Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Travels To Eastern Michigan Saturday
February 27, 2008 | Men's Basketball
BALL STATE VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN:
The Cardinals and Eagles will be meeting for the 84th time in men's basketball . . . Ball State holds a 52-31 advantage in the all-time series, including a 64-60 victory at Worthen Arena (Jan. 19) in the first game between the two teams this season . . . BSU holds a 24-15 edge in games played in Ypsilanti, Mich.
BSU ROSTER/SID CONTACT UPDATE: Junior Rob Giles has suffered a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee, which was diagnosed Feb. 9 . . . Giles had surgery Feb. 15 and is expected to be sidelined for four weeks . . . In addition, assistant director of communications and marketing Brad Caudill will assume SID contact responsibilities for BSU men's basketball for the remainder of 2008.
STOVALL NOW ONE OF THE NATION'S 10 BEST: Senior Peyton Stovall became the first Ball State student-athlete and the first men's basketball player from the Mid-American Conference to be named a finalist for the nation's premier tribute to college seniors -- the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award . . . The list was trimmed to 10 from the original list of 30 and Stovall is now placed on the ballot for a nationwide vote through March 21 . . . Fans and media can vote daily for Stovall by logging on to www.ballstatesports.com and following the "Vote For Stovall" link at the top right of the home page.
A WHO'S WHO LIST: Joining Peyton Stovall as finalists for the prestigious Lowe's Senior CLASS Award are Jaycee Carroll (Utah State), Shan Foster (Vanderbilt), A.J. Graves (Butler), Roy Hibbert (Georgetown), Chris Lofton (Tennessee), Drew Neitzel (Michigan State), DeMarcus Nelson (Duke), Brian Roberts (Dayton) and Sean Singletary (Virginia).
ABOUT BALL STATE: Peyton Stovall scored Ball State's first nine points and finished last Saturday's game at Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 23) with a game-high 22 points . . . Stovall also grabbed nine rebounds, while Anthony Newell added a game-high 11, as the Cardinals held a 37-to-20 overall advantage on the boards against the Colonels . . . BSU tied a season-high with seven three-pointers in the game, including three from Stovall and two from Brandon Lampley.
ABOUT EASTERN MICHIGAN: The Eagles enter Saturday's game with an 11-15 (6-7 MAC) record after scoring a 86-82 homecourt victory over Southeast Missouri State (Feb. 23) in the 2008 O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBusters . . . Jarred Axon scored a career-high 29 points off the bench for EMU, while Carlos Medlock added 24 . . . Justin Dobbins chipped in 10 points for the Eagles.
1,300 AND COUNTING: After scoring a game-high 22 points at Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 23), Peyton Stovall is 30 points shy of breaking into the top 10 for career points in Ball State annals . . . His career total currently stands at 1,339 . . . He is 10 points shy of passing Patrick Jackson (1998-2002) for 12th on BSU's all-time list, while Skip Mills (2003-07) is 11th at 1,360 and Dan Palombizio is 10th with 1,369 career points.
STOVALL SIZZLES FROM THE FLOOR: Over the last four games, Peyton Stovall is lighting it up from the floor, averaging a team-best 19.5 points per game, while shooting for a .651 (28-for-43) rate of success . . . He is hitting .563 (9-for-16) from three-point land, while adding 13 made free throws, eight assists and four steals.
...AND STOVALL MAKES IT 109 OF 116: Peyton Stovall, a fifth-year senior at Ball State, has started 109 of 116 games in his college career . . . He has been named one of the Top 10 seniors in college basketball and is a finalist for the 2007-08 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award . . . Stovall was also a finalist for the Coach John Wooden Citizenship Cup given to one collegiate athlete in the nation . . . He became the 24th 1,000-point scorer in the 87-year history of BSU men's basketball against then No. 5 Georgetown Nov. 21 . . . Stovall has scored 1,339 points to rank 13th all-time in school history . . . In addition, Stovall has 66 career double-figure scoring games at Ball State.
MR. MINUTE MAN CLIMBS TO SECOND: Peyton Stovall is averaging 35.7 minutes per game this season . . . Through 116 career games, Stovall has played 3,726 minutes to pass Duane Clemes (3,597 in 1996-00) for second all-time in BSU history . . . Ray McCallum (1979-83) is the BSU record holder with 4,176 minutes played . . . At his current average and with four guaranteed games left to play, Stovall could finish his career with over 3,800 minutes played.
THE POINTS, THE REBOUNDS, THE MAN: Anthony Newell tallied 12 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Toledo (Feb. 17) . . . The effort was his fifth double-double of the season and the 12th of his career . . . Newell finished the 2006-07 season with three straight double-doubles and recorded seven total as a sophomore.
NEWELL DOUBLES UP: While his streak of nine straight games with double-figure points was snapped at Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 23), Anthony Newell grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds against the Colonels . . . Newell's three offensive boards were just one less than EKU had as a team . . . Newell has collected double-digit rebounds in three of the last four games, and six times this season . . . He has logged 10-or-more points in 15 of the 17 games he has played.
SUPER MEL: Freshman Melvin Goins recorded a career-high six steals in Ball State's win over Toledo (Feb. 17) . . . After collecting three steals Wednesday at Central Michigan (Feb. 20), Goins enters the week ranked first on the team and second in the MAC with 50 total steals . . . His 1.92 steals-per-game average is also second in the league, trailing only Toledo's Jonathan Amos' average of 2.68 . . . As of games through Feb. 24, Goins ranked 66th in the nation in steals per game.
MALIK'S MARK: Malik Perry has started all 26 games as a freshman for the Cardinals . . . Perry, who grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in the win over Toledo (Feb. 17), has pulled in five-or-more rebounds in 17 of the 26 games . . . He has reached double-figures in points five times, including a career-high 20 points vs. Eastern Michigan (Jan. 19).
THE DEFENSE: Ball State is limiting its opponents to just 64.0 points this season . . . In Saturday's loss at Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 23), the Cardinals limited the Colonels to 51 points, tying the lowest total for a BSU opponent this season . . . BSU also held a 37-20 advantage on the boards in the contest, marking the largest rebound difference in a Ball State contest this season, and the third time in the last four games the Cardinals have out-rebounded an opponent.
KEEPING IT ON THE D: Over the last six games, Ball State has limited its opponents to 61.2 points per game and a .407 (125-for-307) field goal percentage . . . BSU has recorded 37 steals and forced 82 turnovers during the span, with freshman Melvin Goins leading the way with 11 steals . . . Sophomore Dexter Hinkley has four of the team's 10 blocks over the last five games.
KEEPING IT SAFE: Ball State enters Saturday's game at Eastern Michigan ranked second in the league in fewest turnovers per game at 12.5 . . . As of games through Feb. 24, the Cardinals ranked 27th among all 328 NCAA Division I teams in fewest turnovers per game . . . BSU also ranks third in the MAC in turnover margin at +1.77, as they force 14.3 turnovers per game.
STOVALL & THE COACH WOODEN CITIZENSHIP CUP: Senior Peyton Stovall was one of five national finalists for the 2008 Coach John Wooden Citizenship Cup . . . The Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup is presented to student-athletes who best display character, teamwork, and citizenship -- the attributes Athletes for a Better World deems central to transforming individuals, sport and society . . . Nominations were solicited from over 2,000 colleges and universities and every professional sports league.
SEASON-HIGH SHOOTING: Ball State sizzled for a season-high 57 percent shooting at Buffalo (Feb. 13), which also resulted in 76 points . . . The season's previous best shooting mark was 55 percent vs. Central Michigan (Jan. 13) in a game the Cardinals won 82-71 . . . In addition, BSU handed out 15 assists -- on 24 buckets at Buffalo -- for just the second time this season.
TEXAS-SIZE JUMPS: Freshman Melvin Goins, who is originally from San Diego but now resides in Dallas, Texas, owns a team-best vertical jump of 40" . . . Goins posted his 10th double-figuring scoring game with 14 points in BSU's win over Toledo (Feb 17).
OVERALL MAC RANKINGS: Peyton Stovall ranks 10th in the Mid-American Conference with his 13.8 points per game . . . The MAC rankings are based on players who play in 75 percent of their team's games . . . Anthony Newell is averaging 16.5 points per game in just 17 games, but that scoring average would rank second the league . . . Stovall also ranks third in three-point percentage (.416), 12th in total rebounding (6.0), 14th in both steals (1.35) and field goal percentage (.471) . . . Newell's overall rebounding average of 8.6 would rank second in the league . . . Malik Perry is 14th in rebounding (5.7), while Melvin Goins is second in steals (1.92).
JUST IN THE MAC: Anthony Newell is fourth in the league in scoring with his 16.3 points per game in conference games only . . . Peyton Stovall is 14th (12.8) and Melvin Goins is 29th (9.6) . . . Stovall is 12th in field goal percentage (.455) in MAC games only . . . Newell is third in rebounding (8.7), while Perry is 11th (6.1) and Stovall is 15th (5.4) . . . Brandon Lampley is 13th in free throw percentage (.780), while Stovall is 14th (.778) . . . Goins rounds out the list ranked fourth in steals (2.08) and 12th in assists (2.54).
TOP 50 SCHEDULE IN THE NATION: Ball State's non-conference schedule ranked among the top 50 schedules in all Division I basketball according to the USA Today Sagarin Ratings . . . BSU's non-conference schedule ranked as high as 22nd in the nation.
AND IT'S A NEW WORTHEN ARENA RECORD...: Ball State's 51 free throws attempted against Central Michigan (Jan. 13) set a Ball State homecourt record for attempts . . . The previous record was 47 attempts in a home game Feb. 14, 1968 vs. Valparaiso, while the Worthen Arena record was 46 attempts on two occasions . . . The BSU school record (home or away) for free throw attempts is 57 against Valpo in 1955.
MORE GOINS ON: As a true freshman, Goins has started 25 of BSU's 26 games and logged 30-or-more minutes 10 times . . . He leads the team in assists (61) and steals (50), plus is third in minutes with his 29.4 per-game-average.
STOVALL NEEDS FIVE MORE FOR SECOND ALL-TIME: With three three-pointers at Western Kentucky (Feb. 23), Peyton Stovall remains third all-time at Ball State with 159 career three-point field goals made . . . He has 37 long-range scores and is shooting 42 percent from behind the arc this season to lead BSU . . . The entire list can be found on page two of this release.
