Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Travels To UT Martin Saturday
December 01, 2011 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State begins a two-game road swing through the Ohio Valley Conference this weekend as the Cardinals travel to Tennessee-Martin Saturday afternoon in a return game from the ESPNU BracketBusters event ... Game time is set for 3 p.m. (ET) at the Elam Center ... The game will be broadcast on 104.1 WLBC FM with Morry Mannies and Jeff Weller providing the call ... Additionally, the WLBC broadcast will be streamed online at www.ballstatesports.com.
Series History . . .
Saturday's game marks the third meeting all-time between Ball State and Tennessee-Martin ... The Cardinals own a 2-0 record all-time against the Skyhawks, including a 68-52 victory February 20, 2010 in the ESPNU BracketBusters game ... Ball State also posted an 88-41 victory over the Skyhawks in 1991.
Two years ago, the Cardinals out-scored UTM 42-30 in the second half and limited the Skyhawks to 35.4 percent (23-of-65) shooting from the field and 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from long range ... The Cardinals scored 36 points in the paint as former Cardinals Malik Perry and Terrence Watson each tallied 15 points while Jarrod Jones added 13 points and eight rebounds ... UT Martin was led by Marquis Weddle who scored 15 points off the bench.
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.
Tennessee-Martin is led by third-year head coach James Jones ... Jones was an assistant coach and the associate head coach for the Skyhawks for seven years prior to his promotion.
Last Time Out. . .
Ball State won its third straight game with a 64-53 victory over visiting Texas Southern Tuesday night ... The Cardinals held a 24-point second half lead before cruising to the victory ... Senior forward Jarrod Jones posted his second straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Cardinals out-rebounded the Tigers by a 40-28 margin.
Senior point guard Randy Davis fell just shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine assists, including a pair of three-pointers ... Sophomore Jesse Berry chipped in 14 points off the bench as he hit three three-pointers in the victory.
Defensive Prowess . . .
The Cardinals have been one of the top defensive teams in the Mid-American Conference and the country under fifth-year head coach Billy Taylor and this season is no different ... Ball State enters Sunday's game leading the MAC and ranking 26th in NCAA Division I in scoring defense holding opponents to a 56.8 point average ... Also, the Cardinals rank third in the MAC in field goal percentage defense at 37.1 percent.
Last season, Ball State led the MAC and was 64th in the nation in scoring defense at 64.0 points per game while placing third in the league in field goal percentage defense at 42.0 ... Two years ago, the Cardinals also led the MAC in scoring defense and were 43rd in the nation at 62.4 points per game.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Saturday's game with a 3-2 overall record and have won three straight games ... The Cardinals are averaging 64.0 points per game while holding opponents to a Mid-American Conference best 56.8 points per game ... Ball State is shooting 40 percent (110-of-275) from the field and 28.8 percent (32-of-111) from long range ... Opponents are being held to 37.1 percent shooting (92-of-248) from the field and 31.6 percent (30-of-95) from three-point land.
Senior forward Jarrod Jones leads the team in scoring at 19.0 points per game and on the glass at 9.0 rebounds per game ... Jones is connecting on 59 percent (36-of-61) from the field and 83.3 percent (20-of-24) from the free throw line ... Junior guard Jauwan Scaife is second on the team in scoring at 10.4 points per game and has hit a team-high 12 three-pointers.
Senior guard Randy Davis is third in scoring at 8.4 points per game and leads the team with 39 assists while only committing 10 turnovers ... Sophomore Jesse Berry chips in 8.2 points while sophomore Chris Bond adds 5.4 rebounds per game.
Scouting The Skyhawks . . .
Tennessee-Martin enters Saturday's game with a 2-6 overall record after suffering a 75-68 loss Wednesday to Central Arkansas ... The Skyhawks are averaging 60.0 points per game while allowing 70.5 points per game ... UTM is shooting 41.0 percent (175-of-427) from the field and 29.8 percent (31-of-104) from long range ... Opponents are hitting 47.4 percent (215-of-454) from the field and 30.2 percent (38-of-126) from three-point land.
Mike Liabo leads the Skyhawks in scoring at 14.5 points per game and has hit a team-high 16 three-pointers ... Corderio Maclin is second on the team with 8.9 points per game while Myles Taylor adds 8.8 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game.
Koch-ing It Up . . .
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Koch sat out last season after transferring from Wright State and spent the time rehabbing from an ankle injury and a hip injury ... Koch has hit the ground running playing in all five games and getting the start the past three games ... He is averaging 6.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game this season, including a career-high 14 points against Calumet College.
Jones Scoring Numbers . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals and is third in the Mid-American Conference in scoring at 19.0 points per game ... Jones ranks 51st in NCAA Division I in scoring this season.
Jones has scored at least 20 points in three of the five 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 7.8 assists per game ... Davis currently ranks fourth in NCAA Division I in assists per game ... Additionally, Davis leads the MAC in assist/turnover ratio at 3.90.
Double-Dipping . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones has posted back-to-back double-doubles to raise his career total to a Mid-American Conference best 22 double-doubles ... Jones has accomplished the feat this season against Calumet College and Texas Southern.
Climbing The Charts . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones currently ranks 16th in Ball State history with 1,277 career points and is sixth all-time with 765 rebounds ... Jones is just one point shy of 15th all-time in scoring behind Ed Butler (1961-64) ... Additionally, Jones is seventh all-time with 96 career starts ... Senior guard Randy Davis moved into the top 10 all-time in Ball State assists records as he is ninth with 341 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 1,277
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, 2008-11 765
Game Started
4. Randy Zachary, 1993-97 100
5. Malik Perry, 2007-11 99
6. Scott Nichols, 1986-90 98
7. Jarrod Jones, 2008-11 96
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 Davis, 2008-11 341
10. Randy Zachary, 1993-97 340
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).
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 continue their two-game road swing Tuesday night as they travel to SIU Edwardsville for a meeting with the Cougars.
