Ball State University Athletics
Men's Hoops Opens MAC Play Saturday At Eastern Michigan
January 08, 2009 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals open Mid-American Conference play Saturday afternoon as they travel to Ypsilanti, Mich. for a meeting with Eastern Michigan ... Saturday's game will be broadcast by the Ball State Sports Network, locally on WIPB-TV ... Jerry Peirson and Vince Welch will provide the color commentary and play-by-play duties ... Ball State enters the game with a 5-7 overall record ... The Cardinals have dropped two straight games and five out of their last six contests ... Last time out, the Cardinals battled 2008 NCAA Tournament participant Saint Joseph's tough before falling 63-55 Saturday at Worthen Arena ... Ball State is led by second-year head coach Billy Taylor ... Eastern Michigan enters the game with a 2-12 overall record ... The Eagles have dropped seven straight and have wins only against Marygrove College and Wayne State ... EMU dropped a 67-45 contest at home to Temple last time out Wednesday night ... Eastern Michigan is led by fourth-year head coach Charles Ramsey.
Cardinals In MAC Openers . . .
Saturday's game marks the 36th Mid-American Conference opener in Ball State history, dating back to the 1975-76 season ... The Cardinals are 15-20 all-time in MAC openers and have dropped three straight openers ... BSU's last victory in a conference opener came January 2, 2005 at home against Kent State ... Saturday also marks the 18th time that Ball State has opened league play on the road.
Ball State and Eastern Michigan have met three times in MAC openers prior to Saturday's contest ... The Cardinals are 2-1 all-time against the Eagles in MAC openers ... Ball State picked up wins against Eastern Michigan in openers during the 1980-81 and 1985-86 seasons while EMU claimed a victory in the 1990-91 season ... The home team has won all three of the meetings in MAC openers between the Ball State and Eastern Michigan.
Series History With Eastern Michigan . . .
Saturday's game marks the 86th meeting all-time between Ball State and Eastern Michigan ... The Cardinals hold a 52-33 advantage in the all-time series dating back to the first ever meeting between two schools February 11, 1947 (BSU 73, EMU 32) ... BSU also holds a 24-16 record all-time against EMU in Ypsilanti ... The Eagles have won two straight against BSU and have won six out of the last eight meetings.
Last season, the two teams split the regular season series with each home team winning ... The Eagles claimed their second win over the Cardinals with a four-point victory in the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.
In the first meeting, Ball State claimed a 64-60 victory at Worthen Arena ... Forward Malik Perry scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds against EMU ... Guard Rob Giles added 10 points off of the bench ... At EMU, the Eagles took home a 75-64 victory ... Forward Anthony Newell scored 15 points and guard Peyton Stovall added 12 points in the loss ... The Eagles ended the Cardinals' season with a 59-55 victory at Quicken Loans Arena ... Newell paced the Cardinals with 17 points while Stovall added 13 points.
983 and Counting . . .
Senior forward Anthony Newell needs just 17 points to become the 25th player in Ball State history to join the 1,000-point club this season ... Newell enters Saturday's game with 983 career points ... He is averaging 15.4 points per game during the first 12 contests of the season ... He has scored in double figures 57 times in his career (57-of-86), including 19 times last year and all 12 times this season ... He has reached 20-plus points on 11 different occasions in his career, including a 20-point effort against Presbyterian.
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.
Frazier Sidelined . . .
Senior guard Laron Frazier has missed the past three games due to an injury ... Frazier injured his hand during practice prior to the Presbyterian game and will miss 4-6 weeks due to injury ... Freshman guard Randy Davis has moved into the starting lineup the past three games.
Lending A Helping Hand . . .
Freshman guard Randy Davis has moved into the starting lineup the past three games and has dished out 19 assists, while only committing four turnovers ... Davis enters Saturday's game second in the Mid-American Conference in assist/turnover ratio at 1.88 ... 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 1.38.
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 32 assists on the year ... Senior guard Brandon Lampley leads the team with 41 assists ... Lampley dished out a career-high seven assists against Eastern Illinois and SIU-Edwardsville earlier this season.
Double Figure Scoring . . .
Senior forward Anthony Newell has scored in double figures in all 12 games this season ... Newell has reached double figures in 16 straight games dating back to last season ... He has reached double figures in 42 out of his last 46 games dating back to his sophomore season ... He is the only Cardinal this season to reach double figures in all 12 games.
Wild & Wacky MAC West . . .
The Cardinals enter Saturday's conference opener leading the Mid-American Conference West Division with 5-7 record ... 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 4-8 ... Central Michigan (3-9), Western Michigan (3-10), Eastern Michigan (2-12) and Toledo (2-12) round out the West Division.
Last Time Out . . .
The Cardinals opened the New Year with a hard fought 63-55 loss at home to 2008 NCAA Tournament participant Saint Joseph's Saturday ... Ball State battled in the post as they matched the Hawks point-for-point in the paint at 36-36 ... The Cardinals held a 38-29 advantage on the glass, including 15 offensive rebounds.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones reached double figures in scoring for seventh time this season as he finished with 16 points ... Jones was eight-of-17 from the field and also grabbed nine rebounds ... Senior forward Anthony Newell also scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the loss.
Freshman forward Mo Hubbard scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds as he was a perfect four-of-four from the field in 16 minutes of action ... Sophomore forward Malik Perry added eight points and five rebounds while freshman guard Randy Davis dished out six assists while only committing two turnovers.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Saturday's game with a 5-7 overall record ... The Cardinals have dropped two straight and five out of their last six games ... Ball State is averaging 59.1 points per game while allowing 63 points per game ... The Cardinals are shooting 40.8 percent (254-of-622) from the field and 29.0 percent (45-of-155) from three-point land ... Opponents are shooting 42.8 percent (266-of-621) from the field and 36.1 percent (65-of-180) from long range ... BSU is out-rebounding its opponents by a 35.9-33.7 margin.
Senior forward Anthony Newell leads the Cardinals in scoring at 15.4 points per game and in rebounding at 9.3 boards per contest ... He also leads the team in minutes played at 33.8 per game ... Freshman forward Jarrod Jones adds 10.5 points per contest and 6.6 rebounds per game ... Jones is shooting 49.0 percent (50-of-102) from the field this season.
Senior guard Brandon Lampley adds 7.8 points per game and leads the team with 41 assists ... Freshman guard Randy Davis is second on the team with 32 assists.
Scouting The Eagles . . .
Eastern Michigan enters the game with a 2-12 overall record as the Eagles have dropped six straight and 12 out of their last 13 games ... The Eagles dropped a 67-45 loss at home against Temple Wednesday night ... EMU has picked up wins against Marygrove College and Wayne State ... The Eagles are averaging 61.9 points per game while allowing 67.8 points per game ... Eastern Michigan is shooting 42.7 percent (335-of-784) from the field and 29.2 percent (62-of-212) from three-point land ... Opponents are shooting 42.9 percent (346-of-807) from the field and 37.1 percent (96-of-259) from long range ... EMU is out-rebounding its opponents 37.0-33.6.
Brandon Bowdry leads the Eagles in scoring at 15.8 points per game while also leading the team on the glass at 6.6 rebounds per contest ... Justin Dobbins is second on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game ... Dobbins is shooting 51.2 percent (62-of-121) from the field ... The Eagles have been without preseason All-MAC selection Carlos Medlock who was injured before the year and will miss the entire season.
Top 20 And Climbing . . .
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 nine rebounds against Saint Joseph's to move his career total to 575 caroms ... He moved up one spot on the career rebounding list to 13th place all-time as he past former Paris McCurdy (1988-90) ... He past former Cardinals 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. Chris Collins - 577
13. Anthony Newell - 575
14. Paris McCurdy - 547
15. Chandler Thompson - 534
Did You Know . . .
The Cardinals picked up their fifth win of the season against Presbyterian ... Last season, the Cardinals did not pick up their fifth win until February 17, 2008 vs. Toledo ... 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.
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 12 games of the season, the Cardinals are holding opponents to 63.0 points per game ... The scoring defense is ranked fourth in the MAC ... The Cardinals have only allowed three opponents to score more than 70 points this season.
Home Sweet Home . . .
The Saint Joseph's game marked the 245th 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 seven double-doubles so far this season with senior forward Anthony Newell recording five and freshman forward Jarrod Jones adding two double-dips ... Newell has posted double-doubles against Butler, SIU-Edwardsville, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, IPFW and Evansville ... 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 12 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 Saturday's game seventh in the MAC in scoring at 15.4 points per game ... He is second in the league on the glass at 9.3 rebounds per game ... He is second in the MAC in defensive rebound at 6.00 ... He is fifth in the MAC in minutes per game at 33.83.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones enters the game sixth in rebounding at 6.6 boards per game ... Jones is 26th in scoring at 10.5 points and is sixth in field goal percentage at 49.0 percent ... Jones is tied for fifth in blocked shots at 1.00 rejections per game.
Senior guard Brandon Lampley enters the game fourth in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.64 ... He is sixth in the MAC in assists at 3.42 per game and is tied for eighth in free throw percentage (.735) ... Freshman guard Randy Davis is ninth in the MAC in assists at 3.20 per game and second in assist/turnover ratio at 1.88.
Hitting The Glass . . .
The Cardinals enter Saturday's game ranked fourth in the Mid-American Conference in rebounding margin at +2.3 ... Ball State has out-rebounded its opponents seven out of the first 12 games this season ... BSU is third in the MAC on the defensive glass as it averages 24.58 defensive boards per game ... 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 open the home portion of the 2009 MAC schedule Tuesday night when they host Northern Illinois at 7 p.m.
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