Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Central Michigan
Men's Hoops Looks for MAC West Title on Senior Night
February 29, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Game 30
Ball State (19-10, 10-6 MAC)
vs. Central Michigan (16-13, 9-7 MAC)
Tuesday, March 1 (7 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind. (Worthen Arena)
Watch (ESPN) | Listen (WLBC) | Live Stats
Promotion – Two-For Tuesday: Fans can purchase two tickets for the price of one.
A Look at the Cardinals  Â
• Ball State can clinch the Mid-American Conference West Division championship outright with a win Tuesday over Central Michigan. The Cardinals are one game clear of the Chippewas with two regular season games remaining. They are one game behind Akron for the overall MAC lead.
• The Cardinals can secure a first-round bye in next week's MAC Tournament with a win over Central Michigan and a loss Tuesday by either Buffalo (vs. Miami) or Kent State (vs. Bowling Green). BSU would be the No. 3 seed if the tournament started today.
• Ball State is one victory away from its 11th 20-win season in school history and its first since 2001-02. The Cardinals are chasing their first outright MAC West Division championship since 2002. They were one of three division co-champions in 2009.
• Ball State ranks No. 127 (its best of the season) out of 351 Division I teams in the Ken Pomeroy rankings. BSU has not finished a season better than its current Pomeroy ranking since 2005 (No. 105). Central Michigan currently checks in at No. 145.
• Ball State hit a school-record 18 3-pointers and tied the school record for most points against a Division I opponent (115) in a 115-79 victory Saturday over Eastern Michigan. It was the most points scored by a MAC team in a league game since 2002 (Kent State 116 vs. Marshall).
• BSU is the third-most improved team in the country in terms of its record from last year to this year. The Cardinals are 19-10 this season after going 7-23 a year ago. Only Tennessee State (5-26 to 20-9) and UALR (13-18 to 26-3) have made bigger turnarounds (source: NCAA).
With a Win ...Â
• With a win Tuesday, Ball State would ...
-- Clinch its first outright MAC West Division championship since 2002.
-- Reach 20 wins for the first time since 2001-02 and the 11th time in school history.
-- Reach 11 MAC wins for the first time since 2001-02.
-- Improve to 8-1 this season against the MAC West Division.
-- Sweep the season series from Central Michigan for the first time since 2012.
If the Tournament Started TodayÂ
• If the MAC Tournament began today, Ball State would be the No. 3 seed.
• The Cardinals are tied with Ohio for the second best record in the league, but the Bobcats would be the No. 2 seed by virtue of winning both regular season meetings with BSU.
• The top four seeds receive byes to the quarterfinals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, while seeds 5-12 will play first-round games on campus sites.
• The Cardinals can lock up a bye with a win over Central Michigan and a loss by either Buffalo (vs. Miami) or Kent State (vs. Bowling Green).
A Day for the Record BooksÂ
• Ball State ran away to a 115-79 victory Saturday over Eastern Michigan. It tied for the most points ever for Ball State against a Division I program (115 vs. Georgia State, 1984) and the fifth-most in any game. The 115 points were the most for Ball State since Dec. 21, 1989 against Cardinal Stritch (116).
• The 39-point margin of victory was the third-best in any MAC game for the Cardinals, behind a 106-57 win vs. Ohio (49 points) Jan. 31, 1998 and a 99-58 win vs. Central Michigan (41 points) Dec. 29, 1997.
• Ball State hit a school-record 18 3-pointers, breaking the previous record of 16 set Dec. 15, 2001 vs. IUPUI.
• Sean Sellers became the eighth Ball State player ever to hit at least seven 3's in a game (Francis Kiapway did it in the season's first meeting with EMU). He came up one shy of Dennis Trammell's school record of eight, set Feb. 6, 2005 vs. Marshall.
• The Cardinals handed out 30 assists in the game, tying for the fifth-most in school history and the most since Jan. 12, 1991 vs. Slippery Rock (32). The 30 assists were the most by a MAC team in a league game in at least 11 years.
House Does It AllÂ
• Junior forward Franko House is one of three players in the MAC to rank among the top two on his team in points, rebounds, assists and blocked shots. The other two are Toledo's Nathan Boothe and Kent State's Jimmy Hall.
• House leads the Cardinals in points (343) and ranks second on the team in rebounds (157), assists (62) and blocks (18).
