Men’s Hoops Continues Cross Country Trip Wednesday at Bucknell

Sunday, November 19

Eugene, Ore.

6:00 PM PT (9:00 PM ET)

Ball State University

Oregon

Photo by: Timothy Sofranko

Men’s Hoops Continues Cross Country Trip Wednesday at Bucknell

November 21, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Cardinals and Bison have played two of the nation’s toughest schedules

Game 5
Ball State (1-3, 0-0 MAC) at Bucknell (1-4, 0-0 Patriot)
Wednesday, Nov. 22 (7 p.m.)
Lewisburg, Pa. (Sojka Pavilion)
Watch: Patriot League Network (FREE)
Listen: WLBC

A Look at the Cardinals
• Ball State visits defending Patriot League champion Bucknell for the first meeting between the teams since 1998. The contest marks the Cardinals' fourth and final game as part of the PK80-Phil Knight Invitational.

• Ball State and Bucknell have played two of the most difficult schedules in the country so far, with Ken Pomeroy ranking the Cardinals' schedule 35th nationally and the Bison's 26th.

• The Cardinals flew back across the country after playing Sunday night at Oregon and falling 95-71. Junior guard Tayler Persons (14 points) and sophomore forward Kyle Mallers (10) scored double figures, while freshman guard Ishmael El-Amin came off the bench to register nine points and four assists without a turnover.

• Persons leads Ball State at 15.3 points per game and is 21 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career. Mallers (12.5), junior guard Jontrell Walker (10.8) and sophomore forward Tahjai Teague (10.0) are also averaging double figures. Teague leads BSU in rebounds (8.3), steals (2.3) and blocks (0.8) per game. He has eight steals over the past two games combined.

• Mallers has scored double figures in each of the past three games, including a career-high 17 points a week ago at Oklahoma. After averaging 2.2 points per game as a true freshman, he is second on the team in scoring at 12.5 per game this year.

• The Cardinals are in the midst of a stretch in which they play five games in 11 days. The stretch began Nov. 15 at Oklahoma and concludes Nov. 25 at Indiana State. During those 11 days, BSU will travel approximately 8,000 miles.

Scouting Bucknell
• Bucknell is coming off a 115-92 victory over Siena behind 25 points (19 at the free throw line) from senior forward Zach Thomas.
• The Bison dropped their first four games, but those losses came to Monmouth, Arkansas, North Carolina and Maryland, all on the road.
• Thomas leads Bucknell in scoring (23.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.4 rpg), while senior center Nana Foulland adds 16.6 points per game.
• Bucknell capped a 26-9 season a year ago with a trip to the NCAA tournament. The Bison went 15-3 in the Patriot League, winning the conference's regular season and tournament championships.
• Bucknell returns its top nine scorers from a team that finished No. 66 in the RPI last season.
• The Bison are in their third year under head coach Nathan Davis, who has led the program to Patriot League regular season titles in each of his first two years.

All-Time Series
• Ball State and Bucknell have met twice previously, with the Cardinals winning both contests on neutral courts.
• The teams played in the 1971 Hall of Fame Tournament in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the 1998 Hoosier Classic at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

Last Time versus Bucknell
• Duane Clemens led four Cardinals in double figures as Ball State defeated Bucknell 63-59 to open the Hoosier Classic on Dec. 27, 1998 at Market Square Arena.
• Wayne Johnson, Jerome Davis and Josh Murray added 10 points each for the Cardinals.
• The teams were tied 23-all at the half before Ball State outscored Bucknell 40-36 after the break.
• Willie Callahan led Bucknell with 16 points, while Jake Ramage finished with 15 for the Bison.

Mallers Perfect at the Stripe
• Kyle Mallers went 10 for 10 at the free throw line Sunday at Oregon, scoring all 10 of his points at the stripe.
• He became the first Ball State player to attempt at least 10 free throws and make all of them since Franko House went 13 for 13 at Miami in February 2016.