Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Northern Illinois Tuesday Night
January 12, 2009 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals open the home portion of the 2009 Mid-American Conference schedule this evening as they host Northern Illinois ... Ball State enter the game with a 6-7 overall record and a 1-0 mark in MAC play ... The Cardinals are coming off of a 46-42 victory Saturday at Eastern Michigan in the MAC opener ... BSU is led by second-year head coach Billy Taylor ... Northern Illinois enters tonight's game with a 5-8 overall record and a 1-0 mark in MAC play ... The Huskies opened MAC action with a 75-51 victory at home against Toledo ... NIU is coached by second-year head coach Ricardo Patton.
Newell Out For The Remainder Of The Season . . .
Senior forward Anthony Newell suffered a season-ending injury Saturday afternoon at Eastern Michigan as he broke his right leg at the 12:04 mark of the second half ... Newell was transported to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti where he underwent a successful surgery to repair the injury.
Newell was having another successful game prior to the injury as he had already posted his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds ... He finishes his career just five points shy of becoming the 25th player in Ball State history to reach 1,000 career points as he finishes with 995 career points ... He has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week three times this season as he averaged 15.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game through the first 13 games of the season.
Series History With Northern Illinois . . .
Tonight's game marks the 70th meeting all-time between Ball State and Northern Illinois ... The Cardinals hold a 40-29 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to the first meeting Jan. 3, 1942 when Ball State defeated NIU 42-31 in DeKalb ... The Cardinals are 25-7 all-time against the Huskies in Muncie, including wins in the past two contests in Worthen Arena.
Ball State has won three out of the last four meetings with Northern Illinois ... Last season, the two teams split the season series with each home team claiming victory ... In the first meeting, NIU took home a 60-58 last-second victory over the Cardinals ... Ball State rallied from 14 points down to take a lead at 58-57 with just over two minutes remaining but Ethan Grafel converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 20 seconds left to give NIU the victory ... Forward Anthony Newell scored 24 points to lead the Cardinals in the loss ... Northern Illinois was paced by Shaun Logan's 19 points while Grafel added a double-double.
The Cardinals claimed the season series split with a 69-63 victory in Muncie ... Senior guard Peyton Stovall recorded a double-double in his final home game at Worthen Arena as he scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds ... Newell added 23 points and six rebounds in the victory ... NIU was paced by Darion Anderson who score 24 points in the loss.
Did You Know . . .
The Cardinals picked up their sixth win of the season Saturday at Eastern Michigan to tie their win total from last season ... Last year, the Cardinals picked up their sixth win against Northern Illinois March 4, 2008 ... It took the Cardinals 28 games to pick up six wins last season while they accomplished the mark in the 13th game this year ... Also, the Cardinals were at the .500 mark 10 games into the season for the first time since the 2004-05 season when BSU started 6-4.
Ball State's victory at Wisconsin-Milwaukee (11/25/08) was its first on the road this season ... Ball State did not register a road victory until February 13, 2008 at Buffalo ... The Cardinals picked up their second road win Monday at IPFW ... Last season, BSU only recorded one road win all season and the Cardinals only picked up two road wins the entire 2006-07 season ... The back-to-back road wins for the Cardinals marks the first time Ball State has won consecutive road games since the 2003-04 season ... That year, the Cardinals picked up wins at Marshall and Bowling Green.
Last Time Out . . .
The Cardinals opened Mid-American Conference play Saturday afternoon with a 46-42 victory at Eastern Michigan ... The loss was subdued due to the loss of senior forward Anthony Newell to a season-ending injury ... Newell finished with his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cardinals' defense guided them to the victory as they held the Eagles to just 14 field goals, including just four in the first half ... Ball State held EMU to just 13 first half points and only 28.6 percent (14-of-49) shooting from the field in the game ... The Cardinals also tallied eight steals in the victory.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones paced the Cardinals with a team-high 15 points ... Jones connected on seven-of-13 from the field and also grabbed six rebounds ... Senior guard Rob Giles added seven points while freshman guard Randy Davis chipped in six points.
Cardinals In MAC Openers . . .
Saturday's game marked the 36th Mid-American Conference opener in Ball State history, dating back to the 1975-76 season ... The Cardinals are now 16-20 all-time in MAC openers after their four-point victory at Eastern Michigan ... The victory is the Cardinals' first in a MAC opener since the 2004-05 season when Ball State defeated Kent State January 2, 2005.
Media Exposure . . .
The Billy Taylor television show airs Tuesday evenings at 6 p.m. on WIPB-TV (Muncie Ch. 2) ... The half hour show is hosting by Wil Hampton and is a production of the Ball State Sports Network.
Saturday's game at Central Michigan will be broadcast by the Ball State Sports Network, marking the third game this season that BSSN has broadcasted ... Vince Welch and Jerry Peirson will provide the call for the game against the Chippewas.
Coach Taylor will also be on 104.9 WERK FM Thursdays from 7-7:30 p.m. for the Cardinal Fast Break Show live from Cheeseburger In Paradise.
New To The Lineup . . .
Head coach Billy Taylor has started 10 different players so far this season ... Five players, Jarrod Jones, Randy Davis, Mo Hubbard, Eric Wormely and Pierre Sneed, have started their first career games this season for the Cardinals .... Jones and Hubbard started the season opening game against Eastern Illinois while Davis picked up his first career start against Presbyterian ... Jones scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in his first start while Davis scored 11 points and handed out five assists in his first start ... Wormely recorded his first career start for the Cardinals last time out at UC-Santa Barbara and scored a season-high seven points.
Sneed picked up his first career start against Saint Joseph's after only playing 10 minutes all season prior to the start ... he played a career-high nine minutes against the Hawks.
Last season, five different players recorded their first career start for the Cardinals in Melvin Goins, Rashaun McLemore, Laron Frazier, Rob Giles and Malik Perry.
Lending A Helping Hand . . .
Freshman guard Randy Davis has moved into the starting lineup the past four games and has dished out 20 assists, while only committing seven turnovers ... Davis enters Tuesday's game fourth in the Mid-American Conference in assist/turnover ratio at 1.65 ... He is the highest rated freshman in assist/turnover ratio with Eastern Michigan's L.J. Frazier the second rated freshman in the category at 1.36.
Davis dished out a career-high eight assists at UC-Santa Barbara ... The eight assists are the most for a Cardinal this season in a single game ... Davis is second on the team with 33 assists on the year ... Senior guard Brandon Lampley leads the team with 43 assists ... Lampley dished out a career-high seven assists against Eastern Illinois and SIU-Edwardsville earlier this season.
Wild & Wacky MAC West . . .
The Cardinals enter Tuesday's game leading the Mid-American Conference West Division with 6-7 overall record and a 1-0 mark in MAC play ... The Cardinals, who were picked to finish fifth in the MAC West, lead the division while Northern Illinois, who was picked to finish sixth in the division, is second at 5-8 and 1-0 in MAC while Western Michigan is 4-10 and 1-0 ... Central Michigan (3-10, 0-1), Eastern Michigan (2-13, 0-1) and Toledo (2-13, 0-1) round out the West Division.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters tonight's game with a 6-7 overall record and a 1-0 mark in Mid-American Conference action ... The Cardinals are coming off of a 46-42 victory at Eastern Michigan Saturday to open MAC play ... BSU is averaging 58.1 points per game while allowing 61.4 points per game ... The Cardinals are shooting 40.5 percent (271-of-669) from the field and 28.7 percent (47-of-164) from three-point land ... Opponents are shooting 41.8 percent (280-of-670) from the field and 34.3 percent (68-of-198) from long range ... Ball State owns a rebounding advantage of 36.5-33.6.
Senior forward Anthony Newell leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 15.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game but tonight's game will be the Cardinals' first without Newell's services.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones leads active Cardinals in scoring at 10.8 points per game and on the glass at 6.5 boards per contest ... Senior guard Laron Frazier is second among active players in scoring at 8.2 points per game and has connected on 39.1 percent from three-point land.
Senior guard Brandon Lampley chips in 7.4 points per game while sophomore forward Malik Perry adds 3.9 rebounds per game.
Scouting The Huskies. . .
Northern Illinois enters tonight's game with a 5-8 overall record and a 1-0 mark in Mid-American Conference game ... The Huskies posted a 75-51 victory over Toledo in their MAC opener to snap a three-game losing streak ... NIU is averaging 70.2 points per game while allowing 72.6 points per game ... The Huskies are shooting 43.0 percent (323-of-752) from the field and 35.7 percent (86-of-241) from three-point land ... Opponents are shooting 45.9 percent (322-of-701) from the field and 37.3 percent (90-of-241) from long range ... NIU is being out-rebounded by a 35.2-34.6 margin.
Sophomore guard Darion Anderson leads the team in scoring at 18.2 points per game and leads the team with 25 steals ... Freshman guard Mike DiNunno is second on the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game.
Top 20 On The Glass. . .
Senior forward Anthony Newell moved into the top 20 all-time rebounders in Ball State history earlier this season ... Newell is the 19th player all-time in Ball State history to reach 500 career boards .... He grabbed 10 rebounds against Eastern Michigan to move his career total to 585 caroms ... He moved up one spot on the career rebounding list to 12th place all-time as he past former Cardinal Chris Collins (1971-74) ... He past former Cardinals Paris McCurdy (1988-90), Shafer Suggs (1972-75), Jeermal Sylvester (1990-94) and Chandler Thompson (1989-92) earlier this season ... Ed Butler (1961-64) holds the Ball State career record for caroms with 1,231 boards.
11. Bill Gillis - 606
12. Anthony Newell - 585
13. Chris Collins - 577
14. Paris McCurdy - 547
15. Chandler Thompson - 534
Taylor's Defensive Prowess . . .
The trademark of a Billy Taylor led team begins on the defensive end of the court and that has been no different during his time here at Ball State ... The Cardinals' defense finished last year fourth in the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense as it held opponents to 63.9 points per game ... The Cardinals held their opponents under 65 points in 19 of 30 games last year.
Through the first 13 games of the season, the Cardinals are holding opponents to 61.4 points per game ... The scoring defense is ranked third in the MAC ... The Cardinals have only allowed three opponents to score more than 70 points this season.
Home Sweet Home . . .
Tonight's game marks the 246th game for the Cardinals in Worthen Arena (previously University Arena) since its opening January 15, 1992 ... Ball State owns a 178-67 record all-time in Worthen Arena, which is good for .730 winning percentage ... The Cardinals opened the 2008-09 season with their 175th career victory in Worthen Arena as they downed Eastern Illinois 72-59 ... BSU picked up its second home win of the season against SIU-Edwardsville and its third against Presbyterian ... Ball State has averaged just over 10 wins per season at home since Worthen Arena opened its doors.
Double-Dipping . . .
The Cardinals have had eight double-doubles so far this season with senior forward Anthony Newell recording six and freshman forward Jarrod Jones adding two double-dips ... Newell has posted double-doubles against Butler, SIU-Edwardsville, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, IPFW, Evansville and Eastern Michigan ... Jones has accomplished the feat against Eastern Illinois and Butler.
Newell had a streak of three straight double-doubles earlier this season (Butler, SIUE, UWM) ... The last two Cardinals to record three straight double-doubles in a season were Newell and Terrance Chapman ... Newell accomplished the feat three straight games in the 2006-07 season from March 1 through March 7 ... Chapman tallied three straight during the 2004-05 season between January 29 and February 3.
Newell and Jones both posted double-doubles in the Cardinals' loss at Butler ... They are the first Cardinals to post a double-double in the same game since Robert Owns and Cameron Echols both accomplished the feat February 6, 2003.
Jones also recorded two double-doubles in his first two career collegiate games ... He recorded 21 points and 13 rebounds in his collegiate debut against Eastern Illinois before scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds at Butler ... He is the only player in the Mid-American Conference to open the season with back-to-back double-doubles this year.
Cardinals In MAC Stats . . .
Through the first 13 non-conference games of the season, the Cardinals have a couple of players sprinkled throughout the Mid-American Conference individual statistic rankings.
Senior forward Anthony Newell enters Tuesday's game ninth in the MAC in scoring at 15.2 points per game ... He is second in the league on the glass at 9.4 rebounds per game ... He is second in the MAC in defensive rebound at 6.62 ... He is sixth in the MAC in minutes per game at 33.23.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones enters the game fifth in rebounding at 6.5 boards per game ... Jones is 22nd in scoring at 10.8 points and is fifth in field goal percentage at 49.6 percent ... Jones is third in blocked shots at 1.08 rejections per game.
Senior guard Brandon Lampley enters the game third in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.72 ... He is seventh in the MAC in assists at 3.31 per game ... Freshman guard Randy Davis is 10th in the MAC in assists at 3.00 per game and fourth in assist/turnover ratio at 1.65.
Hitting The Glass . . .
The Cardinals enter Tuesday's game ranked second in the Mid-American Conference in rebounding margin at +2.8 ... Ball State has out-rebounded its opponents eight out of the first 13 games this season ... BSU leads the MAC on the defensive glass as it averages 2515 defensive boards per game and is second overall in rebounding defense at 33.6 ... The Cardinals only out-rebounded their opponent 13 times last season ... Prior to the first four games of this season, the last time Ball State out-rebounded four straight opponents was from January 24, 2007 through February 3, 2007 (Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State & Ohio).
Earlier this season, the Cardinals held a 15-rebound advantage against Presbyterian (40-25) and grabbed a season-high 17 offensive rebounds.
Newell Garners Weekly Nods . . .
Senior forward Anthony Newell has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week on three different occasions this season ... Newell is the only player in the West Division of the MAC this season that has received the award on three different occasions ... Michael Bramos of Miami has received the nod three times this season from the East Division.
Newell picked up his first honor November 24 after posting back-to-back double-doubles against Butler and SIU-Edwardsville ... Newell averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds per game on the week ... He scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds at Butler ... He followed with a 15-point, 13-rebound effort in the Cardinals' win against SIUE.
Newell claimed his second award December 8 after again posting back-to-back double-doubles as he averaged 13.0 points and 12.5 rebounds per game ... He recorded a double-double in the Cardinals' victory at IPFW as he grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and scored 11 points including the game-winning shot as time expired to send the Cardinals to victory ... He followed that up with a 15-point, 12-rebound effort at Evansville
He garnered the award a third on December 22 after leading the Cardinals to a 60-57 victory over Presbyterian ... He scored a season-high 20 points as he connected on seven-of-13 from the field and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Fast Starts . . .
The Cardinals came out of the gate quickly against Eastern Illinois as they scored 43 first half points ... The 43 points are the most for a BSU team in a single half since a 43-point effort in the second half versus Central Michigan on Jan. 13, 2008 ... In addition, the 43 points are the most in a first half for the Cardinals since the team collected 49 in the opening frame versus Western Michigan on March 5, 2005 ... The 13-point margin of victory over Eastern Illinois is the largest since a 21-point, 61-40, win over Valparaiso on Dec. 16, 2006.
Ball State also came out of the gate quickly against SIU-Edwardsville as it ran out to a 24-4 lead ... The 20-point lead against SIUE is the largest for the Cardinals this season and the largest since a 24-point lead against Valparaiso December 16, 2006 ... The Cardinals also held SIUE to just 16 first half points ... The 16 first half points is the fewest for an opponent in a half in the Billy Taylor era and the lowest since BSU held Central Michigan to 16 in the second half January 24, 2006 ... It is the lowest first half total for an opponent since a 16-point first half effort by Eastern Michigan March 3, 2004.
Cardinals Sign Two Recruits . . .
Head coach Billy Taylor and his staff announced the signings of Huzie Hambrite and Jauwan Scaife to national letters of intent during the early signing period.
Hambrite, a 6-0 guard from Indianapolis, is entering his second year at Lake Land College after playing at Indianapolis Northwest High School ... He led the Lakers in scoring last season as a freshman as he averaged 16 points per game, while also leading the team in assists (101) and steals (29) ... He opened his sophomore season Wednesday with 12 points and six assists as he led Lake Land to a 93-76 victory over Parkland College.
Scaife, a 6-2 guard from Muncie, is entering his senior season at Muncie Central High School ... He averaged 14.5 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per contest as a junior ... He made 46.9 percent of his field goals, including a 46.8 percent clip from three-point land ... He was tabbed as the “Top Sleeper” in the 2008-09 Indiana senior class by the Rick Bolus High Potential Report.
Cardinals Name Captains . . .
Second-year head coach Billy Taylor has announced his 2008-09 team captains in seniors Anthony Newell, Brandon Lampley, Laron Frazier and Rob Giles ... The four players combined to play in 103 games last year, including 47 starts ... This marks the second straight season that Newell has been one of the team's captains.
Newell Preseason All-MAC . . .
Senior forward Anthony Newell was named to the preseason All-Mid-American Conference West Division team by the league head coaches and the MAC media members ... Newell, a team captain, earned Honorable Mention All-MAC honors last season despite missing nine games due to an injury ... He led the team in scoring at 16.9 points per game and in rebounding at 8.0 caroms per contest last season ... He would have finished the season tied for the MAC lead in scoring and second in rebounding if he had appeared in enough games to qualify.
Newell scored in double figures in 19 of his 21 games last season, including six games of 20-plus points ... He played in all 16 conference games for the Cardinals, averaging 16.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, to rank second and third in the league, respectively. ... He enters the season as the Cardinals' most experienced player have seen action in 73 career games with 42 career starts ... He enters his senior season having scored 798 career points and notching 463 career rebounds.
Walking The Stage . . .
The Cardinals have a unique situation this season as two of their four seniors, Anthony Newell and Brandon Lampley, received their bachelor sdegrees this summer ... Newell became the first member of his family to earn a degree as he received a bachelor of science in criminal justice ... He is working on a second bachelor degree this season ... Lampley also graduated this summer as he earned his degree in english studies ... He is working on his master's degree in secondary education this season.
Eight New Faces . . .
The Cardinals welcome in eight newcomers this season in the form of three transfers and five freshmen ... Forward Terrence Watson joins the Cardinals as a senior and will sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules after coming to BSU from Ole Miss ... Also transferring into Ball State is junior college guard Brawley Chisholm and JUCO forward Eric Wormely.
The Cardinals' five freshmen include guard Randy Davis, guard Pierre Sneed, forward Maurice Hubbard, forward Jarrod Jones and center Zach Fields ... This five-member freshman class marks the largest class of true freshmen for the Cardinals since the 1994-95 season when Ball State also welcomed in five freshmen ... The five freshmen that season were Antwaan Jones, Ryan Reed, Charles Smith, Steve Smith and Bonzi Wells.
Brought To New Heights . . .
Last season, the Cardinals' tallest player on the team was 6-foot 5-inch forward Anthony Newell ...This season, Ball State brings a markedly taller version of the Cardinals to the court ... Ball State has four players this season that are taller than 6-5 including forward Maurice Hubbard (6-6), forward Eric Wormely (6-8), forward Jarrod Jones (6-9) and center Zach Fields (6-10) ... Newell is the fifth tallest player on the team this year.
New Faces On The Sidelines . . .
Second-year head coach Billy Taylor has a new look with him on the sidelines this season as Jay Newberry has moved from director of basketball operations to assistant coach this year ... Newberry takes over the assistant coach spot that was vacated when Jim Molinari was hired as the head coach of Western Illinois this off season.
Also, former Missouri Southern assistant coach Matt Laur has been added to the BSU staff as the director of basketball operations this season ... Both Laur and Newberry join Bob Simmons and Joseph Price on Taylor's staff.
88th Season Underway . . .
Ball State is in its 88th season in program history ... The Cardinals have posted a 1070-968-1 record all-time, which is good for a .525 winning percentage ... Ball State is 709-304 all-time at home in Muncie as the Cardinals have won 70.0 percent of games at home.
BSU Picked Fifth In MAC West . . .
The Cardinals were tabbed to finish fifth in the Mid-American Conference West Division in the preseason poll conducted by league coaches and members of the MAC News Media Association ... Western Michigan was selected to capture the league's West Division title, picking up 122 points ... Eastern Michigan (122 points) was chosen second, followed by Central Michigan (79 points), Toledo (71 points), Ball State (55 points) and Northern Illinois (39 points).
Voting for the East Division saw Kent State come out on top, earning 122 points ... Miami was second with 109 points, followed by Bowling Green (70 points), Akron (67 points), Ohio (66 points) and Buffalo (35 points).
The Golden Flashes were also the favorite to win the 2009 MAC Tournament title, earning 11 votes, followed by Miami (7), Bowling Green (2) and Eastern Michigan (2).
Looking Ahead . . .
The Cardinals continue Mid-American Conference play Saturday afternoon as they travel to Central Michigan for a 4:30 p.m. tip-off. The game will be broadcast by the Ball State Sports Network.
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