Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Ends Regular Season Sunday At WMU
March 06, 2008 | Men's Basketball
BALL STATE VS. WESTERN MICHIGAN:
The Cardinals and Broncos will be meeting for the second time this season and the 107th time in the all-time series . . . WMU, the 2008 Mid-American Conference West Division Champions, evened the series record at 53 games apiece with a 71-45 victory over the Cardinals at Worthen Arena Jan. 16 . . . Western Michigan holds a 32-18 advantage in games played in Kalamazoo, including wins in the last two contests played in University Arena.
STOVALL HAS LEFT THE BUILDING: Senior Peyton Stovall made the most of his Worthen Arena send-off Tuesday evening, recording his third career double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds) to help guide BSU to a 69-63 victory over Northern Illinois (March 4) on Senior Day . . . Over his career, Stovall scored 706 points and grabbed 234 rebounds in 59 games at Worthen Arena, helping guide the Cardinals to a 34-25 record in those games.
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.
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 recorded his third career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Anthony Newell scored a team-high 23 points to lift Ball State to a 69-63 victory over Northern Illinois (March 4) in BSU's final home game of the 2007-08 season . . . Laron Frazier added 10 points, including a pair of threes, as BSU drained a season-high eight three-pointers.
ABOUT WESTERN MIGHIGAN: The Broncos enter Sunday's game as the MAC West Division Champions with an 18-11 (11-4 MAC) record . . . On Tuesday, WMU suffered a 72-68 setback at Central Michigan despite 24 points from David Kool and 20 points from Shawntes Gary . . . Joe Reitz also added 10 points in the loss.
FIVE MORE TO GO: After scoring 13 points versus Northern Illinois (March 4), Peyton Stovall is five points shy of breaking into the top 10 for career points in Ball State annals . . . His career total currently stands at 1,364, which moves him past Skip Mills' (2003-07) total of 1,360 career points for 11th on BSU's all-time list . . . Dan Palombizio is 10th with 1,369 career 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 moved into third place in career three-pointers attempted at 438, passing BSU's all-time leading scorer Bonzi Wells (1994-98).
STOVALL SIZZLES FROM THE FLOOR: Over the last six games, Peyton Stovall is lighting it up from the floor, averaging a team-best 17.2 points per game, while shooting for a .603 (38-for-63) rate of success . . . He is hitting .500 (11-for-22) from three-point land, while adding 16 made free throws, 15 assists, eight steals and a block.
...AND STOVALL MAKES IT 111 OF 118: Peyton Stovall, a fifth-year senior at Ball State, has started 111 of 118 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 3,797 minutes over his career to rank second in BSU annals . . . At his current average and with two guaranteed games 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.
750 AND COUNTING: With his 23-point performance versus Northern Illinois (March 4), junior Anthony Newell raised his career point total to 762 . . . Newell has scored in double figures 17 times this season and in 43 of 71 (.606) 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 20-plus scoring games, six have come this season.
NEWELL CAN REBOUND TOO: Anthony Newell, who paces the Cardinals with an 8.2 rebounds-per-game average this season, is 39 boards shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history . . . Newell has collected 452 rebounds over his career, including 313 defensive boards and 139 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 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 Sunday's game at Western Michigan ranked first on the team and second in the MAC with 52 total steals . . . His 1.86 steals-per-game average is also second in the league, trailing only Toledo's Jonathan Amos' 2.63 average . . . As of games through March 2, Goins ranked 72nd in the nation in steals per game.
MALIK'S MARK: Malik Perry has started all 28 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 19 of the 28 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 64.4 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.
KEEPING IT ON THE D: Over the last five games, Ball State has limited its opponents to 60.8 points per game and a .441 (108-for-245) field goal percentage . . . BSU has recorded 34 steals and forced 74 turnovers during the span, with freshman Melvin Goins leading the way with 11 steals . . . Anthony Newell has four of the team's 10 blocks over the last five games.
KEEPING IT SAFE: Ball State enters Sunday's game versus Western Michigan ranked first in the league in fewest turnovers per game at 12.4 . . . In Tuesday's win over Northern Illinois (March 4), the Cardinals commited a season-low three turnovers, while forcing 16 Huskies turnovers . . . As of games through March 2, the Cardinals ranked 46th among all 328 NCAA Division I teams in fewest turnovers per game . . . BSU also ranks second in the MAC in turnover margin at +2.00, as they force 14.4 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 in the contest, grabbing three rebounds and scoring two points.
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 28 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 29.0 per-game-average.
MCLEMORE STARTING UP: Since scoring 11 points off the bench versus Miami (Feb. 2), Rashaun McLemore has started the last eight games for the Cardinals . . . Overall, McLemore has started 15 of the 27 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 (13.8, 10th) . . . Field Goal Percentage: Stovall (.473, 15th) . . . Rebounding: Stovall (6.1, 13th) & Malik Perry (5.7, 14th) . . . Steals: Melvin Goins (1.86, t-2nd) & Stovall (1.39, 15th) . . . Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: Stovall (.411, 4th) . . . Offensive Rebounds: Perry (2.32, t-7th) & Stovall (2.11, 11th).
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 19 of BSU's 28 games (68 percent) and would rank second in the league in both scoring (16.8) and rebounding (8.2) . . . BSU would have to play eight more games for Newell to reach the 75 percent mark.
JUST IN THE MAC: Scoring: Anthony Newell (16.7, 2nd), Peyton Stovall (12.7, t-14th) & Melvin Goins (9.0, 30th) . . . Field Goal Percentage: Stovall (.461, 13th) . . . Free Throw Percentage: Brandon Lampley (.778, 13th) & Stovall (.763, 14th) . . . Rebounding: Newell (8.2, 4th), Malik Perry (6.1, t-12th) & Stovall (5.7, 15th) . . . Assists: Goins (2.53, 13th) . . . Steals: Goins (1.93, 3rd) & Stovall (1.40, t-14th) . . . Offensive Rebounds: Perry (2.93, 3rd), Stovall (2.07, 11th) & Newell (2.00, t-12th) . . . Defensive Rebounding: Newell (6.20, 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.
