Ball State University Athletics
Men's Hoops Hosts Indiana State Tonight
November 17, 2010 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State continues its season-opening two-game homestand Wednesday evening as the Cardinals host instate rival Indiana State at Worthen Arena ... Wednesday's game marks the Cardinals' last home game until December 21 as they embark on a five-game road stretch over the ensuing month.
Wednesday's game will be televised by BSU Sports Link, an immersive learning student program at Ball State ... The game will be televised on campus on channel 57 and live online at www.ballstatesports.com ... The game will also be tape delayed on Comcast Indiana and Fox College Sports ... Kyle Binder and Luke Baran will provide the call.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State opened the 2010-11 season in impressive fashion Sunday afternoon with a 77-46 victory over Eastern Illinois ... The 31-point win was the largest margin of victory for the Cardinals in head coach Billy Taylor's four-year tenure and the largest margin of victory for Ball State since an 81-42 victory over Northern Colorado in the season-opener of the 2006-07 campaign ... Four different Cardinals scored in double figures in the victory with sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife paving the way with 19 points in 26 minutes of play ... Junior forward Jarrod Jones posted his 11th career double-double in the win as he scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds ... Classmate Randy Davis turned in a strong all-around performance with 13 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals ... Freshman guard Jesse Berry posted 15 points off the bench in his first career game as a Cardinal.
Jones In Season Openers . . .
Junior foward Jarrod Jones turned in another strong performance in a season-opener as he scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Sunday against EIU ... In his three career season-openers, Jones is averaging 18.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game ... He is shooting 19-of-33 (.576) from the field in the three contests ... In his first career game in 2008-09 against EIU, he scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds ... Last year against Valparaiso, he tallied 19 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Freshmen Debuts . . .
Freshman guard Jesse Berry opened his Ball State career in stellar fashion Sunday as he scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench ... Berry connected on 6-of-14 from the field and 3-of-9 from three-point land in the victory ... His 15 points marks the third straight season that a BSU freshman has opened their career with a double figure output, joining Jauwan Scaife last season (14 points) and Jarrod Jones (21 points) in 2008-09.
Lending A Helping Hand . . .
Junior guard Randy Davis handed out a game-high eight assists Sunday afternoon against Eastern Illinois ... His eight assists were one shy of his career-high nine assists accomplished last season against Miami (1/26/10) ... In fact, Davis has only reached eight assists on one other occasion in his career as he tallied eight his freshman season at UC-Santa Barbara (12/29/08).
Turning Up The Defense . . .
Ball State continued its defensive dominance under fourth-year head coach Billy Taylor in the season opener ... The Cardinals held Eastern Illinois to just 46 points, its lowest scoring output since posting 42 points against St. Louis last December ... The Cardinals forced the Panthers into 21 turnovers in the victory as they recorded 11 steals as a team ... Ball State turned the EIU miscues into 24 points off of turnovers.
Series History vs. Indiana State . . .
Wednesday's game marks the 125th meeting all-time between Ball State and Indiana State dating back to the first meeting February 11, 1922 ... The Cardinals have played the Sycamores more than any other team in program history ... BSU has only played two other teams over 100 times in program history (Western Michigan 111 games & Butler 101 games) ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by a 68-56 margin ... Ball State owns the advantage in Muncie as it is 38-21 all-time against the Sycamores at home, including a perfect 8-0 at Worthen Arena ... Last season, the two teams renewed the rivalry after a year hiatus and the Cardinals travelled to Terre Haute to claim a 68-63 victory over the Sycamores ... Forward Jarrod Jones led the Cardinals as he scored a game-high 16 points, despite battling foul trouble for most of the game ... Jones connected on eight-of-12 from the field while grabbing five rebounds and handing out three assists ... Guard Randy Davis turned in a strong effort as he scored 11 points, grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and dished out four assists ... Davis connected on eight-of-10 from the free throw line in the second half to help the Cardinals to victory ... Indiana State was led by Dwayne Lathan who scored 16 points, all of which came in the second half as he was six-of-nine from the field.
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters Wednesday's game with a 1-0 record on the year as the Cardinals tallied a 77-46 victory over Eastern Illinois ... The Cardinals shot 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the field and 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from three-point land ... The BSU defense held EIU to just 31.4 percent (16-of-51) shooting from the field and only 23.1 percent (3-of-13) from long range.
Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife leads the team in scoring at 19.0 points per game and is one of four Cardinals in double figures ... Junior forward Jarrod Jones is averaging 15.0 point and a team-high 10 rebounds while classmate Randy Davis chips in 13.0 points and a team-high 8.0 assists per game.
Scouting Indiana State . . .
Indiana State enters Wednesday's game with a 1-2 record on the year as it took part in the Nick Kladis Classic in Chicago, Ill. ... The Sycamores opened the season with a 69-46 victory over Texas-Pan American before dropping back-to-back games against host Loyola-Chicago (86-74) and Eastern Kentucky (64-59) in overtime ... Indiana State is averaging 67.3 points per game this season while allowing 65.3 points per game against ... The Sycamores are shooting 43.0 percent (71-of-165) from the field and 42.2 percent (27-of-64) from long range ... ISU is connecting on nine three-pointers a game.
Senior guard Jake Kelly leads the team in scoring as he averages 11.3 points per game ... Kelly has hit 5-of-10 from three-point land in the first three games and leads the team with 15 assists ... Jordan Printy is second on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game and has hit 10-of-20 (50%) from long range this year ... Center Myles Walker chips in 9.3 points per game and is second on the team in rebounding at 6.7 boards per contest ... Carl Richard leads the team on the glass as he is averaging 10.3 rebounds per game.
Taylor Names Team Captains . . .
Head coach Billy Taylor has named team co-captains for the 2010-11 season in senior forward Malik Perry and junior guard Randy Davis ... Perry is entering his fourth year with the program and has already played 85 games in his career, with 68 starts ... Davis took over the starting point guard position last season and made 29 starts while averaging 10.3 points per game.
Cardinals MAC West Favorites . . .
Ball State was selected as the preseason favorite to win the Mid-American Conference West Division according to the preseason poll conducted by members of the MAC Media News Association ... The Cardinals are under the direction of fourth-year head coach Billy Taylor and are preseason favorites to claim the MAC West Division for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
The Cardinals received 124 total votes, including 12 first place votes, to out-distance second place pick Central Michigan by two votes (122, 8). In the East Division, Ohio has been selected as the preseason favorite with 128 total votes and 12 first place selections. The Bobcats have also been selected to win the 2011 MAC Tournament with 10 of 24 votes.
Ball State returns four full-time starters and five players who started at least 11 games last year. Those five players have combined to play in 285 career games and have made 223 starts at Ball State. The Cardinals also add a six-member recruiting class which includes five highly touted freshmen who are expected to contribute this year.
Jones Earns Preseason Honors . . .
Junior forward Jarrod Jones was selected as preseason All-Mid-American Conference West Division by the league's head coaches ... . Jones earned All-MAC and All-Region accolades last year as he led the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game and rebounding at 7.4 rebounds per contest ... He has led the Cardinals in scoring and rebounding since he stepped on campus after being named MAC Freshman of the Year in the 2008-09 season.
Home, Sweet Home . . .
Wednesday's game marks the 274th game all-time for the Cardinals at Worthen Arena since it opened January 15, 1992 (previously named University Arena) ... Ball State owns a 198-75 record all-time at Worthen Arena as it has won 72.3 percent of its games at home ... Last season, the Cardinals posted an 11-6 record at home, including a 6-3 mark during non-conference play ... During its career, the Cardinals have averaged over 10 wins a season at home at Worthen Arena.
New Faces . . .
Ball State welcomes in a strong six-member recruiting class for the 2010-11 season, a class that includes five true freshman and one sophomore transfer ... The Cardinals welcome into the program freshmen Jesse Berry, Tyrae Robinson, Chris Bond, Jay Copeland and Matt Kamieniecki as well as sophomore transfer Tyler Koch.
Berry joins the Cardinals after a four-year career at Lafayette Jefferson High School where he set the Tippecanoe County scoring record with 1,553 points ... He was 10th in the state in scoring as a senior (23.5) and second in the state as a junior (27.3).
Robinson joins the team after playing two seasons at Bowman Academy ... He led Bowman to the Class A State championship and a 24-1 record when he was named First Team All-State ... Bond also was part of the Bowman Academy team the past two years and averaged 18.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game as a senior.
Copeland comes to BSU after being a four-year letterwinner at King's Fork High School in Virginia ... He guided King's Fork to an 85-19 record in his career, including a Virginia AAA State championship his junior year ... He averaged 13.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game as a senior ... Kamieniecki was a four-year letterwinner at Clarkston High School in Michigan ... He led the Wolves to a 91-12 record during his career ... He earned First Team All-State honors as a senior when he averaged 19.0 points and 13.0 rebounds per game.
Koch joins the program after transferring from Wright State ... He will have to sit out the 2010-11 season due to NCAA transfer rules ... Prior to WSU, he set the Winchester career scoring record with 1,774 points, including 22.2 points per game as a senior ... He led Winchester to the 2A State Championship as a junior and was a two-time Star Press Player of the Year.
Defensive Prowess . . .
Ball State was one of the top defensive teams in the Mid-American Conference last season and have been since head coach Billy Taylor took over the program ... The Cardinals led the MAC last year in scoring defense (62.4), field goal percentage defense (.400) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.312) ... Ball State was also 43rd in the nation in scoring defense, 36th in field goal defense and 43rd in three-point defense ... Two years ago, the Cardinals held opponents to just 59.7 points per game.
New On The Staff. . .
Head coach Billy Taylor announced the promotion of Mitch Gilfillan to assistant coach this offseason ... Also, Ron Oliver has been hired as the new director of basketball operations while former Cardinal Mickey Hosier has joined the staff as video coordinator.
Online Video Streaming . . .
Ball State will video stream all home games this season online at www.ballstatesports.com ... Fans will need to sign-up for the Ball State All-Access package to view each game ... Additionally, all games throughout the season will be audio streamed ... Morry Mannies and David Eha will provide the call on 104.1 WLBC FM.
Great Alaska Shootout . . .
Ball State will take part in the 2010 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout this season ... The Cardinals open play in the tournament in Anchorage Nov. 24 when they face Big East foe St. John's ... The game is slated for a 9:45 p.m. start Alaska Time, which equates to 1:45 a.m. Eastern Time start in Muncie.
Ball State will continue play Nov. 26 when it faces either Southern Utah or Drake ... The Cardinals final game of the week is Nov. 27 and will be against one of four teams in the opposite bracket -- Houston Baptist, Arizona State, Weber State and host Alaska-Anchorage.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State hits the road for the first time this season Saturday afternoon as it travels down I-69 to face No. 17/18 Butler at 2 p.m. ... The game will be televised on WNDY 23.
