Ball State University Athletics
Men's Hoops Travels To Wofford For BracketBusters
February 18, 2011 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State steps out of Mid-American Conference play Saturday evening as it takes part in the 2011 Sears BracketBusters event ... The Cardinals travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to face Wofford College from the Southern Conference ... This is the first ever meeting between Ball State and Wofford in program history ... The Cardinals have faced current members of the Southern Conference seven times in program history with BSU owning a 4-3 mark against SoCon teams ... Ball State is 1-0 against Appalachian State, Elon and Western Carolina ... The Cardinals are 1-2 against Georgia Southern and 0-1 against Chattanooga which is the last SoCon team BSU has faced (11/21/06).
Saturday's game will be broadcast on 104.1 WLBC FM with Jeff Weller providing the call ... Live video and stats are available at www.woffordterriers.com.
BracketBusters History . . .
Ball State will be making its 10th straight appearance in the Sears BracketBusters event as the Cardinals and the Mid-American Conference were a charter member of the event ... Ball State owns a 2-7 record all-time in the event but have won the past two seasons of BracketBusters play ... The Cardinals are 0-3 all-time in the event on the road ... Ball State has played teams from the Ohio Valley Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Colonial Athletic Conference, Horizon League and the Sun Belt Conference.
2009-10 -- Ball State 68 (H), Tennessee-Martin 52
2008-09 -- Ball State 59 (H), Tennessee Tech 55
2007-09 -- Eastern Kentucky 51 (H), Ball State 48
2006-07 -- Illinois State 70 (H), Ball State 57
2005-06 -- Tennessee State 70, Ball State 69 (H)
2004-05 -- Drexel 74, Ball State 70 (H)
2003-04 -- Detroit 70, Ball State 49 (H)
2002-03 -- Western Kentucky 86 (H), Ball State 74
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters Saturday's game with a 15-10 overall record and a 7-5 mark in Mid-American Conference play as it sits a half game out of first place in the MAC West Division ... The Cardinals have posted a 5-6 record on the road this season which is the program's most road wins in a season since the 2001-02 campaign (eight road wins) ... The Cardinals are coming off an 83-62 victory over Toledo Tuesday night.
Ball State is averaging 67.7 points per game this season while holding opponents to a MAC-low 63.2 points per game ... The Cardinals are shooting 45.1 percent (563-of-1249) from the field and 33.4 percent (111-of-332) from three-point land ... Opponents are shooting 41.9 percent (568-of-1357) from the field and 31.4 percent (146-of-465) from long range.
Junior forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals in scoring at 14.9 points per game and on the glass at 8.4 rebounds per game ... Jones is shooting 52.2 percent (143-of-274) from the field this season ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife is second on the team in scoring at 11.7 points per game ... Scaife leads the team with 46 three-pointers as he has connected on 39.7 percent from long range.
Junior guard Randy Davis is third on the team in scoring at 10.0 points per game ... Davis leads the team with 139 assists and 37 steals while owning the top mark in the MAC from the charity stripe at 86.9 percent (106-of-122) ... Freshman guard Jesse Berry chips in 8.3 points while classmate Chris Bond adds 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds.
Scouting Wofford . . .
Wofford enters Saturday's game with a 15-12 overall record and a 12-4 mark in Southern Conference play ... The Terriers can finish in first, second or third place in the SoCon South Division this season and will be playing their final home game of the year Saturday ... Wofford won the 2010 Southern Conference Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season ... The Terriers have won two straight with wins over Georgia Southern and Samford.
Wofford owns a 7-4 record this season at home ... The Terriers are averaging 72.7 points per game and holding opponents to 68.9 points per game ... Wofford is shooting 47.6 percent (692-of-1455) from the field and 38.8 percent (152-of-392) from three-point land ... Opponents are shooting 45.8 percent (638-of-1393) from the field and 36.1 percent (153-of-424) from long range.
Forward Noah Dahlman leads Wofford in scoring at 20.3 points per game and is second on the team with 5.4 rebounds per game ... Dahlman has connected on 62.8 percent (208-of-331) from the field this season ... Cameron Rundles is second on the team in scoring at 13.4 points per game and leads the team with 56 three-pointers.
Jamar Diggs rounds out the Cardinals' double figure scorers at 12.5 points per game ... Kevin Giltner is second on the team with 44 three-pointers while Tim Johnson leads the team on the glass at 8.6 rebounds per game.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State is coming off an 83-62 victory Tuesday night over Mid-American Conference foe Toledo to sweep the season series against the Rockets ... The Cardinals dominated play on the glass as they out-rebounded Toledo by a 38-24 margin, including a season-high 23 offensive rebounds ... Ball State also forced the Rockets into 24 turnovers as it posted a season-high 15 steals.
Freshman forward Chris Bond posted his first career double-double in the victory with a career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds ... Bond connected on 8-of-12 from the field while also posting a career-high five steals ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife chipped in 17 points and four steals as he hit three three-pointers.
Junior forward Jarrod Jones added 14 points and six rebounds in just 26 minutes of action ... Classmate Randy Davis fell just shy of his second double-double with 10 points and a game-high nine assists in just 26 minutes of play.
15 Wins & Counting . . .
Ball State enters Saturday's game with a 15-10 overall record marking the third straight season of at least 14 wins and the second straight year reaching 15 wins (15-15 in 2009-10) ... The 15 wins are the most for the Cardinals since winning 15 in 2004-05 ... Ball State has not won over 15 games in a season since posting a 23-12 record in 2001-02.
Jones Climbs The Charts . . .
Junior forward Jarrod Jones became the 25th player in Ball State history to reach the 1,000-point scoring mark earlier this season ... Jones is currently 23rd all-time in scoring in BSU history with 1,085 points ... He is 17 points out of 22nd place in program history trailing Jack Cross (1,102)
Jones has also led the Cardinals in rebounding since he stepped on campus and leads the team once again this year averaging 8.4 rebounds per game ... Jones has grabbed 659 career rebounds which places him ninth all-time in the BSU history ... He just past Wilbur Davis (654) for ninth place all-time and trails Lonnie Jones (678) for eighth place ... Ed Butler (1961-64) holds the Ball State career record with 1,231 rebounds.
Bond, Chris Bond . . .
Freshman forward Chris Bond has been steadily on the rise for the Cardinals as the season progresses ... Bond has moved into the starting lineup the past six games and his play has jumped once again ... He is averaging 11.5 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game in his six starts ... During that stretch he is shooting 67.4 (29-of-43) percent from the field ... On the season, he is averaging 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game ... He is shooting 61.9 percent (73-of-118) from the field on the year which ranks second in the Mid-American Conference.
Five-Finger Discount . . .
Tuesday night the Cardinals forced Mid-American Conference foe Toledo into 24 turnovers as they notched a season-high 15 steals ... Ball State turned the Rockets' miscues into 26 points off turnovers ... The Cardinals' 15 steals are the most since March 4, 2006 against Eastern Michigan ... The 15 steals are the most for a MAC team this season in conference play.
Freshman forward Chris Bond posted a career-high five steals while sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife added a career-high four steals.
Home, Sweet Home . . .
The Cardinals have played 284 games all-time at Worthen Arena since it opened January 15, 1992 (previously named University Arena) ... Ball State owns a 206-78 all-time record at Worthen Arena and has won 72.5 percent of its games at home ... The Cardinals have posted an 9-3 record this season at Worthen with wins over Eastern Illinois, Indiana State, Mount St. Joseph, North Carolina A&T, SIU Edwardsville, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Buffalo and Toledo ... The Cardinals' 7-0 start to the home season 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.
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 140-of-180 (77.8%) in the final five minutes of games ... Conversely, opponents have hit just 94-of-137 (68.6%) ... Junior guard Randy Davis has been especially strong from the line in the closing minutes as he is shooting 88.9 percent (64-of-72) while Jauwan Scaife has hit 23-of-27 (85.2%) and junior Jarrod Jones has connected on 22-of-33 (66.7%).
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 (63.2) and three-point defense (.314) while placing fourth in field goal defense (.419) ... Ball State is currently 55th in the NCAA Division I in scoring defense, 114th in field goal percentage defense and 45th 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 sixth in the Mid-American Conference in free throw percentage connecting on 69.7 percent (456-of-654) ... The Cardinals have been to the line 654 times this season, the most in the MAC and 95 more than second place Ohio (559 in 26 games) ... Ball State goes to the free throw line 26.2 times per game this season, which also leads the MAC ... The Cardinals 26.2 free throw attempts per game ranks 15th in all of the NCAA Division I this season.
In MAC play, the Cardinals have connected on 214-of-295 from the line (72.5%) ... The Cardinals' 295 free throws rank first with Northern Illinois second in the league with 265 free throws attempted.
Comparing W's vs. L's . . .
Ball State has won 15 games this season by an average of 15.9 points per game while its 10 losses have been by an average of 11.9 points per game ... In the 15 wins, Ball State has four different players averaging double figures in Jarrod Jones (15.9), Jauwan Scaife (13.5), Randy Davis (11.1) and Jesse Berry (10.0) ... In its losses, BSU only has one player averaging double figures in Jones at 13.5 points per game ... Scaife is the next highest scorer at 8.9 points per game.
W's -- L's
Scoring Off. 73.9 -- 58.4
Scoring Def. 58.5 -- 70.3
Field Goal % .485 -- .401
Field Goal % Def. .390 -- .462
3-Pt Field Goal % .350 -- .310
3-Pt Field Goal % Def. .280 -- .356
Rebounding Off. 35.4 -- 31.7
Rebounding Def. 31.7 -- 33.4
Assists Per Game 15.2 -- 11.9
Turnover Margin +2.4 -- -1.9
Assist/Turnover Ratio 1.1 -- 0.9
Steals/Game 7.6 -- 4.2
Cardinals In MAC Stats . . .
Ball State are in the top three in five different Mid-American Conference team statistical categories ... The Cardinals lead the league in scoring defense (63.2) and three-point field goal defense (.314) ... Ball State places second in field goal percentage (.451) and rebounding defense (32.4) ... The Cardinals also rank third in the MAC rebounding margin (+1.5). Ball State has three players ranked in the top 30 in scoring in the MAC with junior forward Jarrod Jones leading the way ranking eighth in the league (15.9) ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife is 19th (11.7) and junior guard Randy Davis is 27th (10.0).
Davis leads the MAC in free throw percentage (.869) and is second in the MAC in assists at 5.56 per game ... He is also fourth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.90) and seventh in steals (1.48) ... Freshman Chris Bond is second in the MAC in field goal percentage at 61.9 percent.
Scaife is third in the MAC in free throw percentage at .829, ninth in three-point percentage at .397 and 11th in three-pointers made at 1.84 per game ... Jones is second in the MAC in rebounding at 8.4 boards per game and sixth in field goal percentage at .522.
MAC Weekly Honors . . .
Ball State has earned three Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week honors this season ... Junior forward Jarrod Jones was named Jan.10 and Dec. 13 while classmate Randy Davis picked up the accolades Jan. 24
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
Double Trouble . . .
Junior forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals with eight double-doubles on the season ... Jones has tallied double dips against Eastern Illinois (twice), Indiana State, Alaska-Anchorage, DePaul, SIU Edwardsville, Northern Illinois, Toledo and Bowling Green ... He is second in the Mid-American Conference behind Eastern Michigan's Brandon Bowdry (12) and is 29th in the NCAA Division I ... Jones has posted 19 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).
Senior Malik Perry posted his first career double-double against Bowling Green with 10 points and 11 rebounds ... Perry combined with Jones for the Cardinals' first multiple double-double game since November 18, 2008 ... That day, Jones and Anthony Newell each recorded double-doubles against Butler.
Freshman forward Chris Bond became the fourth different Cardinal this season to post a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Toledo ... The Cardinals are one of just two teams in the MAC that has had four players double dip this season (Central Michigan).
Lending A Helping Hand . . .
Junior guard Randy Davis has tallied 139 assists this season and has only committed 73 turnovers ... His 139 assists are second in the Mid-American Conference this season ... He currently ranks 27th in the NCAA in assists per game at 5.6 and his assist/turnover ratio is 115th in the country (1.90)
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 ... He posted his fourth nine-assist game of the year against Toledo.
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.
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 to Mid-American Conference play for its final four-game stretch against the MAC West Division ... The Cardinals begin the stretch run Wednesday evening as it hosts Eastern Michigan.
