Men’s Hoops to Close Non-Conference Play Friday versus Florida A&M

Game 13
Ball State (8-4, 0-0 MAC) vs. Florida A&M (1-14, 0-0 MEAC)
Friday, Dec. 29 (7 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind. (Worthen Arena)
Watch (ESPN3) | Listen (WLBC) | Live Stats

About the Cardinals
• Ball State rides a seven-game winning streak into the non-conference finale with Florida A&M. It's the longest winning streak for the program since the 2010-11 season. The Cardinals have not won eight in a row since putting together a 10-game streak during the 1999-2000 season.

• The Cardinals are 6-0 at home this season after defeating Jackson State a week ago at Worthen Arena. BSU has won eight straight at home dating back to last season.

• Seniors Francis Kiapway and Sean Sellers each drained three 3-pointers against Jackson State. Kiapway has 199 treys for his career. He needs three more to match Patrick Jackson (1998-2002) for third on Ball State's all-time list and four to tie Jauwan Scaife (2009-13) for second. Jesse Berry (2010-14) is the Cardinals' all-time leader with 224.

• Sellers is close behind Kiapway with 192 treys. He is also 36 points shy of 1,000 for his career.

• The Cardinals check in at No. 93 in the NCAA RPI. BSU is No. 113 in the Ken Pomeroy ratings as the highest-rated team from the MAC (Buffalo is next at No. 118).

• Dunks from Ball State's Jeremie Tyler and Tahjai Teague against North Florida were featured on SportsCenter's Top 10 on Dec. 19. Tyler's one-handed, alley-oop slam from Jontrell Walker was the No. 1 play. Tayler Persons' Dec. 5 game-winner at Notre Dame also made the Top 10.

• Ball State is 4-0 against Division I teams from the state of Indiana with wins over Notre Dame, Valparaiso, Indiana State and IUPUI. Purdue (3-0) is the only other in-state team undefeated against Indiana foes. It's the first time since 1999-2000 Ball State has been unbeaten versus the state. The Cardinals went 3-0 that year with wins over Purdue, Butler and Indiana State.

Scouting Florida A&M
• Florida A&M is coming off a 79-69 loss at Fordham in its most recent game, Dec. 21.
• The Rattlers have faced the nation's No. 22-ranked schedule according to Ken Pomeroy and have played 13 of their 15 games on the road.
• Marcus Barham leads FAMU in scoring with 16.9 points per game, while Desmond Williams averages 14.7.
• Florida A&M is in its first season under the direction of Robert McCullum, a former MAC head coach at Western Michigan. McCullum took over after serving the past three seasons as an assistant at Oregon.

Series History
• Ball State has won the only two previous meetings with Florida A&M, both in Muncie.
• The Cardinals defeated the Rattlers 76-52 in their inaugural meeting Dec. 3, 1988 at Irving Gym.
• BSU was a 70-55 winner in the most recent meeting, Jan. 4, 2012 at Worthen Arena.

Men’s Hoops to Close Non-Conference Play Friday versus Florida A&M

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Players Mentioned

Francis Kiapway

Tayler Persons

Sean Sellers

Tahjai Teague

Jontrell Walker