Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Texas Southern Tuesday Night
November 28, 2011 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals conclude their three-game home stand Tuesday night as they host Texas Southern at 7 p.m. at Worthen Arena ... Ball State enters the game with a 2-2 overall record while the Tigers enter the game with a 1-4 mark on the year ... Texas Southern is coming off of a 19-13 record last year including a Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season title and an appearance in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
Tuesday's game will be televised by BSU Sports Link online for free at www.ballstatesports.com and can be seen on campus on Cardinal Vision channel 57 ... The game will also be broadcast on 104.1 WLBC FM with Morry Mannies and David Eha providing the call.
Coats For Cardinals . . .
Ball State will conduct its first-ever Coats For Cardinals campaign by collecting coats at the gates prior to Tuesday's contest against Texas Southern ... Fans who donate a coat at the door will receive a free general admission ticket to that night's game ... All coats will be donated to organizations in the Muncie community.
Series History . . .
Tuesday's game marks the second meeting all-time between the Cardinals and the Tigers ... The two teams met March 13, 1957 in the NAIA Championships in Kansas City, Mo. ... The Cardinals suffered a 97-72 loss in the second round of the tournament to end their season.
Coaching Comparison . . .
Ball State is led by fifth-year head coach Billy Taylor ... 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.
Texas Southern is led by fourth-year head coach Tony B. Harvey ... Harvey owns a 43-54 record in his first three seasons, including a 19-13 mark last season as he guided the Tigers to a SWAC championship and an appearance in the NIT.
Last Time Out. . .
Ball State picked up its second win in a row Sunday afternoon with a 74-39 victory over Calumet College ... The 35-point victory is the Cardinals' largest of the season and their largest margin of victory since a 52-point win against Mount St. Joseph (12/21/10).
Ball State used a 30-2 run at the end of the first half and to open the second half to secure the victory ... The Cardinals connected on 42.2 percent (27-of-64) from the field and 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the free throw line ... Ball State dominated play in the paint as it out-scored the Crimson Wave 36-18 in the paint and out-rebounded it 49-35 ... Senior forward Jarrod Jones posted his first double-double of the season with 23 points and 11 rebounds as he was 8-of-15 from the field and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Koch scored a career-high 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds while also posting three blocked shots ... Sophomore Jesse Berry came off the bench to score 12 points, eight of which came in the second half.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Tuesday's game with a 2-2 overall record after picking up back-to-back wins over IUPUI and Calumet College ... The Cardinals are averaging 64.0 points per game while allowing a Mid-American Conference best 57.8 points per game against ... Ball State is shooting 40 percent (90-of-225) from the field and 28.4 percent (25-of-88) from three-point land.
Senior forward Jarrod Jones leads the team in scoring at 20.3 points per game as he is shooting 58.5 percent (31-of-53) from the field and 80 percent (16-of-20) from the charity stripe ... Jones also leads the team on the glass at 8.5 rebounds per game ... Junior guard Jauwan Scaife is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game and leads the team with 11 three-pointers.
Senior guard Randy Davis leads the team with 30 assists in four games (7.5 a/gm) and is third on the team in scoring at 7.3 points per game ... Redshirt sophomore Tyler Koch chips in 6.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while sophomore Matt Kamieniecki is second on the team in rebounding at 5.7 boards per game.
Scouting The Tigers . . .
Texas Southern enters Tuesday's game with a 1-4 record on the year with all four of their losses coming on the road ... The Tigers have dropped games at Baylor, Michigan State, Milwaukee and IUPUI while picking up a 17-point victory over Eastern Michigan ... Texas Southern is averaging 51.4 points per game while allowing 69.8 points per game ... The Tigers are shooting 38.4 percent (96-of-250) from the field and 33.7 percent (32-of-95) from long range.
Guard Lawrence Johnson-Danner leads the team in scoring averaging 12.8 points per game and is second on the team with nine three-pointers ... Johnson-Danner leads the team with 12 assists ... Omar Strong is second on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game and has hit a team-high 15 three-pointers.
Fred Sturdivant leads the team on the glass at 4.8 rebounds per game and is third on the team in scoring at 8.6 points per game off the bench.
Jones' Scoring Numbers . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals and leads the Mid-American Conference in scoring at 20.3 points per game ... Jones ranks 28th in NCAA Division I in scoring this season.
Jones has scored at least 20 points in three of the four games this season, including back-to-back efforts for the first time in his career ... He scored 25 points against No. 16 Arizona in the season opener, scored a career-high 26 points against IUPUI and added 23 points against Calumet College ... He has posted 13 games of 20-plus points in his career.
Running The Point . . .
Senior guard Randy Davis leads the Cardinals and the Mid-American Conference at 7.5 assists per game ... Davis currently ranks fourth in NCAA Division I in assists per game ... Additionally, Davis is one five players who qualify (2.5 free throw attempts per game) in the country that has hit all of their free throws as he is 10-of-10 this year.
Davis led the MAC last season from the free throw line as he connected on 87.3 (117-of-134) ...
Climbing The Charts . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones currently ranks 16th in Ball State history with 1,263 career points and is sixth all-time with 754 rebounds ... Jones moved up two spots in all-time scoring with his 26-point effort against IUPUI ... Senior guard Randy Davis is 10th all-time in Ball State records with 332 assists.
Scoring
13. Chris Williams, 2001-03 1,291 14. Randy Boarden, 1975-79 1,290
15. Ed Butler, 1961-64 1,278
16. Jarrod Jones, 2008-11 1,263
17. J. Sylvester, 1990-94 1,238
18. C. Thompson, 1989-92 1,219
Rebounding
3. Steve Payne, 1992-95 885
4. Theron Smith, 1999-2002 882
5. Bonzi Wells, 1994-98 843
6. Jarrod Jones, 2008-11 754
Assists
5. Bonzi Wells, 1994-98 386
6. Patrick Jackson, 1998-02 349
Peyton Stovall, 2003-08 349
8. John Williams, 1979-82 344
9. Randy Zachary, 1993-97 340
10. Randy Davis, 2008-11 332
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.
Cardinals Sign Four . . .
Ball State head coach Billy Taylor announced the signings of Michael Ramey (Indianapolis, Ind./Southport), Bo Calhoun (South Bend, Ind./Washington), Marcus Posley (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Auburn) and Mading Thok (Boyden, Iowa/Western Christian) to national letters of intent Friday morning during the early signing period.
Ramey, a 6-5 shooting guard, was recently ranked as a Top 25 Shooter in the country for the class of 2012 by ESPN.com after leading the state in three-point shooting as a junior, connecting on 52.4 percent (66-of-126) ... He averaged 19.5 points per game as a junior to earn First Team All-Conference honors.
Calhoun, a 6-6 forward, earned First Team All-Northern Indiana Conference honors last season after averaging 18.0 points and 9.1 rebounds per game ... He has led the Panthers to a 46-22 record during his first three seasons, including a 12-7 mark last season.
Posley, a 6-1 guard Illinois High School Association All-State honors as a junior as he averaged 19.4 points per game and 4.5 assists per contest ... He also picked up All-Northern Illinois Conference and All-Area accolades last season.
Thok, a 7-0 center, is a native of Bor, Sudan ... He averaged 8.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as a junior while shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 67.6 percent from the free throw line.
Jones Collects MAC Honor . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week Monday ... Jones tied his career-high with 25 points against No. 16 Arizona Sunday night while also grabbing nine rebounds ... He connected on 11-of-15 (73.3%) against the nationally ranked Wildcats, including hitting 3-of-3 from three-point land ... He played a team-high 37 minutes as the Cardinals led by 11 points in the second half before their upset bid fell short ... His 25 points ties his career-high which he has posted two other times in his career.
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.
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.
Looking Ahead . . .
The Cardinals begin a two-game road trip this weekend as they travel to Tennessee-Martin to take on the Skyhawks in a return game from the ESPNU BracketBusters event.
