Ball State University Athletics
Men's Hoops Opens Season Sunday At #16 Arizona On TV
November 12, 2011 | Men's Basketball
TELEVISION - FS Arizona (Direct TV 686/Dish 415)
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State opens the 2011-12 regular season Sunday afternoon as it travels to Tucson, Ariz., to take on No. 16 Arizona in non-conference action ... Game time is set for 4 p.m. MST (6 p.m. ET) at the McKale Center ... Sunday's game will be broadcast by Fox Sports Arizona with Dave Sitton and Corey Williams providing the call ... FS Arizona can be access on Direct TV channel 686 and Dish Network channel 415 ... Additionally, the game will be broadcast on 104.1 WLBC FM with Morry Mannies and Jeff Weller providing the call.
Season Openers . . .
Sunday's game will be the 91st season-opener in program history with the Cardinals holding a 53-37 record all-time in openers ... Ball State will be opening the season away from home for the first time since the 2004-05 season when it played Kentucky in Cincinnati, Ohio ... The Cardinals last opened the year with a true road game in the 1999-2000 season when they traveled to Wisconsin ... The trip to Arizona will mark the Cardinals' farthest trip to open a season since opening the 2002-03 season at the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Series History . . .
Ball State and Arizona have never met prior to Sunday's game ... The Cardinals have played six games all-time against current members of the Pac-12 Conference ... Ball State owns a 2-4 record all-time against the Pac-12 with wins over UCLA and Oregon State ... The Cardinals posted a 91-73 victory over then No. 4 UCLA November 20, 2001 in the Maui Classic in the last meeting versus a Pac-12 member.
Ball State owns a 1-1 record all-time against UCLA and an 1-0 record against Oregon State ... The Cardinals are 0-1 all-time against Arizona State, Utah and Washington.
Coaching Comparison . . .
Ball State is led by fifth-year head coach Billy Taylor while Arizona is under the guidance of third-year head coach Sean Miller ... Taylor has led the Cardinals to 54 wins over the past four seasons, including a 19-win campaign last year which marked the 11th most wins in program history ... The Cardinals have finished either first or second in the Mid-American Conference West Division the past three years and have advanced to the MAC Tournament semifinals two out of the last three years.
Miller has posted a 46-23 record in two seasons in Tucson, including a 30-8 mark last year ... He has a 166-70 record in his career over seven seasons after working five years at Xavier in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Lowe's Senior CLASS Award . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones has been selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2011-12 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award given to basketball student-athletes who excel on and off the court ... Jones is the first Cardinal to be selected as a candidate since Peyton Stovall was a finalist for the 2007-08 award.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as a NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition ... The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot ... Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, Division I men's coaches and fans who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
Exhibition Recap . . .
Ball State played one exhibition game this season posting a 72-47 victory over visiting Taylor Monday evening ... The game marked the first exhibition contest for Ball State since the 2007-08 season.
The Cardinals jumped out to 16-0 run over the first 4:54 of the contest and never looked back ... Ball State connected on 49.2 percent (17-of-33) from the field and 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from three-point land ... The Cardinals limited Taylor to 35.0 percent (18-of-50) shooting from the field, including just six first half field goals.
Sophomore guard Jesse Berry led the Cardinals with 22 points off the bench ... Berry connected on 9-of-18 from the field, including three three-pointers, in 26 minutes of play ... Senior forward Jarrod Jones added 16 points and seven rebounds as he was 8-of-15 form the field ... Junior guard Jauwan Scaife chipped in 15 points, 13 of which came in the first half, as he was 5-of-9 shooting.
Scouting Arizona . . .
Arizona enters Sunday's game ranked 16th in the nation in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today's Coaches poll ... The Wildcats will be playing their third game of the season Sunday as they picked up wins over Valparaiso (73-64) and Duquesne (67-59) in the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer ... Arizona posted a 30-8 record last season as it advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.
Arizona is averaging 70.0 points per game while allowing 61.5 points per game this season ... The Wildcats are shooting 45.7 percent (42-of-92) from the field and 35.7 percent (10-of-28) from three-point land ... Arizona is out-rebounding opponents by a 38.5-32.0 margin.
Guard Jordin Mayes leads Arizona in scoring at 13.5 points per game as he has connected on 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from three-point land ... Forward Jesse Perry has posted two double-doubles this season averaging 12.5 points and a team-high 10.5 rebounds per game ... Guard Kyle Fogg is third on the team at 11.5 points per game while Nick Johnson chips in 11.0 points per game.
Cardinals Tabbed Second . . .
Ball State has been picked to finish second in the Mid-American Conference West Division preseason poll as selected by the MAC News Media Association ... The Cardinals were picked to finish second in the MAC West Division with 111 points, including nine first place votes, behind Western Michigan (128/14) ... The Cardinals finished last season with a 19-13 overall record and a 10-6 mark in MAC play, finishing second in the West Division ... The Cardinals returns nine letterwinners, including its top five scorers, from last season's team which posted the 11th most wins in program history.
|Rounding out the MAC West Division are Central Michigan (92/1), Toledo (76), Northern Illinois (59) and Eastern Michigan (38) ... Reigning MAC regular season champion Kent State was selected to win the East Division with 132 total points, including 16 first place votes ... Akron was tabbed second with 104 points and eight first place votes followed by Ohio (94), Miami (80), Buffalo (62) and Bowling Green (32).
Kent State was also selected to win the 2012 MAC Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio as it received 12 of the 24 votes ... Akron was second with six votes followed by the Cardinals (3), Western Michigan (2) and Central Michigan (1).
Captains Earn MAC Honors . . .
Ball State senior captains Jarrod Jones and Randy Davis were named to the preseason All-Mid-American Conference West Division teams last week ... The two Cardinals were joined by Western Michigan's Flenard Whitfield and Demetrius Ward along with Central Michigan's Trey Zeigler on the West Division squad.
Jones highlights the MAC West Division preseason team, earning preseason accolades for the third time in his career ... He earned First Team All-MAC and MAC All-Tournament honors last season as a junior when leading the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game and rebounding at 8.4 caroms per game ...He scored double figures in 27 of BSU's 32 games, including five games of 20-plus points last season while posting 11 double-doubles.
Davis earns preseason All-MAC honors for the first time in his career after starting all 32 games last season as the Cardinals' point guard ... He averaged 9.8 points per game while leading the team with 160 assists and 48 steals ... He led the MAC from the free throw line connecting on 87.3 percent (117-of-134) while placing second in assists per game (5.0).
Digital Guide Available Online . . .
The Ball State men's basketball digital guide is available online at www.ballstatesports.com by clicking the digital guide page.
Fresh Faces . . .
The Cardinals welcome in two freshmen to this year's team in guard Zeke Chapman and forward Aaron Adeoye ... Also, Ball State will have redshirt sophomore forward Tyler Koch available this season after sitting out last year due to NCAA transfer rules coming from Wright State.
Chapman comes to the Cardinals from Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Ariz. ... He earned All-State honors as a senior when he led the Firebirds to the Class 5A state championship game ... He averaged 17.6 points, 4.4 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game as a senior.
Adeoye (pronounces A-DAY-oo-ee) joins the Cardinals from Marion, Ill., where he was a three-year letterwinner at Marion High school ... He averaged 19.0 points and 13.0 rebounds per game as a senior while earning Honorable Mention All-State honors.
Summer Trip To Canada . . .
Ball State took a nine-day foreign trip to Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada this past August ... The Cardinals posted a 4-0 record on the trip as they picked up wins over Quest University, Trinity Western University, Victoria Select and Vancouver Island University.
The Cardinals averaged 101.8 points per game in the four-game trip as they won by an average margin of 31.5 points per game ... Ball State posted 22.5 assists per game while shooting 49.6 percent from the field as a team.
Nine different Cardinals averaged at least six points per game on the trip ... Junior guard Jauwan Scaife led the team in scoring at 19.5 points per game while hitting 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from long range ... Sophomore Chris Bond added 15.3 points, 7.3 rebounds. 4.0 assists and 3.25 steals per game ... Senior forward Jarrod Jones chipped in 15.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game while senior Randy Davis added 9.5 points and 7.0 assists per game.
Coaching Staff Changes . . .
Fifth-year head coach Billy Taylor promoted former Cardinal Mickey Hosier to director of basketball operations this summer ... Hosier spent last season as the Cardinals' video coordinator ... He was a four-year letterwinner for the Cardinals and helped Ball State to a 59-29 record as a starter in his career.
Taylor also added former Cardinal Michael Bennett to the staff as video coordinator to fill Hosier's spot ... Bennett played in 115 games during his BSU career, including 28 as a senior in 2004-05.
Looking Ahead . . .
The Cardinals will continue their two-game road swing to open the 2011-12 season as they travel to Indiana State Friday evening.
