Men's Basketball Set for Friday Opener at Bradley

November 11, 2015 | Men's Basketball

By: Ball State Athletics

Game 1
Ball State at Bradley
Friday, Nov. 13 (7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET)
Peoria, Ill. (Carver Arena)
Watch (ESPN3) | Listen (WLBC)

A Look at the Cardinals
• Ball State enters the 2015-16 season with far more continuity than it has had in recent years. The Cardinals return 10 players from last year's roster, including six who averaged at least six points per game. Last year, the Cardinals ranked among the 25 youngest teams in the country.

• The group of returning players features reigning Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year Sean Sellers, who averaged 12 points per game and shot nearly 44 percent from 3-point range in his rookie campaign. Fellow sophomore Jeremie Tyler is back after missing the second semester of last season. He also averaged 12 points.

• Ball State welcomes back its top-scoring post players in junior Franko House (10.3 ppg) and senior Bo Calhoun (9.6 ppg). Both ranked among the top 10 most improved offensive players in the MAC a season ago. Calhoun's 9.1 points-per game increase in his league scoring average from his sophomore to his junior year was the second-biggest jump in the MAC last season.

• The Cardinals still welcome some new faces to the lineup. Ryan Weber joins the mix after sitting out last season as a transfer from Youngstown State. The team added two more veterans in fifth-year transfer center Nate Wells and junior college point guard Naiel Smith. Wells spent his first four years of college at Bradley. Ball State's freshman class features size with 6-foot-9 Trey Moses and 6-foot-8 Tahjai Tague.

• Ball State has a four-member leadership council voted on by the players. Franko House, Jeremiah Davis, Bo Calhoun and Francis Kiapway make up the leadership council.

Schedule Notes
• Starting with Friday's season opener at Bradley, Ball State will play five games in the first 10 days of the season and nine in the first 23.

• The Cardinals will play eight of their 13 non-conference games at home. After opening with four of their first five away from home, the Cardinals will play seven of their final eight non-conference contests at Worthen Arena.

• Ball State will return to Muncie following Friday night's game to prepare for its home opener Monday night against Eastern Illinois at Worthen Arena.

Familiar Territory for Wells
• Graduate transfer Nate Wells returns to his old home court for Friday's season opener.
• The 7-foot-1 center spent four years, including one redshirt season, with the Braves.
• He earned his bachelor's degree from Bradley and enrolled in the public relations graduate program at Ball State.
• He will use his final year of collegiate eligibility with the Cardinals.

Recruiting the State
• Ball State's roster this season features four former Indiana All-Stars -- Sean Sellers, Tahjai Teague, Jeremie Tyler and Tayler Persons (sitting out as a transfer).
• It's the most Indiana All-Stars the Cardinals have had since the 2001-02 season.
• Each year the Indiana All-Star Team features the top 13 high school seniors in the state.

Season Openers
• Ball State will begin its 95th season of competition Friday.
• The Cardinals are 54-40 in their previous 94 season-opening contests.
• Ball State opened last season with an 90-72 loss at 25th-ranked Utah.

A Lot Coming Back
• Ball State returns 78 percent of its scoring from last season (1,528 of 1,961 points).
• The Cardinals' top four scorers in terms of points per game are all back -- Sean Sellers (12.0), Jeremie Tyler (12.0), Franko House (10.3) and Bo Calhoun (9.6).
• The team also returns 76 percent of its individual rebounding total and 72 percent of its assists from last season.