Ball State University Athletics
Men's Hoops Travels To Bowling Green Wednesday
February 08, 2011 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State wraps up Mid-American Conference crossover play this week with a pair of road games against MAC East Division foes beginning with a meeting against Bowling Green Wednesday night at Anderson Arena ... The Cardinals currently sit alone in first place in the MAC West Division with a 6-3 record and a 14-8 overall ledger as they hold a half game lead over Western Michigan (5-3) ... Bowling Green enters Wednesday's game in a three-way tie for second place in the MAC East Division with a 6-3 record and an 11-12 overall mark ... The Falcons trail Kent State by a half game for the top spot in the MAC East Division and are tied with Buffalo and Miami for second place.
Wednesday's game will be broadcast on 104.1 WLBC FM with Morry Mannies and David Eha providing the call ... Video stream of the contest will be available on www.bgsufalcons.com for a fee as the Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN) is televising the game.
ESPNU BracketBusters . . .
Ball State will participate in the ninth annual ESPNU BracketBusters event February 19 as it travels to face 2010 NCAA Tournament participant Wofford in Spartansburg, S.C. ... Game is set for 7 p.m. at the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Series History vs. Bowling Green . . .
Wednesday's game marks the 74th meeting all-time between Ball State and Bowling Green ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by a 39-34 margin and have only won two out of the last eight meetings between the two teams ... Ball State is also just 10-25 all-time in Bowling Green, including four straight losses at Anderson Arena ... The Cardinals last won at Bowling Green February 28, 2004 with an 81-71 victory.
Last season, the Cardinals snapped a three-game losing streak to the Falcons with a hard fought 64-59 victory in Worthen Arena February 4, 2010 ... The Cardinals connected on 41.7 percent (20-of-48) from the field and 50 percent (6-of-12) from three-point land in the victory ... Four different Cardinals scored in double figures with guard Randy Davis leading the way with a game-high 18 points ... Davis hit 5-of-7 from the field, including three three-pointers, and hit 5-of-6 from the charity stripe ... Forward Jarrod Jones posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Jauwan Scaife added 10 points ... Bowling Green was held to just 35.4 percent (23-of-65) shooting from the field and just 19 percent (4-of-21) shooting from long range ... Scott Thomas led BGSU with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Joe Jakubowski added 13 points.
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters Wednesday's game with a 14-8 overall record and a 6-3 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak Saturday afternoon with a tough 72-71 victory over MAC East leader Buffalo ... Ball State is averaging 67.5 points per game this season and is limiting opponents to 62.6 points per game ... The Cardinals are shooting 45.2 percent (492-of-1089) from the field and 34.2 percent (96-of-281) from long range ... Opponents are held to just 41.5 percent (496-of-1196) shooting from the field and 31.3 percent (128-of-409) from three-point land.
Junior forward Jarrod Jones leads the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game and is shooting 51.2 percent (125-of-244) from the field ... Jones also leads the Cardinals on the glass at 8.2 caroms per contest ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife is second on the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game ... Scaife leads the team with 39 three-pointers and has connected on 40.2 (39-of-97) from long range.
Junior guard Randy Davis rounds out the Cardinals in double figures as he averages 10.2 points per game ... Davis leads the team with 122 assists and 36 steals while also shooting a team-high 86.7 percent (98-of-113) from the free throw line ... Freshman Jesse Berry chips in 8.8 points per game and classmate Chris Bond adds 6.9 points per game ... Senior forward Malik Perry is second on the team in rebounding at 5.6 boards per game.
Scouting Bowling Green . . .
Bowling Green enters Wednesday's game with an 11-12 overall record and a 6-3 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Falcons opened the season with a 1-8 record but has since posted a 10-4 mark ... BGSU had a three-game winning streak snapped Saturday with a 75-61 loss at home to Western Michigan ... The Falcons are averaging 63.5 points per game while allowing 65.6 points per game ... Bowling Green is shooting 42.5 percent (548-of-1288) from the field and 29.5 percent (104-of-352) from long range ... Opponents are shooting 43.6 percent (521-of-1195) from the field and 34.1 percent (158-of-464) from three-point land.
Scott Thomas leads the Falcons in scoring at 12.0 points per game and in rebounding at 6.8 boards per game ... Thomas is one of four Falcons with at least 40 assists as he has handed out 73 helpers this season ... A'uston Calhoun is second on the team in scoring at 11.3 points per game and second on the glass at 5.2 boards per game ... Jordan Crawford leads the tean with 87 assists and 45 steals.
Jones Climbs The Charts . . .
Junior forward Jarrod Jones became the 25th player in Ball State history to reach the 1,000-point scoring mark against Ohio ... Jones is currently 23rd all-time in scoring in BSU history with 1,037 as he passed Stan Davis (1,027) with his nine points at Miami.
Jones has also led the Cardinals in rebounding since he stepped on campus and leads the team once again this year averaging 8.2 rebounds per game ... Jones has grabbed 631 career rebounds which places him 10th all-time in the BSU history ... He just past Dan Palambizio (620) to move into the top 10 ... Ed Butler (1961-64) holds the Ball State career record with 1,231 rebounds.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State posted a 72-71 victory over Mid-American Conference East Division leader Buffalo Saturday afternoon at Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals connected on 53.5 percent (23-of-43) from the field and 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from three-point land ... Ball State also hit 81.8 percent (18-of-22) from the free throw line.
Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife posted his second straight 20-plus point performance as he scored a team-high 22 points ... Scaife tied his career-high with six three-pointers as he was 6-of-8 from long range and 7-of-12 from the field overall ... Over the past two games he has scored 44 points and has hit 11-of-17 (64.7%) from long range.
Freshman forward Chris Bond added 11 points in his third straight start while junior guard Randy Davis chipped in 10 points in the victory.
Bond, Chris Bond . . .
Freshman forward Chris Bond has seen his playing time almost quadruple over the past 15 games ... Bond averaged 5.4 minutes per game in the first five games of his career and has averaged 22.5 minutes per game over the last 15 games ... His increased playing time has also seen a jump in his production as he is averaging 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds over the past 15 games ... Since the DePaul game, Bond is shooting 64.3 percent (54-of-84) from the field ... He scored a career-high 14 points at Miami as he was 6-of-9 from the field while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.
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 128-of-165 (77.6%) in the final five minutes of games ... Conversely, opponents have hit just 84-of-121 (69.4%) ... Junior guard Randy Davis has been especially strong from the line in the closing minutes as he is shooting 88.4 percent (61-of-69) while Jauwan Scaife has hit 18-of-21 (85.7%).
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 (62.6) and three-point defense (.313) while placing second in field goal defense (.415) ... Ball State is currently 45th in the NCAA Division I in scoring defense, 105th in field goal percentage defense and 49th 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 fifth in the Mid-American Conference in free throw percentage connecting on 69.3 percent (406-of-586) ... The Cardinals have been to the line 586 times this season, the most in the MAC and 81 more than second place Ohio (505 in 23 games) ... Ball State goes to the free throw line 26.63 times per game this season, which also leads the MAC ... The Cardinals 26.6 free throw attempts per game rank 11th in all of the NCAA Division I this season.
In MAC play, the Cardinals have connected on 164-of-227 from the line (72.2%) ... The Cardinals' 164 made free throws rank first with Ohio second in the league with 153 free throws made.
Comparing W's vs. L's . . .
Ball State has won 14 games this season by an average of 15.1 points per game while its seven losses have been by an average of 12.7 points per game ... In the 14 wins, Ball State has four different players averaging double figures in Jarrod Jones (16.0), Jauwan Scaife (13.3), Randy Davis (11.1) and Jesse Berry (10.0) ... In its losses, BSU only has one player averaging double figures in Jones at 12.6 points per game ... Scaife is the next highest scorer at 9.6 points per game.
W's -- L's
Scoring Off. 73.3 -- 57.5
Scoring Def. 58.2 -- 70.4
Field Goal % .487 -- .392
Field Goal % Def. .383 -- .474
3-Pt Field Goal % .353 -- .320
3-Pt Field Goal % Def. .276 -- .367
Rebounding Off. 35.2 -- 30.9
Rebounding Def. 32.3 -- 33.4
Assists Per Game 14.9 -- 11.6
Turnover Margin +2.0 -- -0.9
Assist/Turnover Ratio 1.1 -- 0.9
Steals/Game 7.1 -- 4.5
Cardinals In MAC Stats . . .
Ball State are in the top three in eight different Mid-American Conference team statistical categories ... The Cardinals lead the league in scoring defense (62.6) and three-point field goal defense (.313) ... Ball State places second in field goal percentage (.452) and rebounding defense (32.7) ... The Cardinals also rank third in the MAC in scoring margin (+4.9), rebounding margin (+1.0), defensive rebounds (23.98) and assist/turnover ratio (1.02). 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 (14.8) ... Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife is 17th (12.0) and junior guard Randy Davis is 26th (10.2).
Davis leads the MAC in free throw percentage (.867) and is second in the MAC in assists at 5.55 per game ... He is also fourth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.94) and seventh in steals (1.64) ... Scaife is third in the MAC in free throw percentage at .838, ninth in three-point percentage at .402 and 14th in three-pointers made at 1.77 per game ... Jones is second in the MAC in rebounding at 8.1 boards per game and eighth in field goal percentage at .512.
Home, Sweet Home . . .
The Cardinals have played 283 games all-time at Worthen Arena since it opened January 15, 1992 (previously named University Arena) ... Ball State owns a 205-78 all-time record at Worthen Arena and has won 72.0 percent of its games at home ... The Cardinals have posted an 8-3 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 and Buffalo ... 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.
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 and Toledo... He is second in the Mid-American Conference behind Eastern Michigan's Brandon Bowdry (11) and is 29th in the NCAA Division I ... Jones has posted 17 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).
Lending A Helping Hand . . .
Junior guard Randy Davis has tallied 122 assists this season and has only committed 63 turnovers ... His 122 assists are second in the Mid-American Conference this season ... He currently ranks 28th in the NCAA in assists per game at 5.5 and his assist/turnover ratio is 114th in the country (1.94)
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.
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 wraps up Mid-American Conference crossover action Saturday afternoon as it travels to face the Akron Zips at 7:30 p.m.
