Ball State University Athletics
Men's Hoops Travels To Toledo Saturday On BSSN
January 22, 2011 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State wraps up its first cycle through the Mid-American Conference West Division Saturday night as it takes on the Toledo Rockets in Savage Arena ... The Cardinals sit alone in first place in the MAC with a 4-0 record and a 12-4 mark overall ... Ball State has won six straight games and nine of its last 10 games heading into Saturday's contest ... Toledo enters Saturday's game with a 4-13 overall record and a 1-3 mark in MAC play ... The Rockets are coming off a 73-60 victory Wednesday night over Western Michigan.
Saturday's game will be the first of the season televised by the Ball State Sports Network (BSSN) ... Affiliates for the broadcast include WIPB-Muncie, WTTV-Indianapolis (4.2), WTTK-Kokomo (29.2), WNDA-Jeffersonville, Hometown Sports-Hamilton County (tape delay), Comcast Channel 83-Indianapolis/Fort Wayne (tape delay) and WJTS 18-Jasper (tape delay) ... Jerry Peirson and Vince Welch will provide the call for BSSN which will also be streamed online at www.ballstatesports.com ... The Cardinals will also have the game broadcasted on 104.1 WLBC FM with Morry Mannies and David Eha handling the duties.
Cardinals Off To Fast Start . . .
Ball State owns the top record in the Mid-American Conference this season with a 12-4 record (.750) ... The 12-4 record marks the Cardinals' best record this far into a season since the 1997-98 season when they opened the year 16-3 on their way to a 21-8 record ... Ball State is also off to a 4-0 start in MAC play for the first time since 1997-98 when it posted a 6-0 league start.
Ball State is currently riding a season-best six-game winning streak with victories over North Carolina A&T, SIU Edwardsville, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan ... The six-game streak is the Cardinals' longest since the 2001-02 season when they won six straight Jan. 4-Jan. 23 (Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Toledo, Bowling Green, Akron and Western Michigan) ... Ball State has not won seven straight games since winning 10 straight in the 1999-2000 season.
In fact, the Cardinals' six-game winning streak is the longest of any team in the MAC this season and is currently tied for the 15th longest winning streak in NCAA Division I ... San Diego State has the nation's longest winning streak at 20 straight games ... During the winning streak the Cardinals are shooting 47.8 percent (132-of-276) from the field while limiting opponents to just 38.3 percent (134-of-350) ... Ball State is also dominating play from the free throw line as it has hit 142-of-197 (72.1%) compared to just 51-of-80 (63.8) for its opponents.
Series History . . .
Saturday's game marks the 78th meeting all-time between Ball State and Toledo ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by a 41-36 margin as the two teams have split the season series the past three years ... Ball State owns a 9-27 record all-time on the road against the Rockets and have lost eight straight games at Toledo ... The Cardinals' last win at Toledo came January 12, 2002 with a 68-59 victory over the Rockets.
Last season, the Cardinals posted a 71-43 victory over Toledo January 17 at Worthen Arena ... Ball State connected on 50 percent (25-of-50) from the field and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from three-point land in the victory ... Toledo was limited to just 30.8 percent (16-of-52) shooting from the field and only 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from long range ... Guard Jauwan Scaife led the Cardinals with a then career-high 20 points as he hit a career-high six three-pointers ... Forward Terrance Watson posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds ... Toledo was led by Malcolm Griffin who scored 12 points.
The Rockets complete the season series split with a 45-42 victory over the Cardinals February 27 at Savage Arena ... The victory snapped a 19-game losing streak for the Rockets and was their first league win of the year ... The Cardinals connected on just 26.7 percent (12-of-45) from the field and only 8.3 percent (1-of-12) from three-point land ... Ball State struggled offensively as it fell behind 30-15 at halftime before out-scoring Toledo 27-15 in the second half only to see its rally fall short ... Forward Jarrod Jones posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds while Scaife chipped in 11 points in the loss ... Toledo was led by Justin Anyijong who scored 13 points while Jay Shunnar added eight points and six rebounds.
Steadying Force . . .
Junior forward Jarrod Jones has been in the Cardinals' starting lineup practically since he stepped onto campus as a freshman ... Jones has appeared in 77 straight games and has started 76 games during his career ... He has made 66 consecutive starts heading into Saturday's game ... He only came off the bench one time in his career as he was a reserve December 29, 2008 when the Cardinals played at UC Santa Barbara.
Road Warriors . . .
Ball State was the only team in the Mid-American Conference that has won two road games so far this season ... The Cardinals have picked up road wins at Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan ... Ball State is 4-3 this season on the road as it also picked up victories at Eastern Illinois and DePaul ... The Cardinals' four road wins matches their highest total since the 2001-02 season when BSU won five games on the road that year on its way to a 23-12 record.
Balanced Attack . . .
During the Cardinals' six-game winning streak, Ball State has six players averaging over seven points per game ... Junior forward Jarrod Jones is averaging 17.7 points per game during the streak while freshman Jesse Berry is chipping in 11.2 points per game ... Also during the run Randy Davis adds 8.8, Jauwan Scaife 8.7, Malik Perry 8.0 and Chris Bond 7.7 points per game.
In the Cardinals last six games at least seven players have scored for Ball State with at least six players scoring five points or more ... In the past two victories, Ball State has had nine players reach the box score ... Last game, six players scored at least five points while Eastern Michigan only had one player over five points in the loss.
Clutch Down The Stretch . . .
Ball State has gone to the free throw line more than any other team in the Mid-American Conference and that has been evident in the final five minutes of games ... The Cardinals have converted 104-of-137 (75.9%) in the final five minutes of games ... Conversely, opponents have hit just 64-of-94 (68.1%) ... Junior guard Randy Davis has been especially strong from the line in the closing minutes as he is shooting 86.8 percent (46-of-53) while Jauwan Scaife has hit 14-of-17 (82.4%) ... Senior forward Malik Perry has gotten in on the act as he has hit 7-of-8 (87.5%) in the final five minutes.
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 12-4 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.
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 69.2 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.
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 (61.3), field goal defense (.397) and three-point defense (.278) ... 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 68.2 percent (311-of-456) ... The Cardinals have been to the line 456 times this season, the most in the MAC and 60 more than second place Kent State (396 in 18 games) ... Ball State goes to the free throw line 28.5 times per game this season, which also leads the MAC ... The Cardinals 28.8 free throw attempts per game rank fourth 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 85-of-122 from the line (69.7%) ... The Cardinals have also made as many free throws (85) in league play as the second most free throws attempted (Western Michigan - 65-of-92).
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 590 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 16 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 16.0 points per game ... He enters Saturday's game with 968 career points and is 32 points shy of becoming the 25th player in Ball State history to reach 1,000 career points.
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters Saturday's game with a 12-4 overall record and a 4-0 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals have won six straight and nine out of their last 10 games ... Ball State is averaging 69.2 points per game this season while limiting opponents to just 61.3 points per game ... The Cardinals are connecting on 46.2 percent (367-of-794) from the field and are holding opponents to 39.7 percent (353-of-889) shooting from the field.
Junior forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals in scoring at 16.0 points per game and on the glass at 8.8 caroms per contest ... Jones is converting 53.2 percent (100-of-188) from the field this season ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife is second on the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game ... Scaife has hit 22 three-pointers this season and is shooting 83.9 percent (52-of-62) from the charity stripe.
Junior guard Randy Davis is third on the team in scoring at 9.8 points per game while leading the team with 87 assists and 25 steals ... Davis also leads the team from the free throw line at 84.3 percent (70-of-83) ... Freshman Jesse Berry chips in 9.6 points per game and has hit a team-high 25 three-pointers ... Senior Malik Perry tallies 7.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
Scouting Toledo . . .
Toledo enters Saturday's game with a 4-14 overall record and a 1-3 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Rockets are coming off a 13-point victory over Western Michigan and also defeated Valparaiso this season ... Toledo is averaging 57.9 points per game while allowing 69.1 points per game ... The Rockets are shooting 40.6 percent (354-of-872) from the field while opponents are hitting 44.2 percent (456-of-1032) from the field.
Guard Malcolm Griffin leads the team in scoring at 11.9 points per game ... Griffin also has a team-high 61 assists and has hit 15 three-pointers ... Reese Holliday is second on the team in scoring at 9.7 points per game while grabbing 6.2 rebounds per contest ... Delino Dear chips in 9.6 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game ... Hayden Humes leads the Rockets on the glass at 6.4 caroms per contest while Anthony Wright leads the team with 24 three-pointers.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State improved to 4-0 in Mid-American Conference play with a 60-51 victory at Eastern Michigan Wednesday ... The Cardinals led the final 26:56 of the contest to notch their 12th win of the year ... Ball State controlled play with its defense as it limited EMU to just 31.7 percent (19-of-60) shooting from the field and only 15.0 percent (3-of-20) from long range.
Junior forward Jarrod Jones was one of three players in double figures scoring as he tallied a team-high 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds ... Jones scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half as he fought through foul trouble in the opening frame ... Junior guard Randy Davis chipped in 11 points, six assists and four rebounds while sophomore Jauwan Scaife added 10 points ... Senior forward Malik Perry recorded 10 rebounds as the Cardinals out-rebounded Eastern Michigan by a 41-32 margin.
Comparing W's vs. L's . . .
Ball State has won 12 games this season by an average of 16.7 points per game while its four losses have been by an average of 18.2 points per game ... In the 12 wins, Ball State has four different players averaging double figures in Jarrod Jones (17.0), Jauwan Scaife (12.6), Jesse Berry (10.2) and Randy Davis (10.2) ... 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. 73.7 -- 56.0
Scoring Def. 57.0 -- 74.2
Field Goal % .489 -- .381
Field Goal % Def. .370 -- .486
3-Pt Field Goal % .338 -- .293
3-Pt Field Goal % Def. .258 -- .333
Rebounding Off. 37.0 -- 29.5
Rebounding Def. 32.8 -- 34.0
Assists Per Game 15.1 -- 10.5
Turnover Margin +2.1 -- -1.7
Assist/Turnover Ratio 1.1 -- 0.9
Steals/Game 7.0 -- 4.3
Bond Steps Up Too . . .
Freshman forward Chris Bond has seen his playing time almost quadruple over the past nine games ... Bond averaged 5.4 minutes per game in the first five games of his career and has averaged 20.9 minutes per game over the last nine games ... His increased playing time has also seen a jump in his production as he is averaging 7.4 points and 5.3 rebounds over the past six games ... Since the DePaul game, Bond is shooting 65.9 percent (29-of-44) 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 eight different Mid-American Conference team statistical categories ... The Cardinals lead the league in scoring defense (61.3), three-point field goal defense (.278), field goal defense (.397), rebounding defense (33.1) and defensive rebounds (25.94) while placing second in scoring margin (+7.9), field goal percentage (.462) and assist/turnover ratio (1.07). Ball State has four players ranked in the top 30 in scoring in the MAC with junior forward Jarrod Jones leading the way ranking sixth in the league (16.0) ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife is 19th (11.5), junior guard Randy Davis is 28th (9.8) and freshman guard Jesse Berry is 30th (9.6).
Davis is second in the MAC in assists at 5.44 per game ... He is also seventh in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.81), ninth in steals (1.56) and third in free throw percentage (.843) ... Scaife is fourth in the MAC in free throw percentage at .839 ... Jones is second in the MAC in rebounding at 8.8 boards per game and sixth in field goal percentage at .532 ... Berry is 11th in three-point percentage at .368.
Home, Sweet Home . . .
The Cardinals have played 279 games 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 was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week (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
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.
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 87 assists this season and has only committed 48 turnovers ... His 87 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 (1.81)
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 returns home to Worthen Arena for three straight games next week ... The Cardinals step out of Mid-American Conference play Monday night as they host Ohio Valley Conference power Morehead State ... Ball State returns to MAC play Thursday when it hosts Kent State before welcoming in Ohio Saturday afternoon.
