Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Travels To #16/18 Butler Saturday
November 20, 2010 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State hits the road for the first time this season Saturday afternoon as it travels down I-69 for a matchup against No. 16/18 Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse ... The game will mark the first of six straight road games for the Cardinals, a roadtrip that covers 8,550 miles roundtrip ... The Cardinals are off to a 2-0 start for the 25th time in program history and the second straight season.
Saturday's game will be televised on WNDY-TV Indianapolis with Anthony Calhoun and Ralph Reiff providing the call ... The game will also be broadcast on 104.9 WERK FM with Morry Mannies and David Eha calling the game.
Series History vs. Butler . . .
Saturday's game marks the 102nd meeting all-time between Ball State and Butler ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by a 64-37 margin, including losses in the past six meetings ... The two teams began the series December 23, 1924 with Butler claiming a 27-13 victory ... Last season, Ball State dropped a 59-38 decision to the Bulldogs in Worthen Arena ... Butler guard Shelvin Mack and forward Gordon Hayward shared game-high honors with 15 points apiece ... Forwards Malik Perry and Jarrod Jones paced the Cardinals offensively as they scored 11 and nine points, respectively.
Ball State is 9-41 all-time at Hinkle Fieldhouse and has dropped six straight on the road ... The Cardinals last won at Hinkle December 7, 1996 with a 71-67 victory over the Bulldogs ... Ball State visited Hinkle two years ago and dropped a 64-55 decision to Butler ... Former Cardinal Anthony Newell posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Jones also posted a double-dip with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Bond & Robinson Cleared To Play . . .
Ball State freshmen Chris Bond and Tyrae Robinson have been cleared to play and are eligible after sitting out the first two games of the season.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 75-60 victory over Indiana State ... The Cardinals rallied from an eight-point first half deficit in the victory as they forced ISU into 26 turnovers and turned those miscues into 33 points ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife was a one-man wrecking crew in the second half as he scored 22 of his career-high 24 points in the second half ... Scaife scored 17 straight points in a span of 5:08 as he had an 11-0 run in the game to take the Cardinals from one point down (37-36) to 10 points ahead (47-37) ... He went 7-for-10 from the field in the second half with one three-pointer, while adding a perfect 7-for-7 effort from the line ... Scaife's 24-point output was the largest for a Cardinal since Randy Davis reached 24 points last season against Central Michigan (2/17/10).
Junior forward Jarrod Jones posted his second double-double of the season and 12th of his career in the victory ... Jones scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 31 minutes of action ... Davis continued his strong play as he scored 15 points and dished out a career-high nine assists while only committing two turnovers.
Lending A Helping Hand . . .
Junior guard Randy Davis has tallied 17 turnovers so far this season in just two games and has only committed five turnovers ... His 17 turnovers lead the Mid-American Conference this season ... He handed out a game-high eight assists Sunday afternoon against Eastern Illinois ... He followed that up with a nine-assist effort against Indiana State that tied his career-high (Miami - 1/26/10) ... 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 first two games ... 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.
The Cardinals forced Indiana State into 26 turnovers Wednesday night ... . Ball State turned the turnovers into 33 points and has scored 57 points off of turnovers so far this season ... The Cardinals also held the Sycamores to just 4-of-17 shooting from three-point land after ISU entered the game averaging 9.0 three-pointers a game.
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters Saturday's game with a 2-0 record on the year as it has defeated Eastern Illinois and Indiana State ... The Cardinals are averaging 76.0 points per game this season while limiting opponents to 53.0 points per contest ... Ball State has forced 47 turnovers on the year while committing just 21.
Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife is one of four Cardinals averaging double figures ... Scaife leads the team offensively as he is averaging 21.5 points per game ... He is shooting 50 percent (13-of-26) from the field and has hit all 14 of his free throws this season ... Junior guard Randy Davis is second on the team in scoring at 14.0 points per game and leads the team with 17 assists ... Davis is shooting 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from the field and 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the charity stripe.
Junior forward Jarrod Jones is third on the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game and leads the team and the Mid-American Conference on the glass at 10.5 boards per game ... Freshman guard Jesse Berry rounds out the double figure scorers as he averages 11.5 points per game.
Scouting Butler . . .
Butler enters Saturday's game with a 1-1 record on the year ... The Bulldogs opened the season with an 83-54 victory over Marian before dropping an 88-73 contest at Louisville ... Butler is averaging 78.0 points per game while allowing 71.0 points per game ... The Bulldogs have forced 30 turnovers while committing 23.
Guard Shelvin Mack leads the tam in scoring as he averages 22.5 points per game ... Mack is shooting 54.8 percent (17-of-31) from the field, including six three-pointers ... Forward Matt Howard is second on the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game and leads the team on the glass with 8.0 rebounds per game ... Howard is shooting 75 percent (9-of-12) from the field.
Cardinals Vs. The Top 25 . . .
Saturday's game marks the Cardinals' first meeting this season against a nationally ranked opponent ... Butler, who was the national runner-up last season, entered the week ranked No. 16 by the AP Poll and No. 18 by the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll ... Ball State played two nationally ranked opponents last season as it faced No. 4 Purdue and No. 20/23 Butler ... Saturday's game marks the Cardinals' first visit to a nationally ranked opponent since visiting Butler in the 2006-07 season when the Bulldogs were ranked 14th ... Ball State has not defeated a nationally ranked opponent since the 2001-02 season ... The Cardinals defeated No. 4 UCLA 91-73 in the Maui Invitational that season.
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.
The game will be broadcast on four national outlets: Fox College Sports/DirectTV Sports Pak/Dish Network Multi-Sports Pak/AT&T U-Verse ... Also, if the Cardinals win the first game their final two games (semifinals & finals) will be broadcast on those four national outlets ... All games of the tournament will be broadcast online for a fee at www.GoSeawolves.com.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State makes its second ever trip to the state of Alaska this coming week as it takes part in the Great Alaska Shootout ... The Cardinals will face St. John's in the first round of the tournament in which BSU is assured three games in four days.
