Men's Hoops Hosts Northern Illinois In MAC Opener Saturday

Men's Hoops Opens 2009-10 Season Tonight Against Valpo

Men's Hoops Hosts Northern Illinois In MAC Opener Saturday

January 07, 2010 | Men's Basketball

By: Ball State Athletics

What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals open Mid-American Conference play Saturday afternoon as they host MAC West Division foe Northern Illinois at 2 p.m. at Worthen Arena ... Ball State enters conference play with a 6-6 overall record after having its three-game winning streak snapped at Dayton Tuesday night ... The Cardinals own a 5-2 record so far this season at home at Worthen Arena ... BSU is led by third-year head coach Billy Taylor ... Northern Illinois enters conference play with a 4-8 overall record on the year ... The Huskies have won two straight and three out of their last four games entering Saturday's contest as NIU has picked up wins against Maryland Eastern Shore, North Dakota and most recently at Chicago State ... The Huskies are led by third-year head coach Ricardo Patton.

Saturday's game will be broadcast by the Ball State Sports Network (BSSN) with Vince Welch and Jerry Peirson calling the game ... The game will air on BSSN flagship station WIPB-Muncie along with affiliates WTTV-4 (4.2 only), WHME-South Bend, WTTK-Kokomo (29.2 only), WNDA-Jeffersonville, WYCS-Louisville, WTVO-Rockford (Ill.), Hometown Television-Noblesville (tape delay), Comcast 81/Brighthouse-Indianapolis (tape delay) and Comcast/Brighthouse-Fort Wayne (tape delay).

Cardinals In MAC Openers . . .
Saturday's game marks the 37th Mid-American Conference opener in Ball State history, dating back to the 1975-76 season ... The Cardinals are 16-20 all-time in MAC openers, including a 46-42 victory at Eastern Michigan to open MAC play last season ... Saturday's game marks the 21st time that Ball State has opened league play at home.

Ball State and Northern Illinois have met in MAC openers two times prior to this season ... The Huskies and Cardinals met in the 1999-2000 conference opener with NIU taking home a 75-67 victory in DeKalb ... The two teams opened the 1981-82 conference season in Muncie with the Cardinals claiming a 73-65 victory.

Series History With Northern Illinois . . .
Saturday's game marks the 72nd meeting all-time between Ball State and Northern Illinois ... The Cardinals lead the all-time series by a 41-30 margin, including a 26-7 mark all-time in Muncie ... The two teams split the season series last year with both home teams claiming victories.

Last season, Ball State tallied a 60-54 victory over NIU at Worthen Arena to raise its Mid-American Conference record to 2-0 on the year ... The Cardinals played their first game without the services of leading scorer Anthony Newell and turned in an inspired team effort that saw nine different players score points, including four players with at least nine points ... BSU rallied from a seven-point first half deficit as it out-scored NIU 33-20 in the second half ... The Cardinals got 28 points from its bench and dished out 17 assists on 22 field goals in the victory ... Former Cardinal Rob Giles scored 11 points in his first start of the year, while forward Jarrod Jones added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Northern Illinois forced a season series split with a 56-55 victory in DeKalb late in the year ... The Cardinals rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to pull within one point, but former Cardinal Brandon Lampley had his 15-foot jump shot roll off the rim as time expired ... Lampley led the Cardinals with 20 points as he was eight-of-12 from the field, including four-of-four from three-point land ... NIU was led by Darion Anderson's 19 points and Sean Smith's 20 points on his senior night.

New Lineups . . .
Head coach Billy Taylor has shuffled his starting lineups this season as the Cardinals have used five different lineups through the first 12 games this season ... Only two Cardinals this season have started all 12 games in sophomore forward Jarrod Jones and freshman guard Jauwan Scaife ... The Cardinals' 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 ... The lineup of Terrence Watson, Davis, Scaife, Perry and Jones has been called three times while Davis, Scaife, Sneed, Watson and Jones has been used twice ... Most recently, Taylor used the starting lineup of Davis, Scaife, Sneed, Jones and Mo Hubbard while the starting five of Brawley Chisholm, Scaife, Watson, Perry and Jones has also been used once.

Last season, the Cardinals used 10 different starting lineups throughout the year.

Non-Conference Play . . .
Ball State concluded the scheduled non-conference portion of the 2009-10 slate Tuesday night 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).

Home Sweet Home . . .
Saturday's game marks the 263rd game for the Cardinals in Worthen Arena (previously University Arena) since its opening January 15, 1992 ... Ball State owns a 191-71 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 five home victories so far this season with wins over Valparaiso, SIU Edwardsville, North Carolina Central, Maryland Eastern Shore and Manchester... During its history, Ball State has averaged just over 10 wins per season at Worthen Arena.

Last Time Out . . .
The Cardinals had their three-game winning streak snapped Tuesday night as they dropped a 59-35 contest at Atlantic 10 power Dayton ... Dayton, which is receiving votes in the national polls, has now won 28 straight at home ... Ball State was held to just 27.9 percent (12-of-43) shooting in the loss as it had its lowest scoring total of the season (35) ... Senior forward Terrence Watson led the Cardinals as he scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and tallied a career-high four blocked shots off the bench ... Junior forward Malik Perry added six points off the bench while reserve guard Brawley Chisholm chipped in seven points as the Cardinals' bench posted 25 points in the loss.

Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the 2010 Mid-American Conference opener with a 6-6 overall record and has won three out of its last four contests ... The Cardinals are averaging 58.7 points per game this season while holding opponents to a MAC-low 61.2 points per game ... Ball State is also out-rebounding its opponents by a 33.9-30.8 margin this season.

Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones leads the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game and in rebounding at 7.7 boards per contest ... Jones has posted four double-doubles in his last six games heading into league play ... He has connected on 50.8 percent (66-of-13) from the field this season ... Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife is second on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game ... Scaife leads the team in three-point shooting as he has connected on 41.7 percent (15-of-36) from long range and leads the Cardinals from the charity stripe connecting on 84.8 percent (28-of-33).

Junior forward Malik Perry is third on the team in scoring at 9.4 points per game and third in rebounding at 4.5 boards per contest ... Perry leads the Cardinals and the MAC in field goal percentage as he is connecting on 65.0 percent (39-of-60) from the field ... Senior forward Terrence Watson is fourth on the team in scoring at 7.1 points per game and second on the glass at 5.3 caroms per contest.

Scouting The Huskies . . .
Northern Illinois enters Saturday's game with a 4-8 overall record ... The Huskies have won two straight games and three out of their last four contests ... NIU is averaging 64.0 points per game this season while allowing 69.5 points per game against ... The Huskies are out-rebounding their opponents by a 38.3-35.9 margin this year.

Xavier Silas leads the team in scoring as he averages 18.3 points per game, despite missing five games due to an injury ... Silas is coming off of a 24-point effort against Chicago State Wednesday night as he was six-of-14 from the field and 10-of-13 from the free throw line ... Darion "Jake" Anderson is second on the team in scoring at 10.7 points per game and leads the team in rebounding at 7.1 boards per game and in assists with 42.

Forward Sean Kowal is third on the team in scoring at 9.3 points per game and second on the glass at 5.3 boards per game ... Mike DiNunno is fourth on the team in scoring at 6.8 points per game but scored 20 points at Chicago State as he hit four three-pointers.

Defensive Prowess . . .
The Cardinals lead the Mid-American Conference this season in scoring defense as they are holding opponents to 61.2 points per game ... Ball State has held three opponents under 50 points this season in SIU Edwardsville (47), North Carolina Central (45) and Maryland Eastern Shore (47) ... Senior forward Terrence Watson is second in the MAC this season in blocked shots as he is averaging 1.50 rejections per game while sophomore forward Jarrod Jones is seventh at 0.91 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

Media Exposure . . .
The Cardinals have already aired three non-conference games on the Ball State Sports Network (BSSN) and will have seven more games broadcast by BSSN the rest of the season, including Saturday's game against Northern Illinois ... The Cardinals will have upcoming games 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, 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 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.

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 . . .
Through the early part of the year, the Cardinals are sprinkled throughout the Mid-American Conference statistical leaders ... Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones is sixth in the MAC in scoring at 14.1 points per game ... Jones is also fifth in rebounding (7.7), sixth in field goal percentage (.508), seventh in blocked shots (0.92) and third in defensive rebounds (5.83) ... Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife is 24th in the MAC in scoring at 9.9 points per game, which ranks fifth best among MAC freshmen ... Scaife is also second in free throw percentage (.848) and 10th in three-point percentage (.417).

Senior forward Terrence Watson is 18th in the MAC in rebounding at 5.3 boards per game ... Watson is also second in blocks (1.50) and ninth on the offensive glass (2.58) ... Junior forward Malik Perry leads the league in field goal percentage at 65.0 percent ... Perry is also 27th in scoring (9.7) and sixth in offensive rebounds (2.73) ... Sophomore guard Randy Davis is 10th in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.13) and 11th in assists (3.00).

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 eight out of his first 12 collegiate games ... He is second on the team in scoring at 9.9 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 and 11 points against Maryland Eastern Shore.
Scaife is currently fifth in scoring in the Mid-American Conference among freshmen ... He only trails Toledo's Jack Barnett (14.0) and Stephen Albrecht (11.2) as well as Ohio's D.J. Cooper (12.4) and Jay Kinney (10.8) ... 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 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.

The Cardinals lead the Mid-American Conference in rebounding defense as they are limiting opponents to 30.8 boards per game ... BSU also near the top of the MAC in rebounding margin at +3.2 ... The Cardinals have three players averaging at least four rebounds per game in Terrence Watson (5.3), Jarrod Jones (7.7) and Malik Perry (4.5).

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.

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 1085-986-1 record all-time, which is good for a .524 winning percentage ... Ball State is 722-311 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

Walk-On Impact . . .
The Cardinals have recently received a spark from one of its four walk-on players in freshman guard John Green ... Green, a native of Osceola, Ind., has played in eight out of the last nine games including 21 minutes against nationally ranked Butler and 14 minutes in the Cardinals' victory over Indiana State ... He scored three points and grabbed two rebounds while recording an assist, a steal and a blocked shot against Butler ... He followed that up with two points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal against the Sycamores ... Green scored a career-high seven points while playing a career-high 25 minutes at Tennessee Tech.

Green was a three-year letterwinner at Penn High School before spending one year at Naval Academy Prep.

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.

Welcome To Ball State . . .
The Cardinals had a pair of strong debuts in the season opener 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).

A Cardinal Six-Pack . . .
Ball State had six different players in doubles figures in their 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 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.

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).

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.