Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Opens Tournament Play Vs. EMU
March 10, 2008 | Men's Basketball
BALL STATE VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN: The Cardinals (10th seed) and Eagles (7th seed) will be meeting for the 85th time in men's basketball . . . Ball State holds a 52-32 advantage in the all-time series after splitting the regular season series with Eastern Michigan . . . Each team won on their home court, with BSU posting a 64-60 victory Jan. 19 and EMU securing a 75-64 win March 1.
BSU VS. EMU PART 2: Wednesday's 2008 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Tournament match-up will mark the second straight first round meeting between the two teams . . . EMU scored a 51-48 victory in last season's tournament opener . . . The Eagles hold a slim 4-3 advantage in MAC Tournament games versus Ball State, including four straight wins . . . BSU's last tournament win over EMU came in the 1995 championship game . . . Ball State's complete tournament history can be found on page four of this release.
BALL STATE IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: Ball State is competing in its 27th MAC Tournament in 2008 . . . The Cardinals, who have only missed the event twice (1984 & 1987), own an all-time MAC Tournament record of 35-20, with seven tournament championships (1981, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995 and 2000) and eight tournament Most Valuable Players . . . These totals are the most of any team in the league.
BSU AND THE MVP: Ball State players have garnered MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors eight times, starting in 1981 with Ray McCallum . . . Other Cardinals to earn MVP honors include: Dan Palombizio (1986), Billy Butts (1989 & 1990), Bill Gillis (1992), Steve Payne (1993 & 1995) and Duane Clemens (2000).
ABOUT BALL STATE: The Cardinals enter Wednesday's MAC Tournament game as the 10th seed after going 6-23 (5-11 MAC) during the regular season . . . Despite being out-sized by the 2007-08 MAC West Division Champions, the Cardinals held a 33 to 29 advantage on the boards in Sunday's 57-53 loss at Western Michigan . . . The Broncos entered the contest ranked first in the league and 36th the nation with a +5.1 rebounding margin . . . Anthony Newell led the Cardinals' offensive attack, tying for game-high honors with 19 points, including a go-ahead off-balance bank-in three pointer with 2:23 remaining in the game . . . Malik Perry paced all players with seven rebounds, while adding 10 points for his sixth career double-figure scoring game.
ABOUT EASTERN MICHIGAN: The Eagles enter Wednesday's game as the seventh seed after posting a 13-16 (8-8 MAC) record . . . EMU has won five of its last seven games, including a 82-63 victory over Northern Illinois Sunday . . . Leading the way for the Green and White was Carlos Medlock with 23 points . . . Justin Dobbins chipped in 20 points and grabbed six rebounds . . . The Eagles finished the game shooting .500 (9-for-18) from behind the arc, with Medlock and Jesse Bunkley each draining three triples.
ONE OF THE 10 BEST: After scoring six points versus Western Michigan (March 9), Peyton Stovall climbed into the top 10 for career points in Ball State annals . . . His career total currently stands at 1,370, which moves him past Dan Palombizio (1984-86) for 10th on BSU's career list . . . Jeermal Sylvester (1990-94) is next on the list with 1,410 points.
STOVALL CLIMBS TO NO. 2: With his three-point basket at 9:20 in the second half of Tuesday's win over Northern Illinois (March 4), Peyton Stovall climbed into a tie with Randy Zachary (1993-97) for second in school annals with 161 career three-pointers . . . He also ranks third in career three-pointers attempted at 441, recently passing BSU's all-time leading scorer Bonzi Wells (1994-98).
STOVALL SIZZLES FROM THE FLOOR: Over the last seven games, Peyton Stovall is lighting it up from the floor, averaging a team-best 15.6 points per game, while shooting for a .569 (41-for-72) rate of success . . . He is hitting .440 (11-for-25) from three-point land, while adding 40 rebounds, 16 made free throws, 16 assists, eight steals and a block.
...AND STOVALL MAKES IT 112 OF 119: Peyton Stovall, a fifth-year senior at Ball State, has started 112 of 119 games in his college career . . . A finalist for the Coach John Wooden Citizenship Cup given to one collegiate athlete in the nation, Stovall has also played 3,832 minutes over his career to rank second in BSU annals . . . At his current average and with one guaranteed game left to play, Stovall could finish his career with over 3,850 minutes played . . . Stovall, who has 68 career double-figure scoring games, became the 24th 1,000-point scorer in the 87-year history of BSU men's basketball against then No. 5 Georgetown Nov. 21.
781 AND COUNTING: With his 23-point performance versus Northern Illinois (March 4) and 19 points at Western Michigan (March 9), junior Anthony Newell raised his career point total to 781 . . . Newell has scored in double figures 18 times this season and in 44 of 72 (.611) career games . . . He has poured in 20-or-more points 10 times over his career, including a personal-best 29 versus UW-Milwaukee (Nov. 14) earlier this season . . . Of his 10 games with 20-or-more points, six have come this season.
NEWELL CAN REBOUND TOO: Anthony Newell, who paces the Cardinals with an 8.1 rebounds-per-game average this season, is 33 boards shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history . . . Newell has collected 458 rebounds over his career, including 317 defensive boards and 141 offensive boards . . . Julien "Skip" Mills (2003-07) is currently 20th on BSU's career rebounding list with 491.
IT'S RAINING THREES: The Cardinals scored a season-high eight three-pointers in last Tuesday's victory over Northern Illinois (March 4) . . . Anthony Newell went 3-for-5 from long range, while Laron Frazier and Melvin Goins each drained two shots from behind the arc . . . Peyton Stovall also added one three-pointer to move into a tie for second on BSU's all-time list for career three-point baskets made . . . The last time BSU made eight threes in a game was Dec. 19, 2006 versus Temple . . . The last time BSU scored 10-or-more threes in a game was March 4, 2006, when the team posted 14 in a 89-77 overtime win at Eastern Michigan.
SUPER MEL: Freshman Melvin Goins recorded a career-high six steals in Ball State's win over Toledo (Feb. 17) . . . Goins enters the MAC Tournament ranked first on the team and fourth in the MAC with 52 total steals . . . His 1.79 steals-per-game average is also fifth in the league . . . As of games through March 6, Goins ranked 76th in the nation in steals per game.
MALIK'S MARK: Malik Perry has started all 29 games as a freshman for the Cardinals . . . Perry, who grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in the win over Toledo (Feb. 17), pulled in a game-high seven boards at Western Michigan (March 9), helping the Cardinals out-rebound the league's top rebounding team by a 33 to 29 margin . . . Perry has grabbed five-or-more rebounds in 20 of the 29 games . . . He has reached double-figures in points six times, including a career-high 20 points vs. Eastern Michigan (Jan. 19).
THE DEFENSE: Ball State is limiting its opponents to just 64.1 points this season . . . In the 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 . . . Overall, BSU has limited five of its last six opponents to 63 points or less.
KEEPING IT ON THE D: Over the last six games, Ball State has limited its opponents to 60.2 points per game and a .436 (126-for-289) field goal percentage . . . BSU has recorded 36 steals and forced 82 turnovers during the span, with freshman Melvin Goins leading the way with 11 steals . . . Anthony Newell has four of the team's 11 blocks over the last six games.
KEEPING IT SAFE: Ball State enters Wednesday's game versus Eastern Michigan ranked first in the league in fewest turnovers per game at 12.3 . . . In last Tuesday's win over Northern Illinois (March 4), the Cardinals committed a season-low three turnovers, while forcing 16 Huskies turnovers . . . As of games through March 6, the Cardinals ranked 26th among all 328 NCAA Division I teams in fewest turnovers per game . . . BSU also ranks second in the MAC in turnover margin at +1.90, as they force 14.2 turnovers per game.
GILES RETURNS TO THE LINEUP: After missing seven games due to a torn lateral meniscus, which was diagnosed Feb. 9, Rob Giles return to the Ball State lineup versus Northern Illinois (March 4) . . . Giles played 12 minutes, grabbing three rebounds and scoring two points . . . He scored four points and collected three rebounds in 11 minutes at Western Michigan (March 9).
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).
MORE GOINS ON: As a true freshman, Goins has started 26 of BSU's 29 games and logged 30-or-more minutes 10 times . . . He leads the team in steals (52) and assists (66), plus is third in minutes with his 28.5 per-game-average.
MCLEMORE STARTING UP: Since scoring 11 points off the bench versus Miami (Feb. 2), Rashaun McLemore has started the last nine games for the Cardinals . . . Overall, McLemore has started 16 of the 28 games he has played this season . . . He has logged double-digit points seven times, including a career-high 17 points versus Illinois State (Dec. 22).
OVERALL MAC RANKINGS: Scoring: Peyton Stovall (13.5, 11th) . . . Rebounding: Stovall (6.1, 13th) & Malik Perry (5.7, 14th) . . . Field Goal Percentage: Stovall (.469, 15th) . . . Steals: Melvin Goins (1.79, t-5th) . . . Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: Stovall (.398, 6th) . . . Offensive Rebounds: Perry (2.38, 7th) & Stovall (2.03, 13th).
WHERE WOULD NEWELL BE: In order to be ranked in the overall MAC Rankings, a player must appear in 75 percent of a team's games . . . Anthony Newell, who missed nine games due to injury, has played in 20 of BSU's 29 games (69 percent) and would rank second in the league in both scoring (16.9) and rebounding (8.1) . . . BSU would have to play seven more games for Newell to reach the 75 percent mark.
JUST IN THE MAC: Scoring: Anthony Newell (16.8, 2nd) & Peyton Stovall (12.3, 17th) . . . Rebounding: Newell (8.1, 3rd), Malik Perry (6.1, 13th) & Stovall (5.6, 17th) . . . Free Throw Percentage: Brandon Lampley (.787, 13th) . . . Steals: Melvin Goins (1.81, t-6th) . . . Offensive Rebounds: Perry (3.00, t-2nd), Newell (2.00, 12th) & Stovall (1.94, t-13th) . . . Defensive Rebounding: Newell (6.06, 1st).
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.
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.
STOVALL 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.
