Ball State University Athletics
Men?s Hoops Visits IUPUI Saturday on HTSN/ESPN3
November 21, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Ball State at IUPUI
Saturday, Nov. 22; 1 p.m.
Fairgrounds Coliseum (Indianapolis, Ind.)
TV: HTSN/ESPN3
HTSN is carried on Comcast cable channels 247 or 420 in the Indianapolis TV market (247 in Muncie).
Radio: Fox Sports Radio (102.9 FM/1340 AM)
The Ball State football game vs. Eastern Michigan will air on the flagship station, WLBC 104.1 FM.
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State men's basketball team renews a young, in-state series against IUPUI with a Saturday visit to the newly renovated Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis.
The Cardinals (1-1) and Jaguars (1-2) are in similar positions as programs. Both teams are coming off sub-par seasons but have shown early signs of life this year.
Ball State battled top-25 Utah into the closing minutes on the road and posted a 39-point home win over IU Kokomo. IUPUI has a win over defending Horizon League champion Milwaukee and an overtime loss to Indiana State on its resume in Jason Gardner's first year as head coach.
The teams began the series in 2000 and have played nine times since then. Ball State won six of the first seven, but IUPUI owns wins in two straight.
The majority of Ball State's current team was not around the last time the teams met, although it was just two seasons ago. The Cardinals are young but talented in James Whitford's second season with a pair of freshmen leading the team in scoring.
Sean Sellers is the top scorer in the Mid-American Conference early in the season at 22.0 points per game, while fellow rookie Jeremie Tyler is averaging 17.5.
The Cardinals will add another freshman to the mix this week with Whitford's announcement Thursday that Francis Kiapway will make his debut against IUPUI. Kiapway, who played at St. Thomas More Prep in Connecticut last year, has been working his way back from offseason surgery.
Saturday marks the first of two games in three days for Ball State, which will return home to host Grambling Stats at 7 p.m. Monday at Worthen Arena.
Long Time Coming
• Ball State put up offensive numbers the program had not seen in a decade or longer in Monday's 101-62 victory over IU Kokomo.
• The Cardinals scored the most points in a game since 2004 and recorded their best shooting percentage (.623) since 1995.
• Here is a close look at the offensive numbers from Monday's win ...
Total Points (101) … Best since Dec. 8, 2004 vs. Anderson (106)
Shooting Percentage (.623) … Best since Feb. 22, 1995 vs. Bowling Green (.649)
Points in a Half (62, 1st) … Best since Feb. 22, 1997 vs. Eastern Michigan (67, 2nd)
Dialed in from Deep
• Ball State connected on 10 3-pointers in its season opener at Utah and 11 in its second game against IU Kokomo. More impressively, the Cardinals are shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc (21 for 42).
• The 21 treys are the most for the Cardinals through two games of a season since the 2001-02 team had 25. That team knocked down 13 against Kansas and 12 against UCLA in its first two games at the Maui Invitational.
• Ball State has not posted three consecutive games with double-digit 3-pointers since that 2001-02 season when the Cardinals did it three different times.
• Sellers leads Ball State from beyond the arc with seven makes in 10 attempts.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's basketball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateMBB and @coachjwhit on Twitter.
