Strong defense leads Falcon men to 58-35 win over Chicago State

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Since arriving at Bowling Green State University, men’s basketball coach Chris Jans has preached defense.

It looked like the Falcons grasped the philosophy Saturday night in a 58-35 win over Chicago State in the
Stroh Center.
Bowling Green (8-3) allowed its fewest points of the season after surrendering 82 points in a loss to
Ferris State on Dec. 21, and 70 points in a win at South Florida on Dec. 28.
”We talked a lot about not being happy with our last two defensive efforts,” Jans said. “… We needed to
get back to what this program is going to be about and defending well and playing hard. We’ve focused on
that a lot over the last 10 days.”
Bowling Green must have gotten the message. Although it forced only nine turnovers, Bowling Green turned
those into 17 points, and it held Chicago State (4-13) to a 30-percent clip from the field.
“(Jans) stresses that more than anything,” senior Anthony Henderson said of the defense. “That was the
biggest thing for this game.”
The Falcons’ offense was shining throughout the first half, but defensively they held the Cougars to a
6-for-25 (24 percent) effort in the first half when Bowling Green took a 39-14 lead.
Chicago State used 15 different players, just one of which reached double figures. Toledo-native Anthony
Glover finished with 10 points on 5-of-12 shooting. The Cougars were just 2-for-13 from 3.
“I just thought guarding the ball. It starts there,” Jans said when asked what was most improved
defensively. “They really try to spread you out. … We just really talked about having some personal
pride and keeping the ball in front of you and not letting them get into your bodies. We did a
tremendous job of not fouling.”
The defense was only a mere compliment to Bowling Green’s offensive production throughout the first half.

Henderson opened the Falcons’ scoring with a 3-pointer 3:01 into the game. It would become a common
theme.
Bowling Green raced to an 11-4 lead before Zack Denny knocked down back-to-back triples, the second with
9:47 left in the first half, giving the Falcons a commanding 17-4 lead.
The Falcons went on to hit eight 3s in the first half, led by Henderson’s three. He finished with 14
points and Jehvon Clarke added 11. Bowling Green’s 11 3s for the contest tied a season high when it hit
11 at Drake in the season opener.
“I loved the way we were sharing the ball,” said Jans, who saw his team record 10 assists on 13 baskets
in the first half. “One of our keys going into the game was to share the ball, try to space them out,
and have a smart attack. There was going to be a lot of opportunity basketball with all of the trapping
and different defensive looks that they gave us.”
“We had some great plays on their zones,” added Henderson. “They switched to zones a lot. Coach did a
great job of designing plays to get us open shots.”
After shooting 54 percent in the first half, including 53 percent from beyond the arc, the Falcons went
just 6-for-25 (24 percent) in the second half, and 3-for-17 from 3.
Bowling Green led by as much as 54-23 midway through the second half, but scored just four points in the
final 10:36. The Falcons were just 1-for-11 from the field in that span with their last field goal
coming on a layup from Spencer Parker with 4:34 to play.
“I was a little disappointed in how we ended the game,” Jans said. “And we talked about it. I said, ‘I’m
not into just playing pickup. I want to run our stuff. This is your chance to show me you deserve more
minutes.’ And it didn’t end that way. We just kind of sputtered and we just didn’t have the same
attention to detail and same energy.”
NOTES: Jovan Austin, who finished with seven assists, left in the second
half with a sprained left ankle … Bowling Green’s 32 3-point attempts is a Stroh Center record … Richaun
Holmes had five rebounds to give him 500 in his career … Bowling Green committed a season-low seven
turnovers … The Falcons open Mid-American Conference play Wednesday at Kent State.

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