Men’s Basketball Meets Southern Utah Wednesday in Vegas

Game 5
Ball State (2-2, 0-0 MAC) vs. Southern Utah (1-3, 0-0 Big Sky)
Men Who Speak Up Main Event
Wednesday, Nov. 23 (12:30 p.m. PT/3:30 ET)
MGM Grand Garden Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Watch (YouTube) | Listen (WLBC) | Live Stats

Opening Tip
• Ball State will play Wednesday against Southern Utah in its fourth and final game as part of the Men Who Speak Up Main Event. The Cardinals defeated Coppin State 79-77 Monday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. They also played road games at Saint Louis (W, 85-64) and Alabama (L, 77-59) as part of the event.

• Southern Utah is coming off an 83-68 loss to Coastal Carolina in its first game in Las Vegas. The Thunderbirds lost road games at Valparaiso (79-65) and Saint Louis (88-76) as part of the event. Their leading scorer Randy Onwuasor is averaging 25.8 points per game.

• Ball State senior forward Franko House is 19 points away from becoming the 29th 1,000-point scorer in Ball State history. House has scored double figures in all four games this season and had 12 points Monday against Coppin State despite playing just 18 minutes because of foul trouble.

• Sophomore point guard Tayler Persons scored 19 points -- all in the second half -- and handed out 10 assists in Monday's win over Coppin State. He became the first Ball State player with a double-double of points and assists since Nov. 26, 2010 (Randy Davis vs. Southern Utah in the Great Alaska Shootout). That game is the only previous meeting between the Cardinals and Thunderbirds; Ball State won 75-54.

• Sophomore big man Trey Moses grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds against Coppin State. It was the highest rebound total in the three-year history of the Main Event, one better than Auburn's Cinmeon Bowers against Tulsa in 2014.

• Ball State features two of the top 10 scorers in the Mid-American Conference through four games in sophomore point guard Tayler Persons (20.3 ppg, 4th) and senior forward Franko House (16.5 ppg, 10th). Persons is seeing his first action for the Cardinals after sitting out last season as a transfer from Northern Kentucky.

Men’s Basketball Meets Southern Utah Wednesday in Vegas

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Players Mentioned

Franko House

Trey Moses

Tayler Persons