BOWLING GREEN — Sam Towns did not know much about his new Bowling Green State University men’s basketball teammates when he transferred from Ohio University prior to the season.

At the midway point of the 2022-23 campaign, the junior forward’s love for his buddies on the hardwood exemplifies how strong the bond has gotten recently for the red-hot Falcons.

“When I first got here, I couldn’t tell you a single thing about these guys. But I’ll tell you this now, I’m willing to go through a wall for them,” Towns said after BGSU won its fourth straight game with an 88-79 victory over Ohio on Saturday. “... Our chemistry is just evolving every game. Especially with wins, it really helps.”

The camaraderie for a BGSU team that has seven transfers and six underclassmen on its 15-player roster has grown considerably in the last month. The Falcons (8-7, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) are clicking on all cylinders offensively in a high-scoring stretch that has energized the program.

“They’re willing to sacrifice, and when you can sacrifice for the good of the team, that makes everybody better,” said BGSU coach Michael Huger. “Everybody wins when you do that. It’s so hard though to get them to do it and understand how difficult it is and how big of a sacrifice it will be. But I think so far, our guys have committed to it.”

BGSU has scored at least 88 points and shot at least 49 percent in its past four games.

The Falcons are 7-0 when they score at least 80 points, and they have at least 18 assists in six of their past seven games.

For the season, BGSU is averaging 15.1 assists per game (second in the MAC to Toledo’s 15.3). The Falcons are second in the league and 27th in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (10.9), and their assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.38 is also second in the MAC and 35th in the country.

Huger said getting his team to play together has been the biggest reason for its success since a 2-5 start to the season.

“When we first started before the transfer portal, you were able to build programs. You were able to get freshmen, Justin Turner, Dylan Frye, Demajeo Wiggins, Antwon Lillard, and you can keep them for four years and build up your program through those guys knowing that you’ll have them the final year,” Huger said. “Now, it’s changed.

“We’re not building programs, we’re building teams. So once you put a team together, you’ve got to get them to play together, and now you’ve got to get them to mesh, and you’ve got to get 15 into one, and that is very hard to do. Our guys are now accepting that challenge and starting to play as one.”

Senior guard Leon Ayers III, who played at Duquesne last season, Mercer the year prior and Henry Ford College the previous two campaigns, leads BGSU in scoring at 17 points per game.

Samari Curtis, the 2019 Ohio Mr. Basketball award winner from Xenia High School who transferred from Evansville prior to last season, averages 12 points and a team-high 4.8 assists per game. Sophomore guard Kaden Metheny and junior forward Rashaun Agee, a transfer from Casper College, chip in 11.4 and 11.2 points per game, respectively.

Curtis is sixth in the nation in free-throw percentage at 94.23 percent (49 of 52) and is a big reason why the Falcons are 27th in the NCAA in that department (75.97 percent).

Metheny is 44th in 3-pointers per game (2.85) and 47th in 3-point percentage (41.57), while Agee, who has nine blocks the last two games, is tied for 51st with 1.73 per contest.

Late in Saturday’s win over Ohio, Metheny buried two 3-pointers off assists from Curtis to cap off a key 11-0 run that put BGSU ahead for good.

“We have a great connection. That’s my guy, that’s my brother,” Metheny said of Curtis. “We’ve developed such a great friendship even off the court. We’re roommates on the road, so we have a lot of time with each other in that aspect. I can’t talk enough about how Samari was able to find me on the court. Coming off the bench now, he was starting all year, but man it just shows his character of how well he’s handled it. It’s really elevating our team to another level because of it.”

Senior Brenton Mills, who transferred from Binghamton prior to the 2021-22 season, and seniors Chandler Turner and Isaac Elsasser, the lone players who are in their fourth season competing for BGSU, have been solid for the Falcons, as well.

BGSU, Kent State, Ball State and Buffalo are the only MAC teams to start 2-0 in league play. The Falcons will be going up against defending MAC tournament champion Akron (9-6, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Stroh Center.

“We know any team can come here and beat us, we can beat any team, so we just want to protect home court,” Metheny said. “We love playing here.

“We’ve struggled in the past, the last couple years since I’ve been here, to finish games here. But it’s time to turn things around and we’re 2-0 in the MAC so far, so hopefully we can continue it.”

First Published January 9, 2023, 7:28 p.m.