Ball State University Athletics
Men?s Basketball Welcomes Ohio Wednesday Night
January 20, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Ball State vs. Ohio
Wednesday, Jan. 21; 7 p.m.
Worthen Arena (Muncie, Ind.)
Radio: 104.1 WLBC
Last week was a long one for the Ball State men's basketball team.
Road trips to Western Michigan and Bowling Green, including a double-overtime contest with the Broncos, left the team somewhat drained.
Now, after a few days to recover, the Cardinals are ready to settle into a full week at home. They'll start with a Wednesday game against Ohio.
At 2-2 in Mid-American Conference play (7-8 overall), Ball State is still ahead of where many experts thought it would be early in the league schedule. The Cardinals are part of a conference race that projects to be a tight one; the MAC is rated higher than it has been in a decade.
Ball State lost both of those road trips last week but now returns to Worthen Arena, where it owns a 6-1 record so far this season. The Cardinals beat Central Michigan the last time they were home, but that was the only one of their first four league games to come at Worthen Arena.
Ohio (5-10, 0-4 MAC) finds itself in an unfamiliar place in the conference standings, though it has played a variety of quality opponents this season. The Bobcats, in their first year under head coach Saul Phillips, lost non-conference games against the likes of Nebraska, George Washington, St. Bonaventure and Evansville. They come into Muncie off a loss Saturday at Kent State.
Ball State will face a highly productive big man for the second game in a row. Saturday, it was Bowling Green's Richaun Holmes. Wednesday, it will be Ohio's Maurice Ndour, who leads the Bobcats and ranks among the top 10 in the MAC in scoring (14.9 ppg, 6th), rebounds (8.6 rpg, 2nd) and blocks (2.2 bpg, 2nd).
Ball State will be looking to snap a five-game Ohio winning streak in the series. The Bobcats won both meetings last year, both in Athens, Ohio, and ended the Cardinals' season in the opening round of the MAC Tournament.
Defending and Rebounding
• Ball State's biggest strengths in conference play have come on the defensive end of the floor and on the glass.
• The Cardinals are grabbing more rebounds per game (41.5) than any team in MAC play and own the second-best rebounding margin (+5.8).
• Ball State's field goal percentage defense (.398) ranks third in league play, while its 3-point field goal percentage (.301) ranks second.
