Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Western Michigan Tuesday
January 19, 2009 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals begin a two-game home stand Tuesday night as they play host to Mid-American Conference foe Western Michigan ... Ball State enters the game with a 7-8 overall record and a 2-1 mark in MAC play ... The Cardinals are coming off of their first MAC loss of the season Saturday afternoon as they dropped a 71-65 contest at Central Michigan ... Ball State is led by second-year head coach Billy Taylor ... Western Michigan enters the game with a 6-10 overall record but sit alone atop the MAC West Division with a 3-0 mark in conference play ... The Broncos have picked up wins at Central Michigan and at home against Toledo and Northern Illinois to open conference play ... WMU is led by sixth-year head coach Steve Hawkins.
Series History With WMU . . .
Tuesday's game marks the 108th meeting all-time between Ball State and Western Michigan ... The Cardinals narrowly trail the all-time series 54-53 ... Western Michigan has won six straight meetings having swept the season series for three straight years ... The last victory by the Cardinals in the series came March 5, 2005 with an 88-81 victory at home ... Ball State is 31-20 all-time against the Broncos in Muncie.
Last season, Western Michigan swept the season series with a 71-45 victory in Kalamazoo (Jan. 16) and a 57-53 victory in Worthen Arena (March 9) ... In the first meeting, the Cardinals struggled offensively as they connected on just 23.1 percent (12-of-52) from the field while WMU connected on 57.4 percent (27-of-47) ... Forward Anthony Newell scored 13 points while guard Peyton Stovall added 18 points ... Malik Perry added eight points and seven rebounds ... WMU was led by forward Joe Reitz who finished with 15 points while David Kool added 13 points.
In the second meeting of the season, the Cardinals held a 53-50 lead with 2:23 mark left in the game but the Broncos closed on a 7-0 run to claim the victory ... Newell scored 19 points in the loss while Perry added 10 points and seven rebounds ... Reitz scored 14 points and Kool added 19 points off of the bench to earn the season series sweep for WMU.
Did You Know . . .
Tuesday's game marks the 108th game all-time between Ball State and Western Michigan, marking the most meetings between Ball State and a Mid-American Conference team ... Western Michigan is just one of three teams that Ball State has played at least 100 times in program history ... The Cardinals played instate rival Butler earlier this season in the 100th meeting between the two teams ... Ball State has only faced one team more times than Western Michigan with the Cardinals facing Indiana State 123 times in program history.
Bench Play . . .
The Cardinals have received strong bench play recently as the BSU bench has out-scored the opponents' bench in the past six games (Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, St. Joseph's, UC-Santa Barbara and Presbyterian) ... Over the past six games, the Cardinals' bench has scored 115 points compared to just 46 points for the opponents' benches ... Ball State is averaging 19.2 points per game during the stretch from the bench.
Last time out, the Cardinals scored a season-high 36 points off of the bench ... Senior guard Laron Frazier paced the bench with a season-high 18 points against Central Michigan while Brandon Lampley added 14 points ... The 36 bench points surpasses the previous season-high of 28 points recorded against Northern Illinois.
Last Time Out . . .
The Cardinals dropped their first Mid-American Conference game of the season Saturday afternoon as they fell 71-65 contest at Central Michigan ... Ball State made a comeback attempt in the second half with an 8-2 run to pull within two points in the final minute but CMU was able to nail free throws down the stretch ... The Cardinals once again got another strong effort from the bench as it out-scored the Chippewas' bench 36-13.
Senior guard Laron Frazier paced the Cardinals with a season-high 18 points off of the bench ... Frazier connected on seven-of-13 from the field and three-of-five from the free throw line ... Senior forward Brandon Lampley added 14 points off of the bench as well as he was four-of-seven from the field and a perfect four-of-four from the free throw line.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones added 15 points and five rebounds in the loss ... Jones was five-of-six from the field and from the free throw line ... Freshman forward Mo Hubbard paced the Cardinals on the glass with a game-high eight rebounds.
Freshman guard Randy Davis was ejected at the 17:28 mark of the second half after being called for a flagrant personal foul ... The MAC stated that Davis will not miss any more action.
Fast MAC Start . . .
The Cardinals opened Mid-American Conference action with a 2-0 record after downing Eastern Michigan 46-42 in Ypsilanti and picking up a 60-54 victory over Northern Illinois at home ... The 2-0 start in MAC play is the best start for the Cardinals in conference since the 1999-2000 season when Ball State also opened 2-0 with wins over Northern Illinois and Toledo.
Surpassing Last Season . . .
Last Tuesday's victory over Northern Illinois gave the Cardinals seven victories on the season ... The seven victories surpasses the Cardinals' win total from last season's 6-24 record ... The Cardinals surpassed their win total in just 14 games this season ... Also, Ball State is at the .500 mark 14 games into the season for the first time since 2004-05 season when BSU was 9-5 on the year.
Five-Finger Discount . . .
The Cardinals have picked up the intensity on the defensive end in Mid-American Conference play as they are second in the MAC averaging 8.3 steals per game through the first three conference games ... Ball State has tallied 25 steals in the first three games ... Nine different players have recorded steals during MAC play with six different players notching at least three steals in the first three games ... Freshman forward Mo Hubbard leads the Cardinals with five steals in MAC play.
The Cardinals only averaged 4.7 steals per game during the 12 non-conference games, totally 56 steals.
Newell Out For The Season . . .
Senior forward Anthony Newell suffered a season-ending injury last 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.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the game with a 7-8 overall record and a 2-1 mark in Mid-American Conference action ... The Cardinals are coming off of a 71-65 loss at Central Michigan ... BSU is averaging 58.7 points per game this season while allowing 61.5 points per game ... The Cardinals are shooting 40.8 percent (314-of-769) from the field this season and 29.6 percent (58-of-196) from three-point land ... Opponents are shooting 42.7 percent (325-of-761) from the field and 34.5 percent (77-of-223) from long range ... Ball State is out-rebounding opponents by a 35.5-33.4 margin this season.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals active players in scoring at 11.1 points per game and rebounding at 6.5 boards per contest ... Jones is shooting 49.6 percent (66-of-133) from the field this season ... Senior guard Laron Frazier is second on the team in scoring at 9.2 points per game and is tied for second with 10 three-pointers on the year ... Senior guard Brandon Lampley adds 7.9 points per contest ... Sophomore forward Malik Perry and freshman forward Mo Hubbard tally 3.9 rebounds per game.
Scouting The Broncos . . .
Western Michigan enters the game with a 6-10 overall record and a 3-0 mark in Mid-American Conference action ... The Broncos have won three straight with wins over Central Michigan, Toledo and Northern Illinois ... WMU is averaging 63.9 points per game while allowing 64.8 points per game ... The Broncos are shooting 40.3 percent (342-of-849) from the field and 31.5 percent (106-of-337) from three-point land ... Opponents are shooting 41.5 percent (358-of-863) from the field and 31.7 percent (91-of-287) from long range ... Western Michigan is out-rebounding opponents by a 35.8-35.1 margin.
Guard David Kool leads the Broncos in scoring at 16.9 points per game while averaging 33.4 minutes per game ... Guard Shawntes Gary adds 10.8 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per contest ... Derek Drews adds 8.8 points per game for WMU.
Spreading The Wealth . . .
Last week's victory over Northern Illinois saw nine different Cardinals find their way onto the score sheet ... Four players scored at least nine points in the win ... Also, Ball State dished out a season-high 17 assists on 22 field goals ... The previous team game-high was 16 assists against Eastern Kentucky.
Ball State also found its shooting stroke as the Cardinals nailed seven three-pointers ... The seven long range shots ties the Cardinals' game-high for this year as BSU hit seven three-pointers in the season opener against Eastern Illinois.
Clamping Down . . .
Ball State turned up the heat on defense during the first two Mid-American Conference games ... The Cardinals held Northern Illinois to just 54 points in the game despite NIU averaging 70.2 points per game on the season ... Ball State also held the Huskies to just 20 second half points and only seven field goals in the half .... The 20 points are a season-low for the Huskies in a half ... Ball State also recorded a season-high eight steals for the second straight game.
Against Eastern Michigan, the Cardinals held EMU to just 42 total points ... Ball State limited the Eagles to just 13 first half points and only four first half field goals ... EMU's 13 points are the second-fewest points scored in the first half in Convocation Center history and the lowest for the Eagles since moving to the arena in 1998 ... The Cardinals also tallied eight steals in the victory.
Did You Know, Part II . . .
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 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.
The Cardinals claimed their first Mid-American Conference road victory of the season in the MAC opener at Eastern Michigan ... The victory is the third road win of the season for the Cardinals, which is the most road wins in a seasons since Ball State won four games in the 2005-06 road schedule.
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.
Sunday's game against Toledo will be broadcast by the Ball State Sports Network, marking the fourth 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.
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 15 games of the season, the Cardinals are holding opponents to 61.5 points per game ... The scoring defense is ranked second in the MAC ... The Cardinals have only allowed four opponents to score more than 70 points this season ... Through the first three MAC games, the Cardinals are allowing a MAC-best 55.7 points per game.
Lending A Helping Hand . . .
Freshman guard Randy Davis has moved into the starting lineup the past six games and has dished out 23 assists, while only committing seven turnovers ... Davis enters Tuesday's game fourth in the Mid-American Conference in assist/turnover ratio at 1.7 ... 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 34 assists on the year ... Senior guard Brandon Lampley leads the team with 49 assists ... Lampley dished out a career-high seven assists against Eastern Illinois and SIU-Edwardsville earlier this season.
Cardinals In MAC Stats . . .
Through the first 15 games of the season, the Cardinals have a couple of players sprinkled throughout the Mid-American Conference individual statistic rankings.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones enters the game sixth in rebounding at 6.5 boards per game ... Jones is 18th in scoring at 11.1 points and is sixth in field goal percentage at 49.6 percent ... Jones is fifth in blocked shots at 1.07 rejections per game.
Senior guard Brandon Lampley enters the game second in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.88 ... He is eighth in the MAC in assists at 3.27 per game ... Freshman guard Randy Davis is 15th in the MAC in assists at 2.62 per game
Hitting The Glass . . .
The Cardinals enter Tuesday's game ranked third in the Mid-American Conference in rebounding margin at +2.1 ... Ball State has out-rebounded its opponents nine out of the first 15 games this season ... BSU is third the MAC on the defensive glass as it averages 24.47 defensive boards per game and is second overall in rebounding defense at 33.4 ... 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.
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
Home Sweet Home . . .
Tuesdays's game marks the 247th game for the Cardinals in Worthen Arena (previously University Arena) since its opening January 15, 1992 ... Ball State owns a 179-67 record all-time in Worthen Arena, which is good for .728 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, its third against Presbyterian and its fourth against Northern Illinois ... 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.
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.
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 1072-971-1 record all-time, which is good for a .525 winning percentage ... Ball State is 711-308 all-time at home in Muncie as the Cardinals have won 69.8 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 their two-game home stand Sunday afternoon as they host Toledo at 2 p.m. ... The game will be broadcast by the Ball State Sports Network (WIPB-TV).
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