Ball State University Athletics
Men's Hoops Travels To Valparaiso Tuesday Night
December 26, 2010 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State returns from the holiday break Tuesday evening as the Cardinals travel to instate rival Valparaiso ... Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. (CT) in at Athletics Recreation Center ... The Cardinals enter the contest with a 6-3 overall record and have won three straight games while the Crusaders enter the game with a 9-4 record and are also riding a three-game winning streak.
The game will be video broadcast online by the Horizon League Network and can be accessed at www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv ... The game will also be broadcast on 104.1 WLBC FM and online at www.ballstatesports.com with Morry Mannies and David Eha providing the call.
Series History vs. Valparaiso . . .
Tuesday's game marks the 59th meeting all-time between the two Indiana schools with Ball State owning a 31-27 advantage in the all-time series ... Tuesday's game will be the 27th meeting all-time in Valparaiso with the Crusaders owning a 16-10 advantage in home games.
The two teams will be meeting for the first time since last year's season-opener when the Cardinals downed Valparaiso 88-78 at Worthen Arena November 13, 2009 ... Six different Cardinals scored in double figures in the victory, marking the first time Ball State accomplished the feat since February 7, 1998 (vs. Bowling Green) ... 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 ... Jarrod Jones led the charge as he scored a team-high 19 points while grabbing six rebounds in 25 minutes of action ... Malik Perry turned in a strong performance as he scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds ... Terrence Watson came just shy of a double-double in his BSU debut as he scored 11 points, grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and blocked a game-high four shots ... Guard Jauwan Scaife scored 14 points in his collegiate debut as he was 5-of-10 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers.
Valparaiso was led by Brandon Wood who scored a game-high 25 points as he was 9-of-23 shooting from the field ... Cory Johnson added 21 points and nine rebounds for the Crusaders in the loss.
Davis A Bob Cousy Award Candidate . . .
Junior guard Randy Davis has been named one of 66 candidates for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. ... The annual award, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes college basketball's top point guard ... This original list of candidates will be narrowed down to a final 20 by January 3, final 10 by February 3 and final five by March 3.
Davis is second in the Mid-American Conference and 13th in NCAA Division I in assists per game at 6.67 ... He also is third on the team in scoring at 10.1 points per game ... He has dished out at least seven assists in five games this season, including a career-high 11 assists against Southern Utah (Nov. 26).
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State ran its winning streak to three straight games with a 95-43 victory over Mount St. Joseph before the holiday break ... The victory is the Cardinals' largest since December 8, 2004 when they defeated Anderson 106-53 while the 95 points scored are the most since scoring 96 against Eastern Michigan in 2005 (1/31/05).
Ball State had five different players score in double figures and 11 different Cardinals found their way onto the box score in the 52-point victory ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife was tied for the team lead with 15 points as was 3-of-7 from three-point land and hit all four free throws ... Junior guard Pierre Sneed scored a career-high 15 points off the bench as he was 7-of-8 from the field in 18 minutes of action.
Junior forward Jarrod Jones added 15 points and six rebounds was he was 4-of-5 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line ... Senior forward Malik Perry added 13 points and nine rebounds while junior guard Randy Davis came just shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine assists ... Freshman Chris Bond also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds.
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters Tuesday's game with a 6-3 overall record and has won three straight games heading into the contest with Valparaiso ... The Cardinals are averaging 69.9 points per game this season while allowing 62.1 points per game against ... Ball State is shooting 45.9 percent (216-471) from the field while limiting opponents to just 39.5 percent (193-489) shooting from the field.
Junior forward Jarrod Jones leads the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game and is shooting 49.5 percent (52-105) from the field ... Jones also leads the team on the glass as he averages a team-high 9.0 boards per game ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife is second on the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game ... Scaife leads the team in three-pointers with 15 and averages a team-high 31.7 minutes per game.
Junior guard Randy Davis rounds out the team's double figure scorers as he chips in 10.6 points per game ... Davis leads the team with 60 assists in nine games and is tied for second on the team with 12 three-pointers ... Freshman guard Jesse Berry is fourth on the team in scoring at 9.3 points per game and has hit 12 three-pointers ... Senior forward Malik Perry is second on the team in rebounding at 4.8 caroms per game while adding 8.1 points per game.
Scouting Valparaiso . . .
Valparaiso enters Tuesday's game with a 9-4 overall record and a 3-1 mark at home at the A.R.C. ... The Crusaders have won three straight games with wins over IPFW, Eastern Michigan and Oakland ... Valparaiso is averaging a Horizon League-high 75.1 points per game and is allowing 67.5 points per game ... The Crusaders are shooting 47.5 percent (346-728) from the field and is holding opponents to 40.8 percent (298-731) shooting from the field.
Valparaiso has two prolific scorers on the team in Brandon Wood and Cory Johnson ... The two combined to score 68 points in a 103-102 victory at Oakland last time out as Wood scored 35 and Johnson added 33 points ... Wood leads the team on the season at 16.2 points per game ... He also leads the team with 53 assists and is third on the team with 4.7 rebounds per game ... Johnson averages 15.9 points per game this season and has grabbed 4.9 rebounds per game.
Ryan Broekhoff rounds out the double figure scorers for Valparaiso as he chips in 11.2 points per game ... Broekhoff is shooting 54.3 percent (51-94) from the field ... Howard Little is fourth on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game and leads the team on the glass at 5.1 boards per contest.
Buzzer Beater . . .
Freshman guard Tyrae Robinson introduced himself to Ball State fans with a splash earlier this month as he helped the Cardinals defeat Big East foe DePaul 79-77 in overtime ... Robinson stepped up in the overtime period when junior point guard Randy Davis fouled out and scored a career-high nine points while dishing out five assists ... He hit the game-winning shot with 2.7 seconds left in overtime as he drove down the lane and laid it off the glass to break the 77-77 tie.
Jones Earns Weekly Honors . . .
Junior forward Jarrod Jones was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week and the MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week for his performances against Eastern Illinois and DePaul (Dec. 13) ... Jones, who owns a 3.291 GPA as a telecommunications major, posted back-to-back double-doubles in the victories as he averaged 18.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game ... He connected on 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the field in the two victories ... He posted 20 points and 13 rebounds at EIU as he was 9-of-15 from the field ... He led the Cardinals to their first win over a Big East foe since 1990 with 17 points and 12 rebounds at DePaul.
Home, Sweet Home . . .
The Cardinals' 95-43 victory over Mount St. Joseph was their 275th game all-time at Worthen Arena since it opened January 15, 1992 (previously named University Arena) ... Ball State owns a 200-75 all-time record at Worthen Arena and has won 72.7 percent of its games at home ... The Cardinals have posted a 2-0 record this season at Worthen with wins over Eastern Illinois, Indiana State and Mount St. Joseph ... Last season, the Cardinals posted an 11-6 record at home, including a 6-3 mark during non-conference play ... The Cardinals have averaged over 10 wins a season at home at Worthen Arena.
Jones Named All-Tournament . . .
Junior guard Jarrod Jones was named to the Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team ... Jones is one of 10 members of the All-Tournament squad ... He scored in double figures in all three games of the Shootout as he averaged 14.6 points per game and chipped in 7.3 rebounds per contest ... He connected on 56.8 percent (21-of-37) in the three games ... Justin Brownlee of St. John's was named the tournament Most Valuable Player.
Double Trouble . . .
Junior forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals with five double-doubles on the season ... Jones has tallied double dips against Eastern Illinois (twice), Indiana State, Alaska-Anchorage and DePaul ... He is 20th in NCAA Division I in double-doubles so far this season and is tied for Eastern Michigan's Brandon Bowdry with the lead in the Mid-American Conference ... Jones has posted 15 double-doubles in his career.
Junior guard Randy Davis posted his first career double-double with an 11-point, 11-assist effort against Southern Utah ... Davis becomes the first Cardinal to post a point/assist double-double since 2006 when Maurice Acker posted 15 points and 10 rebounds at Buffalo (1/18/06).
Lending A Helping Hand . . .
Junior guard Randy Davis has tallied 60 assists the first nine games and has only committed 32 turnovers ... His 60 assists are second in the Mid-American Conference this season ... In fact, he is ranked 13th in the NCAA Division I in assists per game at 6.67 ... He handed out a game-high eight assists against Eastern Illinois ... He followed that up with a nine-assist effort against Indiana State, tying his career-high ... He also tied his top mark with nine helpers against St. John's in the Great Alaska Shootout before setting a career-high with 11 assists against Southern Utah ... Last time out, he handed out nine assists against Mount St. Joseph.
Davis is ranked 151st in the nation in assist/turnover ratio at 1.88.
Cardinals In MAC Stats . . .
Ball State leads the Mid-American Conference in three team statistical categories and is second in three categories, entering the Valparaiso game ... The Cardinals lead the league in assists (14.89), assist/turnover ratio (1.24) and three-point field goal defense (.258) while placing second in scoring defense (62.1), field goal defense (.395) and defensive rebounds (25.56) ... Individually, the Cardinals are spread across the MAC statistical rankings.
Ball State has four players ranked in the top 29 in scoring in the MAC with junior forward Jarrod Jones leading the way ranking seventh in the league (14.7) ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife is 10th (14.1), junior guard Randy Davis is 23rd (10.6) and freshman Jesse Berry is 29th (9.3).
Davis is second in the MAC in assists at 6.67 per game ... He is also seventh in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.88), 10th in steals (1.44) and eighth in free throw percentage (.794) ... Scaife is second in the MAC in free throw percentage at .900 while Jones is second in the MAC in rebounding at 9.0 boards per game ... Berry ranks 12th in the league at the charity stripe (.733).
Digital Guide Available Online . . .
The 2010-11 Ball State men's basketball digital guide is available online at www.ballstatesports.com by clicking the digital guide button on the main page or the men's basketball page ... The guide was produced by the Ball State athletics media relations office and 180 Communications.
Turning Up The Defense . . .
Ball State continues its defensive dominance under fourth-year head coach Billy Taylor ... The Cardinals are second in the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense (62.1) and field goal defense (.395) while leading the league in three-point defense (.258) ... Ball State 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 ... Ball State turned the turnovers into 33 points ... 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 ... Ball State forced Southern Utah into 19 turnovers in Alaska and turned those miscues into 24 points.
Last time out, the Cardinals held Mount St. Joseph to just 43 points and limited the Lions to just 24.6 percent (14-of-57) shooting from the field and 10.7 percent (3-of-28) from three-point land.
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 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 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 a Ball State 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.
BSU 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 MAC 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.
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 returns home to Worthen Arena for a New Year's Eve contest with North Carolina A&T ... Tip-off is set for noon and will be the first of two straight home games for the Cardinals (Jan. 3 vs. SIU-Edwardsville).
