Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Ohio Saturday At 2 P.M.
January 30, 2009 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State continues its six-game stretch against Mid-American Conference East Division opponents Saturday afternoon as the Cardinals host Ohio at Worthen Arena ... The game will be televised by the Ball State Sports Network (BSSN) and will be broadcast on the following channels: WIPB-Muncie, WYIN-Merrillville, WNDA-Jeffersonville/Louisville, Hometown Television 19-Noblesville/Indianapolis and WJTS-Jasper ... Jerry Peirson and Vince Welch will provide the color commentary and play-by-play duties.
The Cardinals enter the game with a 9-9 overall record and a 4-2 mark in MAC play as BSU remains in a first place tie atop the MAC West Division ... Ball State is coming off of a 62-58 loss at Bowling Green Wednesday night ... The Cardinals are led by second-year head coach Billy Taylor ... Ohio enters the game with a 10-9 overall record and a 3-3 mark in MAC play ... The Bobcats have dropped two straight games and are coming off of a 76-69 loss at Central Michigan Thursday night ... Ohio is led by first-year head coach John Groce.
Series History With Ohio . . .
Saturday's game marks the 68th meeting all-time between Ball State and Ohio ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by a 37-30 margin ... The two teams have split the past seven meetings, with the home team winning each contest ... Ball State is 17-13 all-time against Ohio in Muncie ... The Cardinals have won three straight against the Bobcats at Worthen Arena, including a 69-57 victory during the 2006-07 season.
Last year, the Cardinals suffered a heartbreaking 61-59 loss at Athens to the Bobcats ... Ball State held a 12-point halftime lead and led for nearly 38 minutes before Ohio took the late lead to claim the victory ... Ohio's Jerome Tillman connected on his only field goal with five seconds remaining to give the Bobcats the lead ... Forward Anthony Newell had a three-pointer at the buzzer fall off the left side of the rim to seal the Cardinals' loss ... Newell led the Cardinals with 24 points and eight rebounds in the loss as he was eight-of-20 from the field ... He was the only Cardinal in double figures in the game.
Ohio was paced by Leon Williams' double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds as he was nine-of-17 from the field ... Bert Washington added 14 points for the Bobcats who had just two players in double figures.
Cardinals Vs. MAC East Division . . .
The 2008-09 season marks the 12th season that the Mid-American Conference has been in two divisions (West & East) ... Ball State, which has always been a member of the West Division, owns a 35-41 record against the East Division since the two-division format was implemented in the 1997-98 season ... The Cardinals were 1-5 against the West Division last year ... BSU has only posted two records over the .500 mark against the East Division in program history (1997-98/5-1 and 2002-03/4-2) ... Ball State has recorded four .500 records against the East Division but have five straight seasons of losing marks against the East Division.
Ball State is 9-3 during the regular season against Buffalo, 6-3 against Bowling Green, 5-6 against Akron, 4-5 against Ohio, 4-6 against Kent State, 2-5 against Marshall and 5-13 against Miami since divisional play began.
Home Sweet Home . . .
Saturday's game marks the 250th game for the Cardinals in Worthen Arena (previously University Arena) since its opening January 15, 1992 ... Ball State owns a 182-67 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 ... The Cardinals also have home wins against Presbyterian, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and Toledo ... Ball State has averaged just over 10 wins per season at home since Worthen Arena opened its doors.
Bench Play . . .
The Cardinals have received strong bench play recently as the BSU bench has out-scored the opponents' bench in eight out of the last nine games (Toledo, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, St. Joseph's, UC-Santa Barbara and Presbyterian) ... Over the past nine games, the Cardinals' bench has scored 168 points compared to just 91 points for the opponents' benches ... Ball State is averaging 18.7 points per game during the stretch from the bench.
Against Toledo, senior Rob Giles scored a career-high 16 points off of the bench as he was six-of-eight from the field ... Against Western Michigan, senior guard Laron Frazier scored 10 points off of the bench for BSU ... Last weekend, the Cardinals scored a season-high 36 points off the bench ... 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.
Did You Know? . . .
The Cardinals hold the Mid-American Conference's second rated scoring defense as Ball State holds its opponents to just 60.1 points per game ... The Cardinals rank as the 27th best scoring defense in NCAA Division I Basketball this season ... Washington State leads the country at 52.0 points allowed per game.
Last Time Out . . .
The Cardinals suffered a hard fought 62-58 loss at Bowling Green Wednesday ... Ball State rallied on multiple occasions in the second half but could not get over the hump to gain the lead ... The Cardinals shot 42.9 percent (24-of-56) from the field compared to 50 percent (21-of-42) shooting from Bowling Green ... The Falcons held a distinct advantage from the free throw line as they went 26 times compared to just nine for the Cardinals.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones led the Cardinals in the loss with 15 points while also grabbing eight rebounds ... He was six-of-14 from the field and tied his career-high with 33 minutes ... Senior guard Brandon Lampley added 12 points and two steals ... Freshman guard Randy Davis and senior guard Laron Frazier each added eight points in the loss.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Saturday's game with a 9-9 overall record and a 4-2 mark in Mid-American Conference action ... The Cardinals are coming off of a four-point loss at Bowling Green ... The Cardinals are averaging 58.6 points per game this season while allowing 60.1 points per game ... Ball State is shooting 40.6 percent (379-of-933) from the field and 31.0 percent (72-of-232) from three-point land ... The Cardinals are holding opponents to 41.9 percent (380-of-906) shooting from the field and 33.1 percent (90-of-272) from long range ... BSU is out-rebounding opponents by a 35.7-33.6 margin this season.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones leads active Cardinals in scoring at 11.2 points per game and on the glass at 7.3 rebounds per contest ... Jones has scored 201 points in his inaugural campaign and needs 33 points to move into the top 10 all-time scoring seasons for freshmen at Ball State ... He is also shooting 47.0 percent from the field (79-of-168) from the field this season.
Senior guard Brandon Lampley is second on the team in scoring at 8.9 points per game and leads the team with 52 assists ... Classmate Laron Frazier adds 8.7 points per game on the year ... Sophomore forward Malik Perry is second on the team in rebounding at 4.6 points per game while also adding 4.6 points per contest.
Scouting The Bobcats . . .
Ohio enters the game with a 10-9 overall record and a 3-3 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Bobcats have dropped two straight games at home against Bowling Green and most recently at Central Michigan Thursday ... Ohio is averaging 67.1 points per game while allowing 66.6 points per game ... The Bobcats are shooting 43.0 percent (433-of-1007) from the field and 38.7 percent (127-of-328) from long range ... Opponents are shooting 44.0 percent (443-of-1006) from the field and 33.6 percent (129-of-384) from three-point land ... Ohio is being out-rebounded by a 33.8-32.5 margin.
Forward Jerome Tillman leads the team in scoring at 19.2 points per game and on the glass at 8.8 boards per contest ... He is tied for the MAC lead with six double-doubles, matching the mark of Ball State's Anthony Newell this season ... Justin Orr is second on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game while Steven Coleman adds 9.6 points per contest.
Sophomore Tommy Freeman, a Muncie native, adds 8.5 points per contest ... DeVaughn Washington is coming off of a 25-point, 11-rebound effort in the loss at Central Michigan.
Hitting The Glass . . .
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds in the Cardinals' victory over Toledo ... Jones grabbed seven offensive rebounds and eight defensive boards ... The 15 rebounds are the most for a Cardinal this season and the most since Anthony Newell grabbed 15 boards at Buffalo last season (Feb. 13).
Also, sophomore forward Malik Perry and Jones each grabbed 11 rebounds in Tuesday's victory over Western Michigan ... This marked the second time this season that two Cardinals have reach double figures in rebounds ... Jones and forward Anthony Newell accomplished the feat against Butler in the second game of the season.
Surpassing Last Season . . .
Ball State's victory over Toledo gave the Cardinals nine victories on the season ... The nine 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 ... The Cardinals picked up their eighth win of the season over Western Michigan and their ninth win of the season against Toledo ... The nine wins ties the Cardinals' win total from the 2006-07 season.
Also, Ball State is at the .500 mark 18 games into the season for the first time since 2004-05 season when BSU was 11-7 on the year.
The Cardinals have won four Mid-American Conference games this season through the first six contests ... Last year, the Cardinals only won five MAC games all season.
Clamping Down . . .
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 ... Through the first 18 games of the season, the Cardinals are holding opponents to 60.1 points per game ... The scoring defense is the second rated unit in the MAC ... The Cardinals have only allowed four opponents to score more than 70 points this season ... Ball State is 8-1 when it holds opponents under 60 points and is 4-0 in MAC play when it holds opponents under 60 points.
Additionally, Ball State has turned up the heat on defense during the first four Mid-American Conference games ... The Cardinals are holding MAC opponents to just 54.3 points per game, which is the best scoring defense in the MAC.
Ball State has limited two opponents, Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan, to under 45 points this season ... This is the first time since the 1991-92 season that Ball State has held two MAC teams to under 50 points in the same season ... In 1991-92, the Cardinals held three MAC teams to less than 50 points (Toledo - 34, Miami - 43, Central Michigan - 46).
BSU held the Broncos to a season-low 44 points Tuesday night ... The Cardinals held WMU to just 27.5 percent shooting in the victory on just 14 field goals.
The Cardinals held Northern Illinois to just 54 points in their victory 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.
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' 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.
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.
Ball State is now 4-2 in MAC play, marking its best start in conference action since the 2003-04 season when the Cardinals opened 5-1 on the year.
Newell Out For The Season . . .
Senior forward Anthony Newell suffered a season-ending injury 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.
Spreading The Wealth . . .
The Cardinals' 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.
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.
ESPNU Bracketbusters . . .
The Cardinals are part of the 2009 ESPNU BracketBusters and will host a game Saturday, February 21 ... The pairings will be released on February 2 ... More information is available on the at www.espnubracketbusters.com.
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 against Ohio 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 Rockets ... Ball State will have five additional games broadcast by the BSSN this season (at Miami, Buffalo, at Northern Illinois, at Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan).
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.
Double-Dipping . . .
The Cardinals have had nine double-doubles so far this season with senior forward Anthony Newell recording six and freshman forward Jarrod Jones adding three 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.
He added his third career double dip against Toledo as he scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds.
Cardinals In MAC Stats . . .
Entering Saturday's game, the Cardinals have a couple of players sprinkled throughout the Mid-American Conference individual statistic rankings.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones enters the game tied for second in rebounding at 7.3 boards per game ... Jones is 16th in scoring at 11.2 points and is eighth in field goal percentage at 47.0 percent ... Jones is tied for fourth in blocked shots at 1.06 rejections per game ... He is third in defensive rebounds (4.56) and fourth in offensive rebounds (2.72)
Senior guard Brandon Lampley enters the game second in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.82 ... Lampley ranks fifth in the conference in three-point percentage at 37.5 ... He is 11th in the MAC in assists at 2.89 per game ... In MAC games only, he is 21st in scoring (11.0), 11th in field goal percentage (50.0) and third in three-point percentage (47.4) through the first six conference games.
Hitting The Glass . . .
The Cardinals enter Saturday's game ranked third in the Mid-American Conference in rebounding margin at +2.1 ... Ball State has out-rebounded its opponents 12 out of the first 18 games this season ... BSU is second the MAC on the defensive glass as it averages 24.44 defensive boards per game and is third overall in rebounding defense at 33.6 ... The Cardinals only out-rebounded their opponents 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
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.
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.
88th Season Underway . . .
Ball State is in its 88th season in program history ... The Cardinals have posted a 1073-972-1 record all-time, which is good for a .525 winning percentage ... Ball State is 712-308 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 .. 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 Mich. (2).
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State hits the road Wednesday night as it makes the short trip to Oxford, Ohio to take on rival Miami. The game will be broadcast by the Ball State Sports Network at 7 p.m.
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