Close Encounters Common When Cardinals, Crusaders Clash

Game 11
Ball State (6-4) at Valparaiso (6-4)
Monday, Dec. 17 (7 p.m. CT/8 ET)
Valparaiso, Ind. (Athletics-Recreation Center)
Watch: (ESPN+) | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats

Setting the Stage
• Ball State wraps up a four-game road stretch with its third straight contest against the Missouri Valley Conference. The Cardinals saw a five-game winning streak snapped the last time out, surrendering a season-high 89 points at Evansville ... Valparaiso has won three of its past four games since a Nov. 24 loss at West Virginia. The Crusaders are coming off an 82-79 road victory at George Washington.

• Ball State and Valparaiso will meet for the sixth straight season. The home team has won four straight meetings since Valpo defeated the Cardinals in Muncie in James Whitford's first year with BSU. The past four matchups have all been decided by six points or fewer, including three one-possession outcomes. Last year's margin was the closest, with Ball State winning 71-70 on Tayler Persons' game-winning 3-pointer.

What's Trending
• Ball State faces a Valparaiso team that features six players averaging at least 8.4 points per game. Derrik Smits leads the way with averages of 14.5 points and 7.7 rebounds. UAB graduate transfer Deion Lavender ranks second in the MVC with 5.9 assists per game, running the offense for a Valpo squad that shoots 47.9 percent as a team.

• Monday's game at Valparaiso marks Ball State's fifth of the season against the Missouri Valley Conference. The Cardinals are 3-1 versus the MVC after a loss at Evansville, an opponent BSU defeated earlier in the year. Ball State also has wins over Indiana State and preseason MVC favorite Loyola Chicago. Ken Pomeroy rates the MAC at No. 11 among the 32 Division I leagues and the MVC at No. 12.

• The Valpo contest marks Ball State's sixth of the year against Indiana teams. The Cardinals are 7-2 against in-state foes over the past two seasons (3-2 this year), with the only losses coming this year at nationally ranked Purdue and at Evansville.

• The loss at Evansville the last time out was Ball State's first this season when leading at the half. The Cardinals were previously 5-0 in that situation. The game continued the trend of rebounding deciding BSU's fate. The Cardinals have been outrebounded in all four of their losses and have won all six times when leading on the boards.

• Ball State ranks 16th nationally in team field goal percentage at 50.1 percent. The Cardinals feature two of the top 50 individuals in the country in junior forward Tahjai Teague (64.3, 23rd) and junior guard K.J. Walton (59.2, 44th). Walton is 48-for-68 (70.6 percent) over the past six games.

• Ball State has utilized the same starting lineup since the third game of the season when Trey Moses made his first start after working his way back from a preseason knee scope. Tayler Persons has started all 76 games in his BSU career, while Kyle Mallers has started 42 in a row.

Close Encounters Common When Cardinals, Crusaders Clash

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Players Mentioned

Kyle Mallers

Trey Moses

Tayler Persons

Tahjai Teague

K.J. Walton