Ball State University Athletics
Men's Hoops Travels To Eastern Michigan Wednesday
January 18, 2011 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State hits the road in Mid-American Conference play this week as it travels to Ypsilanti, Mich., for a meeting with divisional foe Eastern Michigan Wednesday night ... Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center ... The Cardinals enter Wednesday's game with an 11-4 overall record and a 3-0 mark in MAC play ... Ball State has won five straight games and eight of its last nine contests ... Eastern Michigan enters the game with a 4-12 overall record and a 1-2 mark in MAC play ... The Eagles have dropped back-to-back MAC games against Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.
Wednesday's game will be broadcast on 104.1 WLBC FM and streamed online at www.ballstatesports.com ... Morry Mannies and David Eha will provide the game's call.
Cardinals Off To Fast Start . . .
Ball State owns the top record in the Mid-American Conference this season with a 11-4 record (.733) ... The 11-4 record marks the Cardinals' best record this far into a season since the 1997-98 season when they opened the year 12-3 on their way to a 21-8 record ... Ball State is also off to a 3-0 start in MAC play for the first time since 2003-04 when it posted a 5-0 league start.
Ball State is currently riding a season-best five-game winning streak with victories over North Carolina A&T, SIU Edwardsville, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and Central Michigan... The five-game streak is the Cardinals' longest since the 2003-04 season when they won five straight Jan. 7-Jan. 20 (Bowling Green, Toledo, Central Michigan, Miami, Northern Illinois) ... Ball State has not won six straight games since the 2001-02 season.
Mid-Major Top 25 . . .
Ball State made its first appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll this week (Jan. 17) ... The Cardinals enter the poll as the No. 24 team in the Mid-Major rankings and are the highest ranked Mid-American Conference team ... St. Mary's is the top ranked Mid-Major team with a 16-2 record ... Six BSU opponents are receiving votes in the Mid-Major poll with Butler ranked sixth and Valparaiso ranked 20th ... Indiana State, Kent State, Akron and Ohio are all receiving votes ... The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Great West, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast.
NCAA RPI Numbers . . .
Ball State is off to one of the best seasons in recent history with an 11-4 overall record ... The Cardinals are ranked 88th in the most recent NCAA RPI as they jumped nine spots from the last RPI release ... Ball State is the second highest team in the Mid-American Conference, trailing only Kent State (78) ... Miami is ranked 96th in the RPI while Akron is 122nd to round out the MAC teams in the top 125.
ESPNU BracketBusters . . .
Ball State will participate in the ninth annual ESPNU BracketBusters event this season and will be one of the 57 road teams ... The 11 televised matchups and the remaining non-televised matchups released will be announced January 31st.
Home teams for 2011 include: Stony Brook, Boston, Eastern Washington, Portland State, Montana State, Idaho State, High Point, Liberty, Presbyterian, UNC Ashville, Winthrop, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, UC-Davis, UC-Santa Barbara, Drexel, James Madison, UNC-Wilmington, Old Dominion, Towson, William and Mary, Loyola-Chicago, Valparaiso, Wright State, Youngstown State, Fairfield, Marist, Niagara, Rider, Siena, Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan, Morgan State, Drake, Indiana State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Wichita State, Murray State, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, College of Charleston, Western Carolina, Wofford, Oral Roberts, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Saint Mary's.
Series History . . .
Wednesday's game marks the 88th meeting all-time between Ball State and Eastern Michigan ... The Cardinals lead the all-time series by a 51-36 margin, including a 25-17 mark all-time in Ypsilanti ... Eastern Michigan has held the upper hand in the series as of late as it swept the season series last year and has won five out of the last six meetings between the two teams.
In the first meeting last year, the Eagles posted a 57-53 victory January 23 at the Convocation Center ... The Cardinals rallied from 11 points down in the final minute to pull within one point, but could not complete the furious comeback attempt ... Jauwan Scaife led the Cardinals with 13 points before fouling out in the final minute of play ... Forward Malik Perry added 17 points and nine rebounds off the bench while Jarrod Jones chipped in seven points and six rebounds ... Eastern Michigan was led by Justin Dobbins who scored 18 points ... Brandon Bowdry added nine points and nine rebounds.
The Eagles complete the season series sweep with a 72-67 victory in Muncie February 24 ... EMU hit nine three-pointers in the victory as it attempted 32 long range shots in the victory ... Guard Randy Davis led the team with 16 points while Jones chipped in 14 points and six rebounds ... The Cardinals played without the service of Perry due to injury in the loss ... Bowdry scored 16 points for the Eagles and Antonio Brown chipped in 15 points as he hit three three-pointers.
Scoring Boost . . .
Ball State has been one of the top defensive teams in the Mid-American Conference during head coach Billy Taylor's tenure at the helm ... The Cardinals have added another strength this season as they rank sixth in the MAC in scoring offense at 69.9 points per game ... Last year, Ball State averaged just 57.4 points per game through the first 15 games of the year as the Cardinals owned a 7-8 record ... Ball State finished the season averaging 60.6 points on the year finishing with a 15-15 record.
Reaching The Century Mark . . .
Senior forward Malik Perry appeared in his 100th career game for Ball State Saturday ... Perry has played in 100 games, including 83 career starts prior to Saturday's game ... He has played 2,510 career minutes as a Cardinal and has career averages of 6.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
Turning Up The Defense . . .
Ball State continues its defensive dominance under fourth-year head coach Billy Taylor ... The Cardinals are first in the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense (62.0), field goal defense (.403) and three-point defense (.287) ... Ball State is currently 45th in the NCAA Division I in scoring defense, 63rd in field goal percentage defense and 17th in the nation in three-point field goal defense.
Ball State led the MAC in scoring defense last year (62.4), field goal percentage defense (.400) and three-point percentage defense (.312).
Getting To The Line . . .
Ball State ranks fifth in the Mid-American Conference in free throw percentage connecting on 68.8 percent (297-of-432) ... The Cardinals have been to the line 432 times this season, the most in the MAC and 57 more than second place Kent State (375 in 17 games) ... Ball State goes to the free throw line 28.8 times per game this season, which also leads the MAC ... The Cardinals 28.8 free throw attempts per game rank third in all of the NCAA Division I this season ... The Cardinals go to the line almost seven more times than the second place team of Kent State (22.0 attempts/game).
In MAC play, the Cardinals have connected on 71-of-98 from the line (72.4%) ... The Cardinals have as many made free throws (71) in league play as the second most free throws attempted (Western Michigan - 54-of-71).
Jones Climbs The Charts . . .
Junior forward Jarrod Jones has led the Cardinals in rebounding since he stepped on campus and leads the team once again this year averaging 8.8 rebounds per game ... Jones has grabbed 582 career rebounds which places him 12th all-time in the BSU history ... He recently surpassed Chris Collins for 12th (577) and Paris McCurdy for 13th all-time (547) ... He needs 24 rebounds to tie Bill Gillis for 11th all-time (606) ... Ed Butler (1961-64) holds the Ball State career record with 1,231 rebounds.
Jones also leads the team in scoring as he averages 16.1 points per game ... He enters Wednesday's game with 953 career points and is 47 points shy of becoming the 25th player in Ball State history to reach 1,000 career points.
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters Wednesday's game with an 11-4 overall record and a 3-0 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals have won five straight and eight out of their last nine games ... Ball State is averaging 69.9 points per game this season and is holding opponents to just 62.0 points per game ... The Cardinals are shooting 46.1 percent (346-of-751) from the field and 32.2 percent (59-of-183) from three-point land ... BSU is limiting opponents to 40.3 percent (334-of-829) shooting from the field and 28.7 percent (79-of-275) from long range.
Junior forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals in scoring at 16.1 points per game and leads the team on the glass at 8.8 rebounds per game ... Jones is shooting 52.5 percent (94-of-179) from the field this season ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife is second on the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game ... Scaife is second on the team with 20 three-pointers and is second in free throw shooting at 82.8 (48-of-58).
Freshman guard Jesse Berry is third on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game and leads the team with 24 three-pointers ... Junior guard Randy Davis chips in 9.7 points per game while leading the team with 81 assists and 24 steals ... Senior forward Malik Perry adds 7.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Scouting Eastern Michigan . . .
Eastern Michigan enters Wednesday's game with a 4-12 overall record and a 1-2 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Eagles have dropped back-to-back games to Northern Illinois and Western Michigan ... EMU is averaging 63.7 points per game while allowing 66.6 points per game ... The Eagles are shooting 39.1 percent (359-of-9191) from the field and 33.1 percent (120-of-363) from long range ... Opponents are shooting 41.9 percent (353-of-843) from the field and 35.1 percent (92-of-262) from three-point land.
Forward Brandon Bowdry leads the team and is second in the MAC in scoring at 20.9 points per game ... Bowdry leads the MAC on the glass as he averages 10.1 boards per game ... Derek Thompson is second on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game and has hit a team-high 42 three-pointers ... Darrell Lampley is third on the team in scoring at 7.5 points per game and leads the team with 74 assists.
Comparing W's vs. L's . . .
Ball State has won 11 games this season by an average of 17.4 points per game while its four losses have been by an average of 18.2 points per game ... In the 14 wins, Ball State has four different players averaging double figures in Jarrod Jones (17.2), Jauwan Scaife (12.8), Jesse Berry (10.6) and Randy Davis (10.1) ... In its four losses, BSU only has one player averaging double figures in Jones at 13.0 points per game ... Davis is the next highest scorer at 8.5 points per game.
W's -- L's
Scoring Off. 74.9 -- 56.0
Scoring Def. 57.5 -- 74.2
Field Goal % .489 -- .381
Field Goal % Def. .375 -- .486
3-Pt Field Goal % .331 -- .293
3-Pt Field Goal % Def. .268 -- .333
Rebounding Off. 36.6 -- 29.5
Rebounding Def. 32.9 -- 34.0
Assists Per Game 15.3 -- 10.5
Turnover Margin +3.0 -- -1.7
Assist/Turnover Ratio 1.2 -- 0.9
Steals/Game 7.1 -- 4.3
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State improved to 3-0 in the Mid-American Conference and 7-0 at home on the year with a 64-55 victory over Central Michigan Saturday ... The Cardinals used a balanced scoring attack to claim victory as all nine players to see action scored at least three points, with six scoring seven-or-more ... Junior forward Jarrod Jones led the Cardinals with 10 points and eight rebounds while classmate Randy Davis added 10 points as he was 10-of-10 from the free throw line.
The Cardinals dominated play at the charity stripe as they hit 30-of-42 from the field (71.4%), compared to just 3-of-10 (30.0%) from the Chippewas ... Freshmen Jesse Berry and Tyrae Robinson each scored nine points off the bench as the Cardinals got 25 points from the reserves ... Senior forward Malik Perry added seven points and six rebounds while sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife chipped in seven points.
Bond Steps Up Too . . .
Freshman forward Chris Bond has seen his playing time almost quadruple over the past eight games ... Bond averaged 5.4 minutes per game in the first five games of his career and has averaged 21.4 minutes per game over the last six games ... His increased playing time has also seen a jump in his production as he is averaging 7.6 points and 5.3 rebounds over the past six games ... Since the DePaul game, Bond is shooting 65.0 percent (26-of-40) from the field ... He scored a career-high 13 points against North Carolina A&T when he hit 6-of-9 from the field and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds against Mount St. Joseph.
Cardinals In MAC Stats . . .
Ball State are in the top three in nine different Mid-American Conference team statistical categories ... The Cardinals lead the league in scoring defense (62.0), three-point field goal defense (.287), field goal defense (.403) and rebounding defense (33.2) while placing second in scoring margin (+7.9), field goal percentage (.461), assist/turnover ratio (1.10) and defensive rebounds (25.27) ... Ball State is third in the MAC in turnover margin (+1.73). Ball State has four players ranked in the top 35 in scoring in the MAC with junior forward Jarrod Jones leading the way ranking sixth in the league (16.1) ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife is 17th (11.6), freshman guard Jesse Berry is 28th (9.9) and junior guard Randy Davis is 33rd (9.7).
Davis is second in the MAC in assists at 5.40 per game ... He is also fifth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.80), ninth in steals (1.60) and second in free throw percentage (.857) ... Scaife is fifth in the MAC in free throw percentage at .828 ... Jones is second in the MAC in rebounding at 8.8 boards per game and sixth in field goal percentage at .525 ... Berry is eighth in three-point percentage at .375.
Home, Sweet Home . . .
Saturday's game marked the Cardinals' 279th game all-time at Worthen Arena since it opened January 15, 1992 (previously named University Arena) ... Ball State owns a 204-75 all-time record at Worthen Arena and has won 73.1 percent of its games at home ... The Cardinals have posted a 7-0 record this season at Worthen with wins over Eastern Illinois, Indiana State, Mount St. Joseph, North Carolina A&T, SIU Edwardsville, Western Michigan and Central Michigan ... The Cardinals' 7-0 home record this season is the top home record in the Mid-American Conference this season and is the best start to a home season since the 2004-05 campaign when the Cardinals opened the year 9-0 at Worthen Arena.
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 Earns MAC Weekly Honor . . .
Junior forward Jarrod Jones has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday (Jan. 10) ... This is the second MAC weekly honor for Jones this season (Dec. 13) and the sixth of his career.
Jones, MAC Player of the Year candidate, led the Cardinals to a 2-0 week and a 1-0 start in MAC play as he averaged 22.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game ... He posted back-to-back double-doubles against SIU Edwardsville and Northern Illinois to lead the Cardinals to a 9-4 overall record as he shot 65.5 percent (19-of-29) from the field in the two games ... Jones scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against SIUE to open the week ... He followed that up with a 25-point, 12-rebound effort in the MAC opener at Northern Illinois for his seventh double-double of the season and 17th of his career ... He hit 10-of-18 from the field against the Huskies and posted 14 points in the first half.
Jones has also earned two MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honors this season ... He owns a 3.291 GPA in telecommunications and picked up the weekly honors for all sports the weeks of Dec. 6-12 and Dec. 27-Jan. 2
Double Trouble . . .
Junior forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals with seven double-doubles on the season ... Jones has tallied double dips against Eastern Illinois (twice), Indiana State, Alaska-Anchorage, DePaul, SIU Edwardsville and Northern Illinois ... He is second in the Mid-American Conference behind Eastern Michigan's Brandon Bowdry (9) and is 29th in the NCAA Division I ... Jones has posted 17 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 81 assists this season and has only committed 45 turnovers ... His 81 assists are second in the Mid-American Conference this season ... He currently ranks 34th in the NCAA in assists per game at 5.4 and his assist/turnover ratio is 142nd in the country (1.80)
He handed out a game-high eight assists against Eastern Illinois ... He followed that up with a nine-assist effort against Indiana State ... He also dished out nine helpers against St. John's in the Great Alaska Shootout before setting a career-high with 11 assists against Southern Utah ... He reached nine assists for the third time this year against Mount St. Joseph.
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.
Last year in MAC play, the Cardinals posted an 8-8 overall record ... Guard Randy Davis had a breakout MAC campaign last year as he led the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game while handing out 55 assists ... He connected on 48.4 percent (31-of-64) from three-point land and 83.6 percent (56-of-67) from the free throw line against conference foes ... Forward Jarrod Jones averaged 10.2 points per game and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per contest in MAC play ... Guard Jauwan Scaife chipped in 10.2 points per game and hit 24-of-65 (36.9%) from long range.
Davis: 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 in January, the final 10 by February 3 and final five by March 3.
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.
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.
The Billy Taylor Show . . .
The Billy Taylor Show returns for its fourth season as the Ball State Sports Network produces the half-hour show which airs on WIPB-Muncie and online at www.ballstatesports.com ... Kevin Lee returns for his second season as host of the show which airs Tuesday evenings at 6 p.m. ... The show has six episodes throughout the Mid-American Conference season ... Show dates included Jan. 4, Jan. 18, Feb. 1, Feb 15, Feb. 22 and March 1.
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.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State wraps up its first run through the MAC West Division Saturday evening as it travels to Toledo.
