Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Taylor Monday In Exhibition
November 04, 2011 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals open the 2011-12 season Monday night as they host Taylor University in an exhibition game at Worthen Arena ... Admission is FREE for the 7 p.m. game ... Monday's game marks the first exhibition game for Ball State since the 2007-08 season, when they defeated Anderson 82-61 (11/4/07) ... The game will be broadcast on 104.1 WLBC FM with Morry Mannies and David Eha providing the call.
Series History . . .
Ball State and Taylor have met in the regular season three times with the Cardinals owning a 3-0 record against the Trojans ... The two teams last played in the regular season November 30, 1936 with the Cardinals posting a 42-18 victory.
Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Candidate . . .
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 Picked Second In MAC West Poll . . .
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.
Scouting Taylor . . .
Taylor plays in NAIA Division II where it posted a 15-15 record last season ... The Trojans are under the guidance of 33rd-year head coach Paul Patterson and are receiving votes in the preseason NAIA D-II poll.
Taylor has already opened its regular season with a 75-56 victory over Michigan-Dearborn last Wednesday ... The Trojans were led by guard Casey Coons who scored 25 points, including 22 in the second half, to lead them to victory ... Forward Nate Kasper added 14 points and eight rebounds while fellow front court mate Jake Burkholder chipped in 11 points and five rebounds.
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.
Regular Season Openers . . .
Ball State opens the 2011-12 regular season next Sunday, November 13 as it travels to No. 16 Arizona ... The 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 sea
son when they traveled to Wisconsin.
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.
