grove. Frye leads the Falcon bench in minutes (18.6) and points (7.0). He's scored in double figures in each of the last two games, as he scored a career-high 18 points versus Detroit Mercy (Dec. 10), and followed that performance up with a 10-point night at San Jose State (Dec. 18). Frye is shooting 47.5 percent from the field, and 44.8 percent from downtown. Caldwell, on the other hand, has posted new career highs in points in two of BGSU's last three games. He scored an efficient 10 points on four shots at Evansville (Dec. 6), and four days later, scored 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting. Caldwell has shot the ball from three-point land effectively all season, as he's shooting at a 37.9 percent clip for the year.

THE BGSU SPLASH BROTHERS
Bowling Green has five players on the 2016-17 roster that have made 11-plus attempts from three-point range. As a team, BGSU is shooting 36.7 percent from downtown, which ranks 120th in the country. This high mark is due largely in part to five payers. Bowling Green's Splash Brothers – Wes Alcegaire (18-of-49; 367 percent), Zack Denny (14-of-44; 31.8 percent), Matt Fox (14-of-31; 45.2 percent), Dylan Frye (13-of-29; 44.8 percent), and Rodrick Caldwell (11-of-29; 37.9 percent) – have combined to make a total of 70 triples. Collectively, they are shooting 38.5 percent from deep (70-of-182).

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP FOR DEMAJEO
Demajeo Wiggins, who hails from Toledo, Ohio, is flourishing as a sophomore after a strong freshman season in 2015-16. The big man, who is averaging 8.8 points and 6.9 rebounds this season, has now recorded 10-plus points, or 10-plus rebounds, in five of the last eight games. Last year, Wiggins scored 4.6 points per game, and was pulling down 4.4 rebounds per contest. Wiggins has also experienced one of the biggest improvements at the free throw line in the history of college basketball this season. After shooting 37.9 percent (22-of-58) at the line last year, he's up to 73.2 percent (41-of-56) in 2016-17, and has already made 19 more free throws than he did all of last season, despite attempting two less shots. In the Falcons' away game at Evansville on Dec. 6, he registered the first double-double of his career by scoring a career-high 18 points. He also tied his career high for rebounds with 12, and went 8-for-13 from the free throw line while logging a career-high 32 minutes.

WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?
Junior Matt Fox, who was put on scholarship just hours before BGSU's win over Murray State (Nov. 21), has adapted well to his increased role this season. The guard, who often times this season has played the power forward position, does more than just shoot threes. However, three-point shooting has been Fox's calling card since arriving on campus, and he's been very effective this season from downtown. Fox has hit a three in six of Bowling Green's last seven games. Over that seven-game stretch, Fox is 10-for-17 (58.8 percent) from downtown. The Maumee, Ohio native has hit at least two triples in four games this season, while also having a 4-for-7 game from three-point land versus Morgan State (Nov. 26).

MALIK MAKES THE MOST OF PLAYING TIME
Malik Hluchoweckyj, a sophomore guard from Omaha, Nebraska, has appeared in three of Bowling Green's last six contests. After playing three minutes against Morgan State (Nov. 26), Hluchoweckyj scored his first three points of the season against Notre Dame College on Nov. 29. He converted on 1-of-2 free throws, and then scored a layup on a fast break off a nice dish from Rodrick Caldwell. After playing in eight games last season, the sophomore has already made four appearances, as he also got a run in BGSU's games at Oakland (Nov. 11) and Cincinnati (Dec. 4).

GOOD FOR GOOD
Freshman guard Ethan Good played the final three minutes of Bowling Green's win over Morgan State (Nov. 26), marking the first three minutes of his collegiate career. The walk-on from Wapakoneta, Ohio registered his first-career assist, and then scored his first-career point by converting on 1-of-2 free throw attempts. Good, who also played two minutes and launched a pair of three-point bombs in BG's game versus Notre Dame College (Nov. 29), also made an appearance in Bowling Green's game at Cincinnati (Dec. 4).

UJU COMES THROUGH IN DIVISION I DEBUT
Junior Jeffrey Uju has never given up, clearly, on his goal to play Division I men's basketball. Uju played his first two seasons of college basketball in the JUCO circuit, and at two different schools, nonetheless. After playing the 2014-15 season at Eastern Wyoming College and the 2015-16 season at Western
Texas College, Uju played his first Division I game on Nov. 11 in BGSU's season opener at Oakland. In 17 minutes, the junior hauled in a team-high seven rebounds, and scored five points on a perfect 2-for-2 night from the floor. Uju also connected on his only three-point attempt, which trimmed a 10-point deficit to single digits in the second half. Uju was leading the team in rebounds at 5.0 per game through the first two games of the season, but has been sidelined ever since with a lower-body injury.

FALCONS REGISTER WIN NO. 50 AT THE STROH CENTER
Bowling Green's 90-58 win over Morgan State (Nov. 26) marked the program's 50th victory at the Stroh Center. The Falcons now own an overall record of 52-33 at the Stroh Center, which opened for the 2011-12 season. The Orange and Brown have won 11-plus games in three seasons at the Stroh, as BGSU went 12-4 in the facility's inaugural season, prior to finishing 11-5 in 2012-13, and 11-6 in 2014-15.

YEAR TWO OF THE MICHAEL HUGER ERA
After guiding the Falcons to a 16-18 record last season, head coach Michael Huger has begun 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
Bowling Green returns a large portion of last year's team that reached the conference tournament semifinals. Michael Huger has built a strong, and young foundation that will look to continue to improve. Last season, three freshmen – Antwon Lillard, Demajeo Wiggins and Rasheed Worrell – combined to make 38 starts. Additionally, eight of Bowling Green's 13 man roster are underclassmen, and BGSU returns five of last season's top six leading scorers. BGSU returns its top five field goal percentage shooters, as well as its leaders in assists (Ali), blocks (Worrell) and steals (Denny) from a season ago. Furthermore, the Orange and Brown return 74.3 percent of its rebounding and 72.4 percentage of its made three-point field goals from the 2015-16 season.

FALCONS INK FOUR DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
On the eve of the college basketball season (Nov. 10), Bowling Green announced the signing of four future student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. Nelly Cummings (Midland, Pa. / Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School), Joniya Gadson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla. / Dillard High School), Derek Koch (West Salem, Ohio / Northwestern High School) and Daeqwon Plowden (Philadelphia, Pa. / Mastery Charter North School) are set to join the program for the 2017-18 season. More information can be found at BGSUFalcons.com.

#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 included 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.