Ball State University Athletics
Men's Hoops Plays at Columbia for Spot in CIT Semis
March 22, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Game 35
CIT Quarterfinals
Ball State (21-13) at Columbia (22-10)
Wednesday, March 23 (7 p.m.)
New York, N.Y. (Levien Gymnasium)
Watch (CollegeInsider.com) | Listen (WLBC) | Live Stats
A Look at the CardinalsÂ
• Coming off back-to-back overtime wins, Ball State visits Columbia for the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The winner will advance to the March 27 semifinals. Columbia defeated Norfolk State in the first round and received a second-round bye.
• Ball State is making an appearance in the quarterfinals of a postseason tournament for the second time. The Cardinals won three games to reach the quarters of the 2002 NIT. The program has never played in the semifinals of a postseason tournament.
• Ball State overcame a 16-point deficit in the second half and an 11-point deficit in the final 90 seconds to win Sunday in overtime against UT Martin. In their opening CIT win at Tennessee State, the Cardinals trailed by 17 points early in the game and by 13 at the half.
• Ball State's 21 wins are tied for the seventh-most in school history and are the most since the 2001-02 season (23). With Wednesday's game at Columbia, the Cardinals will tie the 2001-02 team for the program record for games played in a season (35).
• Ball State ranks No. 154 out of 351 Division I teams in the Ken Pomeroy rankings and has been as high as No. 127 this season. BSU has not finished a season better than its current Pomeroy ranking since 2005 (No. 105). Columbia checks in at No. 110 in the Pomeroy ratings.
• BSU is the fourth-most improved team in the country in terms of its record from last year to this year (source: NCAA). The Cardinals have improved from 7-23 to 21-13.
Chasing 3-Point RecordÂ
• Ball State enters Wednesday's game at Columbia 11 3-pointers shy of matching the school record for treys in a season.
• The Cardinals' 299 3's this season rank second only to the 310 made by the 2001-02 team.
• The Cardinals broke the school record for 3's in a game with 18 on Feb. 27 versus Eastern Michigan, surpassing the previous record of 16 versus IUPUI on Dec. 15, 2001.
• Ball State also hit 15 3-pointers, one shy of the school record at the time, in the Feb. 9 win over Western Michigan.
• The Cardinals rank 27th in the country in 3-pointers made and 51st nationally in 3-point percentage (.372).
All-Time vs. The Ivy LeagueÂ
• Ball State and Columbia will be meeting for the first time in men's basketball.
• The Cardinals have only played two previous games against the Ivy League, posting a 1-1 record in those games.
• Ball State defeated Cornell 73-65 (Dec. 3, 1999) and lost to Princeton 49-47 (Dec. 2, 2000). Both games came as part of BSU's home tournament, the Cardinal Varsity Club Classic.
CIT Stat LeadersÂ
• Center Trey Moses is playing the best basketball of his freshman season in the CIT, averaging 12.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 blocks over Ball State's two games.
• Moses set or tied his career highs for points (13), rebounds (13) and assists (6) in the Cardinals' first-round win over Tennessee State.
• Sophomore guard Jeremie Tyler is leading Ball State with 18.5 points per game during the tournament, shooting 54.2 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from 3-point range. He scored a career-high 25 points against Tennessee State.
• In addition to Tyler and Moses, Ryan Weber (14.5 ppg) and Sean Sellers (12.5 ppg) are also averaging double-figure scoring in the CIT.
Crashing the BoardsÂ
• Ball State has out-rebounded both of its CIT opponents by 17, tying its largest rebounding margin of the season.
• The Cardinals held a 51-34 advantage on the boards against Tennessee State and a 49-32 advantage against UT Martin.
• Ball State has outrebounded 21 of its 34 opponents this season.
• The Cardinals are 18-6 when they have more rebounds than their opponent and 3-7 when they have fewer.
CIT QUARTERFINALS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23
Grand Canyon (27-6) @ Coastal Carolina (20-11) 7:00 pm
Ball State (21-13) @ Columbia (22-10) 7:00 pm
UC Irvine (26-9) @ UL Lafayette (19-14) 8:00 pm
THURSDAY, MARCH 24
UT Arlington (23-13) @ NJIT (19-14) 7:30 pm
Â
SEMIFINALS
March 27 (CBS Sports Network)
Â
CHAMPIONSHIP
March 29 (CBS Sports Network)
