Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Akron Saturday At Noon
February 05, 2010 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State continues its two-game home stand Saturday afternoon as it hosts defending Mid-American Conference Tournament champion Akron at noon at Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals enter the game riding a four-game winning streak and are winners of six of their last seven games ... Ball State owns a 12-9 overall record and a 6-3 mark in MAC play this season .... BSU is 4-0 so far this season against MAC East Division foes ... The Cardinals are led by third-year head coach Billy Taylor ... Akron enters Saturday's game with a 16-7 overall record and a 6-3 mark in league play ... The Zips have won three out of four against MAC West Division foes with wins over Western Michigan, Toledo and Northern Illinois while their only loss came against Eastern Michigan ... Akron is led by sixth-year head coach Keith Dambrot.
Saturday's game will be broadcast by FSN Indiana and FSN Ohio as part of the MAC television package ... Michael Reghi and Steve Mix will provide the call for the game ... Also, the game will be broadcast on 104.1 WLBC FM with Morry Mannies and David Eha calling the game.
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 41-44 record against the East Division since the two-division format was implemented in the 1997-98 season.
The Cardinals have opened this year's crossover games with four straight wins over Miami, Buffalo, Ohio and Bowling Green ... Ball State has already secured a winning record against the MAC East Division this season, marking just the third time in program history BSU has accomplished that feat ... 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 prior to this year ... The Cardinals posted a 2-4 record last season against East Division, including wins over Ohio and Buffalo
Ball State is 11-3 during the regular season against Buffalo, 7-3 against Bowling Green, 5-7 against Akron, 6-5 against Ohio, 4-6 against Kent State, 2-6 against Marshall and 6-14 against Miami since divisional play began.
Home Sweet Home . . .
Saturday's game marks the 268th game for the Cardinals in Worthen Arena (previously University Arena) since its opening January 15, 1992 ... Ball State owns a 195-72 record all-time in Worthen Arena, which is good for .730 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.
So far this season the Cardinals have posted an 9-3 record at home, including a 4-1 mark against MAC opponents ... The Cardinals' eight wins this year have come over Valparaiso, SIU Edwardsville, North Carolina Central, Maryland Eastern Shore, Manchester, Toledo, Western Michigan, Miami and Bowling Green ... During its history, Ball State has averaged just over 10 wins per season at Worthen Arena.
Series History With Akron . . .
Saturday's game is the 29th meeting all-time between Ball State and Akron ... The Cardinals lead the all-time series 15-13 against the Zips ... Akron has won the past five meetings between the two teams ... Ball State's last victory over the Zips came with a 76-72 victory March 8, 2004.
Last season, Akron claimed a 63-55 victory over the Cardinals ... BSU made a late second half rally as it scored eight straight points to pull within two at 52-50 but could not get all the way over the hump before time expired ... Senior guard Rob Giles led the attack as he scored a game-high 17 points in the loss ... Giles connected on six-of-11 from the field, including five three-pointers ... Forward Jarrod Jones fell just short of a double-double as he scored nine points, eight of which came in the second half, and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds ... Guard Pierre Sneed had a strong game off of the bench as he scored nine points in 20 minutes of action ... Akron was led by Chris McKnight's 13 points as he was eight-of-12 from the free throw line.
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 Tennessee Martin February 20 at 2 p.m. ... The Cardinals and Skyhawks will be meeting for the second time in program history ... Ball State claimed an 88-41 victory over UTM in Muncie December 6, 1991 in the previous meeting.
Jones Earns Weekly Honor . . .
Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Co-Player of the Week after leading the Cardinals to 3-0 record on the week with wins over Miami, at Buffalo and at Ohio ... Jones averaged 15.7 points and 7.7 rebounds on the week as he scored in double figures in all three victories ... He posted his fifth double-double of the season against Miami as he scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a double-overtime victory ... He added 14 points in the Cardinals' come-from-behind victory at Buffalo before adding 12 points in the Cardinals' late-rally at Ohio ... He scored the game-winning basket at Ohio with 2.1 seconds left in the overtime period.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State notched its four straight victory Thursday night as the Cardinals defeated Bowling Green 64-59 Thursday night ... The Cardinals held off a late BGSU rally to claim their sixth win in their last seven games ... Sophomore guard Randy Davis led four Cardinals in double figures as he scored a game-high 18 points and dished out four assists ... Davis connected on 5-of-7 from the field, including three three-pointers, while hitting 5-of-6 from the free throw line ... Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones posted another double-double as he scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Senior forward Terrence Watson fell just shy of a double dip as he scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds ... Watson also tallied three steals, blocked two shots and dished out two assists ... Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife chipped in 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers.
Four Straight . . .
Ball State has won four straight Mid-American Conference games heading into Saturday's meeting with Akron ... The four straight victories over Miami, Buffalo, Ohio and Bowling Green marks the first time BSU has won four straight league games since the 2003-04 season ... That year, the Cardinals defeated five straight MAC opponents in the stretch dating from January 7 through January 20.
The Cardinals have won six out of their last seven games since opened MAC play with two straight losses ... During their current 6-1 stretch, the Cardinals are averaging 67.1 points per game while allowing just 60.1 points per game ... Ball State is shooting 44.2 percent (1556-of-353) from the field, 46.2 percent (36-of-78) from three-point land and 71.3 percent (122-of-171) from the free throw line ... Four different Cardinals are averaging double figures during the run with senior forward Terrence Watson leading the charge at 11.9 points per game ... Freshman Jauwan Scaife (11.7), sophomore Jarrod Jones (11.0) and sophomore Randy Davis (10.9) are also averaging double figures during the stretch.
Also, Ball State has won back-to-back MAC road games for the first time since the 2003-04 season ... That year the Cardinals defeated Marshall and Bowling Green (Feb. 24-28).
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Saturday's game with a 12-9 overall record and a 6-3 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals are already just two overall wins shy of last year's win total (14) and just one win shy of last year's MAC win total (7) ... BSU is averaging 60.0 points per game this season while allowing 60.5 points per game ... The Cardinals are out-rebounding opponents by a 35.5-32.3 margin this season.
Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones leads the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game and leads the team on the glass at 7.6 rebounds per contest ... Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game and leads the team with 34 three-pointers.
Senior forward Terrence Watson is third on the team in scoring at 8.3 points per game and second on the glass at 6.6 caroms per game ... Watson leads the team in blocked shots with 30 ... Junior forward Malik Perry adds 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 55.7 percent (54-of-97) from the field ... Sophomore guard Randy Davis chips in 7.5 points per game and leads the team with 71 assists ... Davis is second on the team with 21 three-pointers.
Scouting The Zips . . .
Akron enters Saturday's game with a 16-7 overall record and a 6-3 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Zips are 3-3 on the year away from home and 2-2 on the road in league play ... Akron is averaging 70.4 points per game while allowing 62.8 points per game against ... The Zips hold a 35.7-32.2 rebounding edge on opponents this season.
Akron uses a balanced scoring attack as seven different players average at least 7.2 points per game ... Brett McKnight leads the team in scoring as he averages 10.1 points per game ... He is also second on the team in rebounding at 4.7 boards per game ... Jimmy Conyers is second on the team in scoring at 9.1 points per game and leads the team on the glass at 6.4 caroms per game.
Chris McKnight is third on the team in scoring at 8.6 points per game ... Anthony Hitchens adds 8.3 points per game and 60 assists ... Steve McNees chips in 7.7 points per game and leads the Zips with 42 three-pointers.
Defensive Prowess . . .
The Cardinals lead in the Mid-American Conference this season in scoring defense as they are holding opponents to 60.5 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 25th in NCAA Division I in scoring defense (as of February 4)
Senior forward Terrence Watson is third in the MAC this season in blocked shots as he is averaging 1.43 rejections per game, while sophomore forward Jarrod Jones is sixth at 1.00 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
Hitting The Glass . . .
The Cardinals are second in the Mid-American Conference in rebounding defense as they are limiting opponents to 32.3 boards per game ... Ball State has out-rebounded its opponents in 13 games this season ... The Cardinals have three players averaging at least four rebounds per game in Terrence Watson (6.6), Jarrod Jones (7.6) and Malik Perry (4.5).
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.
Cardinals In MAC Stats . . .
This season, the Cardinals are sprinkled throughout the Mid-American Conference statistical leaders ... Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones is 13th in the MAC in scoring at 12.3 points per game ... Jones is also second in rebounding (7.6), 12th in field goal percentage (.457), sixth in blocked shots (1.00) and second in defensive rebounds (5.71) ... Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife is 22nd in the MAC in scoring at 10.3 points per game, which ranks third best among MAC freshmen ... Scaife is also sixth in free throw percentage (.825) and fourth in three-point percentage (.430)
Senior forward Terrence Watson is eighth in the MAC in rebounding at 6.6 boards per game ... Watson is also third in blocks (1.43) and fifth on the offensive glass (2.67) ... Junior forward Malik Perry leads the league in field goal percentage at 55.7 percent ... Perry is also eighth in offensive rebounds (2.37) ... Sophomore guard Randy Davis is 11th in free throw percentage (.771) and ninth in assists at 3.38 per game.
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.
The Cardinals tallied their second road win of the season at Buffalo with a 75-69 victory ... The win was the first on the road for the Cardinals in Mid-American Conference play this season ... BSU added its third road win of the year at Ohio ... The Cardinals have already tied their road win total from last season (3).
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 14 out of his first 21 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, 11 against Miami, a team-high 16 at Buffalo and 10 points against Bowling Green.
Scaife is currently third in scoring in the Mid-American Conference among freshmen ... He only trails Toledo's Jack Barnett (13.6) and Ohio's D.J. Cooper (13.3) ... 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.
New Lineups . . .
Head coach Billy Taylor has shuffled his starting lineups this season as the Cardinals have used six different lineups through the first 21 games this season ... Only two Cardinals this season have started all 21 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 nine times, including the past seven games ... 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 10 double-doubles ... Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones has tallied six double dips while senior forward Terrence Watson has reached the double-double on four 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 second in the MAC in double-doubles with six as he posted double-doubles against Tennessee Tech, North Carolina Central, Maryland Eastern Shore, Manchester, Miami and Bowling Green ... Watson is tied for fourth in the MAC in double dips ... He has posted double-doubles against UC Davis, Toledo, Western Michigan and most recently at Ohio.
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.
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).
89th Season Underway . . .
Ball State is in its 89th season in program history ... The Cardinals have posted a 1091-989-1 record all-time, which is good for a .525 winning percentage ... Ball State is 726-313 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 . . .
Ball State hits the road next week as it travels to Kent State Wednesday evening ... The game will be broadcast by the Ball State Sports Network (BSSN).
