Men's Basketball Hosts SIU Edwardsville Saturday

November 19, 2009 | Men's Basketball

By: Ball State Athletics

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What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals continue the 2009-10 season Saturday afternoon as they host SIU Edwardsville for the second straight season ... The game is set for a 2 p.m. tip-off and is the first of a men's/women's doubleheader at Worthen Arena with the women slated to play Northern Arizona at 4:30 p.m. ... Ball State enters the contest with a 1-0 record on the year after posting an 88-78 victory over Valparaiso in the season opener ... The Cardinals are led by third-year head coach Billy Taylor.

SIU Edwardsville enters Saturday's game with an 0-3 record on the season after dropping its first three games ... The Cougars dropped games at Illinois (96-69), against Illinois State (82-60) and at Evansville (76-46) ... SIUE is led by third-year head coach Lennox Forrester.

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.

Preseason Mid-Major All-America Honors . . .
Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones has recently been named to the CollegeInsider.com preseason Mid-Major All-America Team ... Jones is one of four players from the Mid-American Conference to be honored, joining Rodney Pierce (Buffalo), David Kool (Western Michigan) and Anthony Hitchens (Akron) ... 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.

He opened the 2009-10 season in impressive fashion as he scored a team-high 19 points against Valparaiso ... He connected on seven-of-11 from the field and five-of-six from the free throw line ... In his first two career season openers, he is averaging 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game ... He is shooting 14-of-22 (.636) from the field and 12-of-16 (.750) from the line in season openers.

Cardinals Sign Two . . .
Head coach Billy Taylor announced the signing of Matt Kamieniecki (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) and Marvin Jordan (Peoria, Ill./Manual) to national letters of intent Tuesday during the early signing period ... Kamieniecki and Jordan will begin their Ball State careers during the 2010-2011 season.

Kamieniecki, a 6-7 forward, is a standout at Clarkston High School ... He averaged 13.0 points and nine rebounds last season while leading the Wolves to a 24-2 overall record ... His play helped Clarkston to a state semifinal appearance in Class A as he averaged 15.3 points per game in the postseason ... As a sophomore, he guided Clarkston to a state quarterfinals appearance and a 13-2 record ... Highlighting his postseason run was a 22-point, 13-rebound effort in the quarterfinals against eventual state champion Saginaw.

Jordan, a 5-11 point guard, stars at Peoria Manual High School ... He is a two-time Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Honorable Mention All-State recipient and has led Manual to a 48-16 record in two seasons as a starting point guard ... He led his team to back-to-back conference and sectional championships as well as a berth in the 2008 2A State Championship game ... He averaged 11 points per game as a junior and dished out four assists per game ... He was rated No. 25 overall in the Class of 2010 by Windycitybasketball.com and was tabbed as one of the top 25 Illinois recruits in 2010 by Scout.com.

Home Sweet Home . . .
Saturday's game marks the 257th game for the Cardinals in Worthen Arena (previously University Arena) since its opening January 15, 1992 ... Ball State owns a 187-69 record all-time in Worthen Arena, which is good for .730 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 ... The Cardinals opened the home portion of the 2009-10 schedule with an 88-78 victory over Valparaiso ... During its history, Ball State has averaged just over 10 wins per season at Worthen Arena.

Series History With SIUE . . .
Saturday's game marks the second meeting all-time between Ball State and SIU Edwardsville ... The Cougars are in their second full season as a NCAA Division I program ... Last year, the Cardinals downed SIUE 67-55 at Worthen Arena (Nov. 22) ... Ball State used a strong first half performance as it ran out to a 29-16 lead at halftime ... The Cardinals' defense held the Cougars to just 25 percent (six-of-24) shooting form the field in the first half.

Forward Jarrod Jones led all scorers as he tallied 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and recorded three blocked shots ... Jones was seven-of-13 from the field and five-of-seven from the charity stripe ... Senior Anthony Newell posted a double-double in the victory as he scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds ... SIUE was led by John Edmison's double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds while Aaron Garriott chipped in 13 points off of the bench.

Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Saturday's game with a 1-0 record on the season after downing instate rival Valparaiso 88-78 in the season opener ... The Cardinals shot 57.8 percent (26-of-45) from the field and connected on 32 free throws in the victory ... BSU had six players reach double figures in the victory, marking the first time since February 7, 1999 (vs. Bowling Green) the Cardinals accomplished the feat.

Ball State's three starting forwards combined to score 47 points in the victory as they were 15-of-23 (.652) shooting from the field ... Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones led all Cardinals in scoring as he tallied 19 points in just 25 minutes of action ... Jones connected on seven-of-11 from the field and five-of-six from the charity stripe while also grabbing six rebounds ... Junior forward Malik Perry was second on the team in scoring with 17 points as he was six-of-seven from the field, including 12 first half points ... Senior forward Terrence Watson added 11 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots.

Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife had a strong debut as he scored 14 points in 30 minutes of play ... Scaife was five-of-10 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers ... Senior guard Brawley Chisholm added a career-high 12 points and five assists off of the bench while sophomore guard Randy Davis chipped in 11 points as he was nine-of-10 from the free throw line.

Scouting The Cougars . . .
SIU Edwardsville enters Saturday's game with an 0-3 record on the year ... The Cougars have dropped their first three games at Illinois (96-69), against Illinois State (82-60) and most recently at Evansville (76-46) ... SIUE is averaging 58.3 points per game while allowing 84.7 points against ... The Cougars are shooting 35.9 percent (61-of-170) from the field and 24.5 percent (13-of-53) from three-point land.

SIU Edwardsville is led by guard Aamir McCleary who averages 11.3 points per game ... McCleary scored 10 points Wednesday night at Evansville off of the bench ... Forward Mark Yelovich is second on the team in scoring at 10.0 points per game and scored 11 points at Evansville in 35 minutes of action.

Perry's Big Game . . .
Junior forward Malik Perry had one of the top offensive performances of his BSU career in the season opener as he scored 17 points ... Perry connected on six-of-seven from the field, including his first six shots ... He was also five-of-eight from the free throw line ... He scored 12 first half points to spark the Cardinals in the early going ... His 17-point effort is his second highest single game total in his career and the most since he scored a career-high 20 points against Eastern Michigan in his freshman season (Jan. 18, 2008).

Welcome To Ball State . . .
The Cardinals had a pair of strong debuts Friday night as senior forward Terrence Watson and freshman guard Jauwan Scaife each played well in their first career BSU games ... Watson, a transfer from Mississippi, fell just shy of a double-double with 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds ... He also recorded four blocked shots in 31 minutes of play.

Scaife, a Muncie native, scored 14 points in his collegiate debut in 30 minutes of action ... He connected on five-of-10 from the field and tallied a pair of three-pointers.

Offensive Outburst . . .
The Cardinals turned in a strong offensive performance in the season opener as they scored 88 points against Valparaiso ... The 88 point output is the largest for the Cardinals since the 2005-06 season when BSU scored 89 points in a victory over Eastern Michigan in overtime (March 4, 2006) ... It is the most points scored in a regulation games since the Cardinals scored 88 points against Western Michigan in the 2004-05 season (March 5, 2005).

89th Season Underway . . .
Ball State opens its 89th season in program history Friday evening ... The Cardinals have posted a 1080-980-1 record all-time, which is good for a .524 winning percentage ... Ball State is 718-310 all-time at home in Muncie as the Cardinals have won 69.8 percent of games at home.

Friday's contest marked the 89th season opener in program history and the Cardinals are 52-37 all-time in openers ... Ball State is 40-9 all-time when it opens the year at home in Muncie

MAC Honors For Jones . . .
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.

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.

Wooden Tradition . . .
Ball State will be part of one of the nation's premier college basketball events this season as the Cardinals will meet instate foe Purdue in the 10th annual John R. Wooden Tradition held at Conseco Fieldhouse December 19 at 4 p.m., and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network ... The two teams were originally scheduled to play at Purdue (Dec. 5), but moved the contest to be part of the prestigious event.

Established in 2000, the John R. Wooden Tradition is an annual tribute to the legendary former coach and the excellence he personifies ... Similar to the standards established by the Wooden Classic, its California-based sibling founded in 1994, the events host college basketball's elite programs ... The Wooden Tradition is a celebration of the game of basketball.

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.

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.