2016 MAC West Co-Champs Clash Tuesday in Muncie

Tuesday, January 17

Muncie, Ind.

7:00 PM ET

Ball State University

Central Michigan

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Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services

January 16, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Cardinals return to Worthen Arena winners of two in a row

Game 18
Ball State (11-6, 2-2 MAC) vs. Central Michigan (11-6, 1-3 MAC)
Tuesday, Jan. 17 (7 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind. (Worthen Arena)
Watch (ESPN3) | Listen (WLBC) | Live Stats

Opening Tip
• After four straight games against Mid-American Conference East Division opponents to open the league schedule, Ball State will play its first MAC West Division foe Tuesday when it hosts Central Michigan. It's a battle of the two teams that shared last year's division championship.

• Tuesday's meeting is the first of two between the teams this season. The Cardinals will visit Central Michigan on Feb. 18. BSU and CMU split their two meetings last year with each team winning on the other's home floor.

• Ball State is coming off a 92-77 road victory Saturday over a Buffalo team that has played in back-to-back NCAA tournaments. Jeremie Tyler, Ryan Weber and Tayler Persons led the way with 17 points each, while Franko House had his third double-double of the season (13 pts./10 rebs.).

• Central Michigan is coming off its first league victory, a 96-88 win over Toledo. The Chippewas feature the nation's leading scorer in point guard Marcus Keene at 28.7 points per game. Fellow guard Braylon Rayson is scoring 19.2 per game. Together, they are the top scoring backcourt duo in the country.

• Ball State has placed 11 scorers in double figures over the past two games. Five Cardinals scored at least 10 points last Tuesday against Miami, and six reached the mark Saturday at Buffalo. BSU has put at least five in double figures four times this season.

• Through four MAC games, the Cardinals rank second in scoring offense in league play at 84.5 points per game, trailing only Toledo (84.8). BSU is the only team to rank in the top third in the league in both field goal percentage (.477, 4th) and field goal percentage defense (.424, 4th) during conference play.

• Ball State post players Frank House and Trey Moses have been all over the offensive glass during conference play, ranking first in the league at 4.0 offensive rebounds per game each.

Career Numbers vs. CMU
• Among active Ball State players, senior forward Franko House leads the way with averages of 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds over six career games against Central Michigan.
• House has connected on 30 of 48 shots from the floor (.625) in his career against the Chippewas. He scored a career-high 23 points in last year's meeting in Muncie.
• Junior guard Sean Sellers has averaged 11.5 points in four career games against CMU. He has made good of 14 of 27 from the floor (.519) and 9 of 15 from 3-point range (.600).
• Sellers scored 19 points on 5-of-6 3-pointers at Central Michigan as a freshman in 2015.

Bench Getting Going
• Ball State has become a deeper team since the return of junior guard Jeremie Tyler.
• In seven games with Tyler, the Cardinals' bench is outscoring opponents by an average of 29.3 to 17.0.
• In the 10 games BSU played without Tyler, BSU's bench was outscored 24.9 to 19.5 on average.

Balanced Attack
• Ball State is the only MAC team with eight players averaging at least 7.0 points per game. No other MAC team has more than six.
• Seven different players have led the Cardinals in scoring this year, none more than six times (Tayler Persons).