Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Travels To Buffalo Thursday Night
January 27, 2010 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals continue their stretch of three games in six days as they travel to the Empire State to face the Buffalo Bulls Thursday night ... Ball State enters the game with a 9-9 overall record and a 3-3 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals are coming off of an impressive 65-59 double overtime victory over rival Miami Tuesday night at home ... The victory was the first for the Cardinals against the RedHawks since the 2003-04 season ... Ball State is led by third-year head coach Billy Taylor ... Buffalo enters Thursday's game with a 10-6 overall record and a 3-2 mark in MAC play ... The Bulls did not play Tuesday night and last played Saturday at Ohio ... Buffalo has dropped two straight games at Ohio and at Kent State since opening league play with a 3-0 record ... The Bulls are led by 11th-year head coach Reggie Witherspoon.
Thursday's game will be televised by Time Warner Sports in Buffalo and will be streamed online for free at www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu and a link will be available at www.ballstatesports.com ... Also, the game will be broadcast on 104.1 WLBC FM with Morry Mannies and David Eha providing the call.
Series History With Buffalo . . .
Thursday's game is the 19th meeting all-time between Ball State and Buffalo ... The Cardinals lead the all-time series by an 11-7 margin, including wins in three out of the last four meetings ... Ball State will be making the trip to Buffalo for just the ninth time in program history and owns a 4-4 all-time on the road against the Bulls ... Last season, the Cardinals defeated Buffalo 53-51 in Worthen Arena when the Bulls were Mid-American Conference East Division leaders ... Forward Jarrod Jones was one of three Cardinals' in double figures in the victory as he fell just shy of a double-double with a game-high 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds ... Jones scored six straight points for the Cardinals in the second half as the game went back-and-forth with 15 lead changes and 15 ties through 40 minutes ... Forward Mo Hubbard scored the game-winning basket off an offensive rebound with 1:09 left in the game.
Buffalo won the last meeting between the two teams as the Bulls knocked the Cardinals out of the MAC Tournament with a 64-52 victory in the semifinals ... Senior guard Rob Giles paced the Cardinals' attack as he scored 13 points on five-of-10 shooting, including three three-pointers ... Fellow classmate Laron Frazier added a team-high 15 points in the loss while Jones chipped in eight points and five rebounds ... Buffalo was led by forward Max Boudreau who scored a career-high 21 points off of the bench as he was eight-of-10 from the field... Guard Rodney Pierce added 18 points as he was eight-of-14 from the field while Mitchell Watt chipped in 10 points.
Cardinals Vs. MAC East . . .
The 2009-10 season marks the 13th season 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 38-44 record against the East Division since the two-division format was implemented in the 1997-98 season ... BSU opened this year's crossover games with a 65-59 double overtime victory over Miami ... The Cardinals posted a 2-4 record last season against East Division, including wins over Ohio and Buffalo ... 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 six straight seasons of losing marks against the East Division.
Ball State is 10-3 during the regular season against Buffalo, 6-3 against Bowling Green, 5-7 against Akron, 5-5 against Ohio, 4-6 against Kent State, 2-6 against Marshall and 6-14 against Miami since divisional play began.
ESPNU BracketBusters . . .
Ball State has been part of the ESPNU BracketBusters event since its inception eight seasons ago as the MAC is a charter member of the event ...The Cardinals are hosting a BracketBusters game for the fifth time in program history this season when they host the game February 20 ... The 2010 BracketBusters parings will be announced February 1 and February 2.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State picked up its first win against rival Miami since the 2003-04 season Tuesday night as the Cardinals defeated the RedHawks 65-59 in double overtime ... The Cardinals trailed by nine points late in the second half before closing regulation on a 14-4 run to force the extra time ... Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones scored the game-tying basket with 18 seconds left in the second half to send the game into overtime ... The Cardinals again rallied in the first overtime as senior forward Terrence Watson converted an old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game in the closing minute ... Ball State pulled out the victory in the second overtime as freshman guard Jauwan Scaife turned in a three-point play with 44 seconds left to give the Cardinals the lead for good ... Freshman Myron Green Jr. iced the game as he hit four straight free throws in the final 13.5 seconds of the game.
Jones led the Cardinals to victory as he posted his fifth double-double of the season as he tied his career-high with 21 points and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds ... Scaife chipped in 11 points in the victory while Junior forward Malik Perry added seven points and eight rebounds.
The victory was the Cardinals' first double overtime victory since BSU defeated Northern Illinois January 3, 1999.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Thursday's game with a 9-9 overall record and a 3-3 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals are coming off of a 65-59 double overtime victory over Miami Tuesday night ... Ball State is averaging 58.6 points per game this season and is holding opponents to a MAC-best 59.8 points per game ... The Cardinals are out-rebounding opponents by a 34.4-31.8 margin this season.
Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones leads the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game and is tops on the glass at 7.7 caroms per game ... Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game and leads the team with 26 three-pointers.
Junior forward Malik Perry is third on the team in scoring at 8.6 points per game and third on the glass at 4.6 rebounds per game ... Senior forward Terrence Watson adds 7.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while sophomore guard Randy Davis leads the team with 58 assists on the year.
Scouting The Bulls . . .
Buffalo enters Thursday's game with a 10-6 overall record and a 3-2 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Bulls have dropped back-to-back MAC games at Kent State and Ohio after opening the year with three straight wins ... Buffalo is 4-2 this season at home, including 2-0 in MAC play ... The Bulls are averaging 72.6 points per game while allowing 71.9 points per game ... Buffalo is out-rebounding opponents by a 38.2-36.1 margin.
Rodney Pierce leads the team in scoring at 18.6 points per game and has connected on a team-high 32 three-pointers ... Calvin Betts adds 11.7 points per game leads the team on the glass at 7.7 rebounds per contest ... Sean Smiley chips in 8.2 points per game while John Boyer adds 7.7 points per game.
Defensive Prowess . . .
The Cardinals lead in the Mid-American Conference this season in scoring defense as they are holding opponents to 59.8 points per game ... Ball State has held four opponents under 50 points this season in SIU Edwardsville (47), North Carolina Central (45), Maryland Eastern Shore (47) and most recently Toledo (43) ... The Cardinals' defense ranks 17th in NCAA Division I in scoring defense (as of January 24)
Senior forward Terrence Watson is second in the MAC this season in blocked shots as he is averaging 1.5 rejections per game, while sophomore forward Jarrod Jones is sixth at 1.11 blocks per game.
Last season, the Cardinals limited opponents to just 59.7 points per game 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
Home Sweet Home . . .
Tuesday's game marked the 266th game for the Cardinals in Worthen Arena (previously University Arena) since its opening January 15, 1992 ... Ball State owns a 194-72 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 ... The Cardinals have tallied eight home victories so far this season with wins over Valparaiso, SIU Edwardsville, North Carolina Central, Maryland Eastern Shore, Manchester, Toledo, Western Michigan and Miami ... During its history, Ball State has averaged just over 10 wins per season at Worthen Arena.
New Lineups . . .
Head coach Billy Taylor has shuffled his starting lineups this season as the Cardinals have used six different lineups through the first 18 games this season ... Only two Cardinals this season have started all 18 games in sophomore forward Jarrod Jones and freshman guard Jauwan Scaife ... The lineup of Terrence Watson, Randy Davis, Scaife, Pierre Sneed and Jones has been called a team-high six times ... The Cardinals' second most-used lineup this season as been the starting five of Randy Davis, Pierre Sneed, Malik Perry, Scaife and Jones, which has been called five times this season ... Davis, Scaife, Perry, Watson and Jones has been used three ... Taylor used the starting lineup of Davis, Scaife, Sneed, Mo Hubbard and Jones twice, while the starting five of Brawley Chisholm, Scaife, Watson, Perry and Jones as well as the starting five of Davis, Scaife, Watson, Jones and Hubbard has been used once.
Last season, the Cardinals used 10 different starting lineups throughout the year.
Double Trouble . . .
So far this season, Ball State has seen two players post eight double-doubles ... Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones has tallied five double dips while senior forward Terrence Watson has reached the double-double on three occasions ... Ball State is the only team in the Mid-American Conference that has had two different players post at least three double-doubles this season.
Jones is tied for second in the MAC in double-doubles with five as he posted double-doubles against Tennessee Tech, North Carolina Central, Maryland Eastern Shore, Manchester and Miami ... Watson is tied for sixth in the MAC in double dips ... He has posted double-doubles against UC Davis, Toledo and most recently Western Michigan.
Raining Threes . . .
Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife had a breakout three-point shooting game against Toledo ... Scaife hit six three-pointers in the Cardinals' victory, including all five of his attempts in the second half ... His six three-pointers are the most for a Cardinal this season and the most for BSU since Skip Mills hit six against Buffalo March 6, 2006.
28-Point Victory . . .
Ball State's 71-43 victory over Toledo is its largest win of the season and the largest since an 81-42 victory over Northern Colorado November 11, 2006 ... It was also the Cardinals' largest Mid-American Conference victory since 2003-04 (75-47 vs. Eastern Michigan).
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.
Cardinals In MAC Stats . . .
This season, the Cardinals are sprinkled throughout the Mid-American Conference statistical leaders ... Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones is 12th in the MAC in scoring at 12.3 points per game ... Jones is also third in rebounding (7.7), 10th in field goal percentage (.473), sixth in blocked shots (1.11) and second in defensive rebounds (5.72) ... Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife is 21st in the MAC in scoring at 10.3 points per game, which ranks third best among MAC freshmen ... Scaife is also fourth in free throw percentage (.836) and seventh in three-point percentage (.419)
Senior forward Terrence Watson is 13th in the MAC in rebounding at 5.8 boards per game ... Watson is also second in blocks (1.50) and fifth on the offensive glass (2.56) ... Junior forward Malik Perry leads the league in field goal percentage at 57.0 percent ... Perry is also seventh in offensive rebounds (2.46) ... Sophomore guard Randy Davis is 13th in free throw percentage (.760) and 11th in assists at 3.22 per game.
Muncie's Own . . .
Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife has posted a strong debut to his collegiate career ... Scaife, a Muncie native, scored in double figures in his first four games this season and 12 out of his first 18 collegiate games ... He is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game ... He scored 14 points against Valparaiso, 12 points against SIU Edwardsville, 10 points at Temple, 14 points against UC Davis, 14 points at Indiana State, 13 points at Tennessee Tech, 10 against No. 4 Purdue, 11 points against Maryland Eastern Shore, 12 points at Central Michigan, a career-high 20 points against Toledo, 13 points at Eastern Michigan and 11 against Miami.
Scaife is currently third in scoring in the Mid-American Conference among freshmen ... He only trails Toledo's Jack Barnett (13.7) and Ohio's D.J. Cooper (12.9) ... Last season, the Cardinals' Jarrod Jones was one of the MAC's top freshmen scorers at 11.2 points per game on his way to MAC Freshmen of the Year honors.
Hitting The Glass . . .
The Cardinals are first in the Mid-American Conference in rebounding defense as they are limiting opponents to 31.6 boards per game ... Ball State has out-rebounding its opponents in 11 games this season ... The Cardinals have three players averaging at least four rebounds per game in Terrence Watson (5.8), Jarrod Jones (7.7) and Malik Perry (4.6).
The Cardinals dominated the glass at Indiana State as they held a 35-22 advantage ... Ball State posted more defensive rebounds (27) than the Sycamores had total rebounds (22) ... The Cardinals accomplished the same feat against North Carolina Central as they out-rebounded the Eagles by a 37-23 margin ... BSU posted 25 defensive rebounds compared to just 23 total rebounds for North Carolina Central.
Media Exposure . . .
The Cardinals will air 10 games on the Ball State Sports Network (BSSN) this season, including seven Mid-American Conference contests ... BSU has already aired four games this season and will have the following upcoming games televised by BSSN: at Eastern Michigan (1/23), at Ohio (1/31), at Kent State (2/10), against Central Michigan (2/17), at Toledo (2/27) and at Western Michigan (3/4) broadcast on BSSN ... For a list of affiliates for each game, go to www.ballstatesports.com.
New to the affiliate lineup this year for men's basketball is the addition of WTTV-4 ... 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 Indiana 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 Indiana.
Jones Honored By MAC . . .
Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Co-Player of the Week (Dec. 28) ... This is Jones' second career MAC weekly honor and he joins Western Michigan's Alex Wolf as this week's West Division representatives.
Jones, the reigning MAC Freshman of the Year, led the Cardinals to a 59-45 victory over North Carolina Central as he posted his second double-double in the past three games ... He scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to record his fifth career double dip ... He led the Cardinals' second half surge as he scored 12 of his 16 points in the second frame, including a stretch of 10 straight points for BSU ... He connected on five-of-10 from the field and was six-of-eight from the free throw line, while also handing out a career-high three assists.
Non-Conference Play . . .
Ball State concluded the scheduled non-conference portion of the 2009-10 slate with a 6-6 record through the first 12 games this year ... The six wins in the first 12 games are the most for the Cardinals since BSU posted a 7-5 record in the 2004-05 season ... Also, Ball State won three straight games this season with wins over North Carolina Central, Maryland Eastern Shore and Manchester ... The three-game winning streak is the longest for BSU since it won three straight between Jan. 29-Feb. 3, 2005.
Ball State's non-conference schedule included four contests against teams receiving votes in the national polls in Purdue (#4), Butler (#24), Temple (#21) and Dayton (ORV).
Road Victory . . .
Ball State picked up its first road victory of the season at Indiana State ... The victory is the Cardinals' first road win since January 10, 2009 at Eastern Michigan (46-42) ... The Cardinals only posted three road wins last year (at Milwaukee, IPFW and Eastern Michigan) ... Ball State's victory gave Indiana State its first home loss of the season and was just the 17th victory all-time for the Cardinals in Terre Haute in 64 meetings in program history.
89th Season Underway . . .
Ball State is in its 89th season in program history ... The Cardinals have posted a 1088-989-1 record all-time, which is good for a .524 winning percentage ... Ball State is 725-313 all-time at home in Muncie as the Cardinals have won 69.9 percent of games at home.
This year's opener 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.
Great Alaska Shootout . . .
The Cardinals will be part of the 2010 Great Alaska Shootout, which will be held November 24-27 on the campus of Alaska Anchorage ... Ball State will be joined in the eight-team field by host Alaska Anchorage, Arizona State, Drake, Houston Baptist, St. John's, Southeast Louisiana and Southern Utah ... The Cardinals will be making their second trip all-time to Alaska as they took part in the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks during the 2002-03 season in which they posted a 2-1 record.
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 game since the Cardinals scored 88 points against Western Michigan in the 2004-05 season (March 5, 2005).
A Cardinal Six-Pack . . .
Ball State had six different players in doubles figures in its season opening victory over Valparaiso ... Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones led the team in scoring with 19 points, junior Malik Perry had 17 points, freshman Jauwan Scaife had 14 points, senior Brawley Chisholm had 12 points, senior Terrence Watson had 11 points and sophomore guard Randy Davis added 11 points ... The six players in doubles figures were the most for the Cardinals since February 7, 1999 (vs. Bowling Green).
Preseason Honors . . .
Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones has was 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.
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 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.
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).
Six 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 and freshman forward Will Hauser ... Sophomore forward Franklin Henderson and junior guard Dusty Mills will sit out the season after transferring.
Looking Ahead . . .
The Cardinals conclude their three-game week Sunday afternoon as they travel to Ohio for a meeting with the Bobcats. The game will be broadcast by the Ball State Sports Network.
