Men's Hoops Visits No. 8 Notre Dame Riding Three-Game Win Streak

Tuesday, December 5

South Bend, Ind.

7:00 PM ET

Ball State University

Notre Dame

Photo by: Timothy Sofranko

Men's Hoops Visits No. 8 Notre Dame Riding Three-Game Win Streak

December 04, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Cardinals will meet Fighting Irish for first time in nearly 42 years

Game 9
Ball State (4-4, 0-0 MAC) at #8 Notre Dame (7-1, 0-0 ACC)
Tuesday, Dec. 5 (7 p.m.)
South Bend, Ind. (Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center)
Watch (ACC Network Extra/ESPN3) | Listen (WLBC) | Live Stats

A Look at the Cardinals
• Ball State visits eighth-ranked Notre Dame for the first meeting between the teams since 1976. It will be the Cardinals' first matchup against a top-25 team since a Dec. 20, 2014 contest at No. 17 San Diego State. The Fighting Irish are the highest ranked opponent BSU has faced since a Nov. 25, 2012 trip to No. 1 Indiana.

• Ball State has won its past three games behind a balanced offensive attack, placing five scorers in double figures against all three opponents: Indiana State, Oakland City and IUPUI. Eight different BSU players have reached double figures during that stretch, while Tahjai Teague, Tayler Persons and Sean Sellers have scored double figures in all three.

• The Cardinals are shooting 56.5 percent from the floor during their three-game winning streak. The team has shot better than 53 percent in all three games.

• Ball State checks in at No. 128 in the Ken Pomeroy rankings as the highest rated Mid-American Conference team, just above Buffalo (131) and Western Michigan (132).

• BSU has faced the 33rd-most difficult schedule in the country, according to KenPom, already playing three games against the top 100 -- Oklahoma (29), Oregon (51) and Bucknell (85). The team's next two opponents -- Notre Dame (16) and Valparaiso (83) -- also fall into that category.

• Sophomore forward Tahjai Teague ranks among the top 10 in the MAC in field goal percentage (.660, 2nd), steals (1.6, 6th), rebounding (7.6, 7th) and blocks (1.0, 9th). Teague (10.9 points per game) is also one of three Ball State players averaging double-figure scoring, along with Persons (15.3) and Kyle Mallers (12.0).

Scouting Notre Dame
• Notre Dame, champion of this year's Maui Invitational, enters Tuesday's game ranked No. 8 nationally in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the AP Top 25.
• The Fighting Irish suffered their first loss last week, 81-63 at No. 3 Michigan State, and bounced back with a 71-53 victory Sunday over St. Francis Brooklyn.
• Preseason All-American Bonzie Colson leads the Irish with 18.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.
• Notre Dame went 26-10 last season, including a 12-6 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Fighting Irish capped the year at No. 22 in the RPI after reaching the ACC Tournament championship game and the second round of the NCAA tournament.
• Notre Dame is playing its 18th season under head coach Mike Brey, who has led the Irish to the NCAA tournament 12 times.

Home for a While
• Tuesday's matchup at Notre Dame is Ball State's final non-conference road game of the season.
• The Cardinals will then return home for their final four non-conference games and their first two MAC contests.
• BSU will not hit the road again until a Jan. 9 trip to face Ohio.