Men’s Hoops Closes Homestand vs. Alabama State

Game 12
Ball State (7-4, 0-0 MAC) vs. Alabama State (1-9, 0-0 SWAC)
Thursday, Dec. 22 (7 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind. (Worthen Arena)
Watch (ESPN3) | Listen (WLBC) | Live Stats

Thursday marks the second of Ball State's "Take a Kid to a Game" days. With one paid adult general admission ticket purchased, two kids eighth grade and under will receive a complimentary general admission ticket. Fans must purchase in-person at Worthen Arena's Stoops Buick/GMC Ticket Center beginning one hour prior to tipoff. This offer is not available in advance.

Opening Tip
• Ball State wraps up its six-game homestand Thursday when it welcomes Alabama State for the first-ever meeting between the teams.

• Alabama State has been off since a Dec. 14 loss at Tennessee State (68-46). Rodney Simeon leads the Hornets with 11.7 points per game.

• The Cardinals have won three games in a row, most recently defeating Longwood 61-45 on Monday. Francis Kiapway led a balanced scoring effort with 10 points, while six different BSU players scored at least eight.

• Ball State forced 23 turnovers against Longwood, seven more than its previous season high. It was the most turnovers generated by the Cardinals since Feb. 15, 2011 against Toledo (24). BSU's 11 steals against Longwood were its most against a Division I opponent since Jan. 6, 2013 at Miami (13). Ball State has registered 21 steals over the past two games.

• The Cardinals are one of only two teams in the Mid-American Conference with seven players averaging at least 7.0 points per game (Akron is the other). Jeremie Tyler is an eighth BSU player at better than 7.0 per game, but he has played in only one contest.

• Junior guard Sean Sellers is 14 of 21 from 3-point range over the past three games. Among all active NCAA players, Sellers' career .431 3-point percentage ranks 15th.

• Sophomore center Trey Moses is averaging a double-double over the past eight games at 11.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per contest.

• Ball State has been outrebounded in only one of its 11 games (Nov. 27 at Valparaiso). The Cardinals are outrebounding their opponents by more than five boards per game.

Bigs Can Pass
• Ball State post players Franko House (27 assists) and Trey Moses (26) rank second and third on the team in assists, trailing only point guard Tayler Persons.
• The pair owns the second-highest assist total (53) of any big-man duo in the MAC, behind Akron's Isaiah Johnson and Kwan Cheatham (59).

Moving the Ball
• Ball State leads the MAC and ranks 34th nationally with an average of 17.1 assists per game. Only one other MAC team (Buffalo, 16.7) is averaging more than 15.
• The Cardinals already have five games with at least 19 assists, including a season-high 30 helpers Nov. 29 against IU Kokomo.
• Tayler Persons ranks third in the league individually with 5.5 per game.
• The team has recorded assists on 61.2 percent of its baskets this year (188 of 307).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Franko House

Francis Kiapway

Trey Moses

Tayler Persons

Sean Sellers

Jeremie Tyler