Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Akron Tuesday In MAC Battle
January 23, 2012 | Men's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State begins Mid-American Conference crossover play Tuesday night as the Cardinals host MAC East Division leader and defending MAC Tournament champion Akron at 7 p.m. at Worthen Arena in a battle of divisional leaders ... The Cardinals are tied for the top spot in the MAC with a 4-1 record through the first five games, sharing the mark with Akron and Eastern Michigan.
Tuesday's game will also be televised by SportsTime Ohio and will also be carried on Comcast Indiana, ESPN3.com and ESPN Full Court ... Michael Reghi and Steve Mix will provide the call for the league's game of the night ... Tuesday's game will also be broadcast on 104.1 WLBC FM and online at www.ballstatesports.com ... Morry Mannies and David Eha will provide the call.
Cardinals Vs. The MAC East . . .
The 2011-12 season marks the 15th season the Mid-American Conference has been in two divisions (West & East) ... Ball State, which has always been a member of the West Division, owns a 42-51 record against the East Division since the two-division format was implemented in the 1997-98 season.
The Cardinals have a 1-5 record against the East Division so far this season with their lone win coming against Buffalo ... Ball State has only posted a winning record against the MAC East Division three times in 14 years .. The Cardinals posted a 4-2 record last season, a 4-2 record in 2002-03 and a 5-1 mark during the 1997-98 campaign ... Ball State has recorded four .500 records against the East Division but have seven seasons below .500 against the East Division. Ball State is 12-3 during the regular season against Buffalo, 7-4 against Bowling Green, 5-9 against Akron, 6-6 against Ohio, 4-8 against Kent State, 2-6 against Marshall and 6-15 against Miami since divisional play began.
Leading The Nation . . .
Senior guard Randy Davis leads all of NCAA Division I this season in assist/turnover ratio entering Tuesday game at 3.79 ... Davis has handed out 106 assists this season while only committing 28 turnovers ... He has a 3.71 assist/turnover ratio in Mid-American Conference play with 26 assists and seven miscues ... His 3.7 ratio also leads the MAC in league games.
Davis the Cardinals and is second the Mid-American Conference at 6.2 assists per game ... Davis currently ranks 15th in NCAA Division I in assists per game ... Ball State as a team is second in the MAC with 14.6 assists per game ... The Cardinals are second in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.10, which 61st in the country.
Cardinals On ESPNU -- Twice . . .
The Mid-American Conference announced that the Ball State at Ohio game Saturday, January 28 has been chosen for an ESPNU national telecast ... Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.
The Cardinals have also been chosen for an ESPNU national telecast for their game February 11 at Kent State ... Tip-off for that game is set for 11 a.m. at the M.A.C.C. in Kent, Ohio ... Both games are part of the MAC television package and were 21-day wildcard selections.
Additionally, the February 22 game at Western Michigan is also a STO broadcast ... The Cardinals also have one additional Ball State Sports Network broadcast after Saturday's game with their February 25 game at Eastern Michigan ... Ball State also has its February 8 game against Bowling Green being broadcast by BSU Sports Link.
Road Tripping With The BSU . . .
Tuesday's game marks the third game in a stretch for the Cardinals in which they play four of their next five games on the road in Mid-American Conference play ... This is the first time since the 2006-07 season in which the Cardinals have faced a road stretch like this in MAC play.
Ball State is one of three league teams this season that will play four road games in a five-game stretch ... Central Michigan is currently in a such stretch as it played at Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois prior to Wednesday's home game ... The Chippewas hit the road for two straight travelling to Western Michigan and Bowling Green ... Kent State also has a similar stretch as it plays at Ohio, Akron Toledo and Central Michigan while only hosting Northern Illinois in a five-game stretch.
Series History . . .
Tuesday's game marks the 31st meeting all-time against Akron, dating back to the first ever meeting December 27, 1937 ... While the series is knotted at 15-15, Akron has won seven straight games ... The Cardinals last picked up a win against Akron March 8, 2004 with a 76-72 victory in Muncie ... Ball State is 10-5 all-time against the Zips in Muncie.
Last season, Akron posted a 75-60 home court victory over the Cardinals ... Forward Jarrod Jones was the only Cardinal in double figures in scoring as he tallied 19 points and posted eight rebounds in the loss ... Akron had five different players in double figures in the victory with Steve McNees leading the way with 16 points.
Home, Sweet Home . . .
Tuesday's game marks the 292nd game all-time for the Cardinals at Worthen Arena since it opened January 15, 1992 (previously named University Arena) ... Ball State owns a 214-77 record all-time at Worthen Arena as it has won 73.5 percent of its games at home ... The Cardinals are 7-1 so far this season at home with wins over IUPUI, Calumet College, Texas Southern, Butler, Chicago State, Florida A&M and Western Michigan.
Last season, the Cardinals posted an 11-3 record at home, including a 5-1 mark during non-conference play ... During its career, the Cardinals have averaged over 10.35 wins a season at home at Worthen Arena.
Coaching Comparison . . .
Ball State is led by fifth-year head coach Billy Taylor ... Taylor has led the Cardinals to 60 wins over the past four-plus 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.
Akron Keith Dambrot is in his eighth season at the helm of the Zips ... Dambrot owns an impressive 174-82 record at Akron and has 282 career wins on his ledger.
Sears BracketBusters . . .
The 10th annual Sears BracketBusters, a three-day men's college basketball event pitting potential NCAA Championship hopefuls against each other Feb. 17-19, will feature 13 nationally televised games - on either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN3 ... The NCAA hopefuls will be selected from a pool of 142 teams from 16 conferences.
Ball State is participating for the 10th season in the BracketBusters event and will be a home team February 18 ... The 2012 matchups will be announced January 30.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State improved to 4-1 in Mid-American Conference play with their third league road win of the year as the Cardinals downed Northern Illinois 75-65 Saturday evening ... Ball State connected on 54.0 percent (27-of-50) from the field and 40.0 percent (8-fo-20) from three-point land in the victory.
Four Cardinals scored in double figures and six different players tallied at least eight points in the win ... Senior forward Jarrod Jones paced the attack with 17 points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists ... Sophomore forward Chris Bond added 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
Senior guard Randy Davis added 11 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals all while only committing one turnover ... Sophomore Jesse Berry rounded out the double figure scorers with 12 points in 26 minutes off the bench.
Behind The Numbers . . .
Ball State is 9-0 this season when it scores at least 70 points and was 14-4 last season when reaching the 70-point barrier ... The Cardinals are 12-2 this season when leading at the half with their only losses coming at No. 16 Arizona and against Eastern Michigan ... Last season, the Cardinals were 12-2 when leading at the half ... Ball State is a perfect 9-0 this season when it hands out 15 or more assists ... Last year, the Cardinals were 10-2 when reaching at least 15 assists.
Ball State is 12-2 this season when it hits more free throws in a game than its opponent ... The two exceptions are at IUPUI (17-16) and against EMU (17-8) ... The Cardinals are also 10-3 this season when senior forward Jarrod Jones leads the team in scoring.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Tuesday's game with a 12-5 overall record and a 4-1 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals have won six out of their last seven games heading into the showdown with Akron ... Ball State is averaging 66.8 points per game while leading the MAC on the defensive end limiting opponents to 58.1 points per game ... The Cardinals are shooting 44.5 percent (380-of-853) from the field and 33.4 percent (111-of-332) from three-point land ... Opponents are shooting 37.7 percent (345-of-915) from the field and 29.2 percent (97-of-332) from long range.
Senior forward Jarrod Jones leads the team in scoring at 16.9 points per game and on the glass at 8.4 rebounds per game ... Sophomore guard Jesse Berry is making a case for the league's Sixth Man Of the Year award as he averages 10.2 points per game, all of the bench ... Sophomore Tyrae Robinson is third on the team in scoring at 9.8 points per game.
Senior guard Randy Davis leads the team with 106 assists while also adding 8.5 points per game ... Davis leads the MAC in free throw percentage at 88.3 (53-of-60) ... Sophomore Chris Bond is second on the team with 4.5 rebounds per game.
The Cardinals have three players with at least 22 three-pointers made this season ... Berry leads the way with 27 long range shots while sophomore Tyler Koch is second with 24.
Scouting The Zips . . .
Akron enters Tuesday's game with a 12-7 overall record and a 4-1 mark in Mid-American Conference play to hold sole possession of the top spot in the MAC East Division ... The Zips have won nine of out their last 11 games ... Akron is averaging 72.8 points per game while allowing 66.4 points per game ... The Zips are shooting 46.3 percent (504-of-1088) from the field and a MAC-best 39.3 percent (116-of-295) from three-point land ... Opponents are shooting 41.7 percent (452-of-1083) from the field and 30.0 percent (93-of-310) from long range.
Center Zeke Marshall leads three Zips in double figures with 10.7 points per game ... Marshall is third on the team on the glass at 5.2 rebounds per game and leads the league with 54 blocked shots ... Nick Harney is second on the team in scoring at 10.4 points per game with all of his points coming off the bench.
Nikola Cvetinovic rounds out the double figure scores with 10.4 points per game while grabbing a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game ... Brian Walsh leads the team with 29 three-pointers while Alex Abreu leads the team with 70 assists.
Cashing In The Freebies . . .
Ball State seniors Randy Davis and Jarrod Jones rank in the top four in the Mid-American Conference this season in free throw percentage, the only team with two players in the top five ... Davis leads the MAC from the line, hitting 88.3 percent (53-of-60), while Jones is fourth in the conference at 82.4 percent (75-of-91) ... Davis ranks 14th in the nation from the charity stripe.
Davis had a stretch of 26 straight free throws made snapped last game against Toledo ... He posted 22 straight on two different occasions last year ... The Ball State record for consecutive free throws made is 41 set by Larry Bullington in 1971-72.
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 the game leading the MAC and ranking 16th in NCAA Division I in scoring defense holding opponents to a 58.1 point per game average ... Also, the Cardinals lead the MAC in field goal percentage defense at 37.7 percent, which places them 10th in the nation ... Ball State is 17th in the country and second in the MAC in three-point field goal defense, holding opponents to 29.2 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.
Jones' Scoring Numbers . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals and is second in the Mid-American Conference in scoring at 16.9 points per game ... Jones ranks 83rd in NCAA Division I in scoring this season ... He ranks 36th in the country in field goal percentage at 55.7 percent (103-of-185), which is third best in the MAC.
Jones has scored at least 20 points in eight of the 17 games this season, including three straight games 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 notched three-straight games of 20-plus points with 22 points against UT Martin , 22 at SIU Edwardsville and 21 against Butler ... He has notched 18 games of 20-plus points in his career.
Climbing The Charts . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones moved into eighth place in Ball State history with 1,470 career points and is fifth all-time with 863 rebounds ... Jones recently surpassed Steve Payne on the all-time scoring list and Bonzi Wells on the all-time rebounding list ... Additionally, Jones fourth all-time with 108 career starts ... Senior guard Randy Davis moved up to fourth all-time in assists with 408, surpassing Scott Nichols.
Scoring
6. Theron Smith, 1999-02 1,599
7. Duane Clemens, 1996-00 1,585
8. Jarrod Jones, 2008-11 1,470
9. Steve Payne, 1992-95 1,440
10. Peyton Stovall, 2003-08 1,383
11. Dan Palombizio, 1984-86 1,369
Rebounding
3. Steve Payne, 1992-95 885
4. Theron Smith, 1999-2002 882
5. Jarrod Jones, 2008-11 863
6. Bonzi Wells, 1994-98 843
Game Started
3. Duane Clemens, 1996-2000 109
4. Jarrod Jones, 2008-11 108
5. Randy Zachary, 1993-97 100
6. Malik Perry, 2007-11 99
7. Scott Nichols, 1986-90 98
Assists
2. Chris Shelton (1982-86) 481
3. Mike Spicer (1988-92) 430
4. Randy Davis, 2008-11 408
5. Scott Nichols (1986-90) 406
6. Bonzi Wells, 1994-98 386
Leading The MAC . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones is the Mid-American Conference career active leading scorer with 1,480 points and is the career active rebound leader at 863 boards ... Jones leads the active scoring leaders by 138 points as Kent State's Justin Greene is second at 1,332 points and Ohio's D.J. Cooper is third on the list at 1,320 points ... He also owns a 151-rebound lead as Greene is second on the active list at 712 rebounds ... Miami's Julian Mavunga is third on the list at 692 caroms.
Jones' Weekly Honors . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week four times this season ... Jones is the only play in the MAC this season to earn multiple honors and has now garnered weekly accolades 10 times in his career.
Jones picked up his most recent honor last week after leading the Cardinals to two victories, including a 78-69 win over preseason MAC West Division favorite Western Michigan ... He averaged 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the two victories.
Jones has picked up MAC West Player of the Week honors this season Nov. 14, Dec. 12 and Jan. 2.
Double-Dipping . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones has posted five double-doubles to raise his career total to 26 double-doubles ... Jones has accomplished the feat this season against Calumet College, Texas Southern, SIU Edwardsville, Florida A&M and Eastern Michigan.
Jones Earns Pre-MAC Honor . . .
Senior forward Jarrod Jones was named one of five All-Mid-American Conference selections by CollegeHoops.net for his play in the pre-conference schedule ... Jones ranks second in the MAC in scoring at 18.1 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game ... He has earned MAC West Player of the Week honors three times this season, the only player in the league to win multiple honors.
Joining Jones on the pre-conference team is Miami's Julian Mavunga, Ohio's D. J. Cooper, Buffalo's Javon McCrea and Toledo's Rian Pearson.
Davis - Cousy Award Candidate . . .
For the second year in a row, Ball State senior point guard Randy Davis has been named one of 59 candidates for the 2012 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award ... The annual honor, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes the top point guards in college basketball ... Davis is one of just two players from the Mid-American Conference (D.J. Cooper, Ohio) among the 2012 nominees and is just one of 12 players in the country that has made the exclusive list for two straight years
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.
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).
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State hits the road for two straight games against Mid-American Conference East Division foes as it travels to Ohio Saturday afternoon and Buffalo next Wednesday ... Saturday's game will be televised nationally on ESPNU at 11 a.m.
