Ball State University Athletics
Men's Hoops Opens 2009-10 Season Tonight Against Valpo
November 13, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Promotion: White Out - First 500 fans receive free "Game On" t-shirts
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State opens the 2009-10 season Friday evening when it hosts instate rival Valparaiso in a non-conference contest at Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals are led by third-year head coach Billy Taylor ... Taylor led BSU to a Mid-American Conference West Division championship last season and a 14-17 overall record ... Valparaiso is led by 21st year head coach Homer Drew ... The Crusaders posted a 9-22 record last season as they finished ninth in the Horizon League standings.
Friday's game will be broadcast on the Ball State Sports Network (BSSN) ... Jerry Peirson and Wil Hampton will handle the color commentary and play-by-play duties ... Affiliates for the game include WIPB-Muncie, WHME-South Bend, WNDA-Jeffersonville, WYCS-Louisville, WJTS-Jasper, Hometown Television-Noblesville (tape delay), Comcast Fort Wayne and Indianapolis (Ch. 81 tape delay.
Digital Guide Available Online . . .
The 2009-10 Ball State men's basketball digital guide is available online at www.ballstatesports.com by clicking the digital guide button on the left hand side ... The guide was produced by the BSU athletics media relations office and 180 Communications ... The digital guide will replace Ball State's traditional printed media guide.
89th Season Underway . . .
Ball State opens its 89th season in program history Friday evening ... The Cardinals have posted a 1079-980-1 record all-time, which is good for a .524 winning percentage ... Ball State is 717-310 all-time at home in Muncie as the Cardinals have won 69.8 percent of games at home.
Friday's contest marks the 89th season opener in program history and the Cardinals are 51-37 all-time in openers ... Ball State is 39-9 all-time when it opens the year at home in Muncie ... Last year, the Cardinals kicked off the campaign with a 72-59 victory over visiting Eastern Illinois ... BSU jumped out to a 17-point halftime lead on the way to the victory ... Forward Jarrod Jones burst onto the collegiate scene in impressive fashion as he posted a double-double in his first career game with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Home Sweet Home . . .
Friday's game marks the 256th game for the Cardinals in Worthen Arena (previously University Arena) since its opening January 15, 1992 ... Ball State owns a 186-69 record all-time in Worthen Arena, which is good for .729 winning percentage ... Last season, the Cardinals posted a 10-6 home record on the year, including a 6-2 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... During its history, Ball State has averaged just over 10 wins per season at Worthen Arena.
Jones Honored By MAC . . .
Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones was named preseason All-Mid-American Conference West Division as voted on by the MAC News Media Association ... Jones, a native of Michigan City, Ind., turned in one of the top freshmen seasons in Ball State history last year as he was third all-time among BSU freshmen in rebounding (227) and fourth all-time in freshmen scoring (346). He was named the MAC Freshman of the Year after leading the Cardinals in scoring at 11.2 points and rebounding at 7.2 boards per game.
Jones, an Honorable Mention All-MAC selection last year, started 30 of 31 games while scoring in double figures 18 times. He burst onto the scene with a 21-point, 13-rebound effort in his collegiate debut, marking the first of his three double-doubles on the year.
Series History With Valpo . . .
Friday's contest is the 58th meeting all-time between Ball State and Valparaiso with the Cardinals holding a 30-27 edge in the all-time series ... This year's game will be only the third meeting between the instate schools since 1992 ... The teams played in Muncie in 2006 with the Cardinals taking home a 61-40 victory while Valparaiso won the last meeting in 2007 at home, 71-58 ... The 2006 contest was the Crusaders' first ever visit to Worthen Arena ... Ball State is 20-11 all-time against Valparaiso in Muncie, dating back to the teams' first meeting February 14, 1927 when the Cardinals won 46-25.
In the last meeting between the two teams in 2007, the Cardinals battled through an ice storm on the trip before falling behind by 13 at halftime ... Ball State rallied in the second half but could not overcome eight second half three-pointers by the Crusaders who finished the game with 13 long range baskets ... Forward Malik Perry was one of three Cardinals in double figures as he scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds in his sixth career collegiate contest.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the 2009-10 season as defending Mid-American Conference West Division champions after posting a 14-17 overall record and a 7-9 mark in MAC play last season ... The 2009-10 Cardinals include six letterwinners from last season's team, two redshirts who sat out last year and seven newcomers ... BSU will look to replace four seniors from last season's team that combined to score 1,027 points.
Ball State is led by its defense which held opponents to 59.7 points per game a year ago ... Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals this season after earning MAC Freshman of the Year honors ... He led the team in scoring at 11.2 points per game and on the glass at 7.3 rebounds per contest ... Junior forward Malik Perry returns after starting 27 games last year and averaging 24.3 minutes per game ... He was second on the team on the glass at 4.9 rebounds per game.
Sophomore forward Mo Hubbard played 30 games last year, including six starts, while classmate Randy Davis played in 26 games with six starts ... Sophomore guard Pierre Sneed also played 23 games with eight starts while senior guard Brawley Chisholm appeared in 20 games.
Scouting The Crusaders . . .
Valparaiso enters the 2009-10 season opener after posting a 9-22 overall record and a 5-12 mark in Horizon League play last year ... The Crusaders posted a 4-9 non-conference record last season ... Valpo played one exhibition contest prior to Friday's game, dropping an 88-83 contest to the University of Indianapolis.
Leading the charge for the Crusaders is junior guard Michael Rogers who was second on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game ... Rogers led Valpo in scoring in the exhibition game with 19 points ... Junior guard Howard Little was third on the team in scoring last year at 9.6 points per game.
Valparaiso will benefit from the return of senior guard Brandon McPherson who sat out most of last season after getting a medical redshirt ... McPherson was averaging 9.2 points per game before his ending his season after just five games ... The Crusaders also add junior forward Cory Johnson who sat out last year after transferring from Iowa State ... Johnson appeared in 55 games for the Cylcones in his career.
Defensive Prowess . . .
The trademark of a Billy Taylor coached team is on the defensive end and the Cardinals boast one of the top defensive units in the Mid-American Conference ... Last season, the Cardinals limited opponents to just 59.7 points per game on the season and only 57.2 points per game in conference play ... Ball State held 16 opponents under 60 points last year, including four teams under the 50-point mark.
Finally Making Their Debuts . . .
The Cardinals will get a boost this season from two front court players that sat out last season as redshirts ... Senior forward Terrence Watson sat out last year after transferring from the University of Mississippi while redshirt freshman Zach Fields sat out last season to get accustomed to the BSU program.
Watson played in 18 games for Ole Miss as a junior in his first season with the program ... He transferred to the Rebels after starring at Mott CC where he was an NJCAA All-American while leading Mott to a junior college national championship ... He averaged 12.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.4 blocks and 2.8 steals per game while being named the conference Defensive Player of the Year.
Fields, a native of North Vernon, Ind., averaged 16.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game for Jennings County H.S. ... He shot 66 percent from the field as a senior and was a two-time Hoosier Hills All-Conference selection.
BSU Picked Fourth In West . . .
The Cardinals were tabbed to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference West Division in the preseason poll and were one of five MAC West Division team to earn first place votes ... Central Michigan was selected to capture the league's West Division title, picking up 113 points in the very balanced division ... Northern Illinois (102 points) was chosen second, followed by Eastern Michigan (94 points). Western Michigan (79) and Toledo (29) round out the West Division poll.
Voting for the East Division saw defending MAC Tournament champion Akron come out on top, earning 190 points ... Kent State was second with 108 points, followed by Buffalo (97 points), Miami (78 points), Bowling Green (54 points) and Ohio (32 points).
The Zips were also the favorite to win the 2009 MAC Tournament title, earning 19 votes, followed Buffalo (2), Northern Illinois (1), Kent State (1) and Bowling Green (1).
Media Exposure . . .
The Cardinals have announced three early season non-conference games will be televised by the Ball State Sports Network (BSSN), including the 2009-10 season opener against Valparaiso. BSSN will also broadcast early non-conference games December 2 against Butler and December 9 at Indiana State. New to the affiliate lineup this year for men's basketball is the addition of WTTV-4, beginning with the Butler game. The addition of WTTV-4 as an affiliate of BSSN will allow BSU men's basketball to be broadcast statewide.
Also, the Cardinals will have two games broadcast on FSN Ohio as part of the Mid-American Conference package ... Ball State's Jan. 17 game at home against Toledo and its Feb. 6 game against Akron are slated to be aired on FSN Ohio.
Seven New Faces . . .
The Cardinals added seven newcomers to the team this season, five of which will be eligible to play this year ... Leading the charge for Ball State is freshman guard Jauwan Scaife, freshman forward Myron Green Jr., freshman guard John Green, freshman guard Zach Harrison and freshman forward Will Hauser ... Sophomore forward Franklin Henderson and junior guard Dusty Mills will sit out the season after transferring to Ball State this year.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State is off until next weekend when it hosts SIU-Edwardsville for the second time in two seasons ... The Cardinals will welcome in the Cougars Saturday, November 21 in the first game of the men's/women's doubleheader at 2 p.m.
