Cardinals Pay Visit to Final Four Foe, Missouri Valley Favorite Wednesday

Game 9
Ball State (5-3) at Loyola Chicago (5-3)
Wednesday, Dec. 5 (8 p.m. CT/9 ET)
Chicago, Ill. (Gentile Arena)
Watch: ESPN+ (NBC Sports Chicago) | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats

Setting the Stage
• Ball State rides a four-game winning streak into Wednesday's matchup at 2018 Final Four team Loyola Chicago. Despite their proximity, the programs have never met before. The Ramblers will play a return game in Muncie next year. The Cardinals are averaging better than 92 points per game during their winning streak, most recently defeating IUPUI, 85-75, in the first game of a four-game road stretch.

• Loyola Chicago is off to a 5-3 start after last year's 32-6, Final Four season. The Ramblers split a pair of home games last week, falling to fifth-ranked Nevada, 79-65, and then defeating city rival UIC, 73-64.

• Wednesday's meeting marks the second straight year the Cardinals will face a Final Four team from the previous season. BSU played last year at 2017 Final Four team Oregon. In December 2011, Ball State defeated a Butler team coming off back-to-back appearances in the national championship game.

What's Trending
• Ball State is the second-highest rated MAC team in the new NCAA NET rating system (76), behind only defending league champion Buffalo (13). The Cardinals are the third-highest MAC team in the Ken Pomeroy ratings (107), behind only Buffalo (38) and Toledo (103). The Cardinals have been as high as No. 98 in KenPom this season, the best they have been since finishing the 2004-05 campaign at No. 96.

• Ball State is 2-0 against the Missouri Valley Conference this season with wins over Indiana State and Evansville. The Cardinals will play their next three games against the MVC, with road trips to Loyola Chicago, Evansville and Valparaiso. KenPom rates the MAC at No. 11 among the 32 Division I leagues and the MVC at No. 12.

• Ball State faces a Loyola Chicago team that returns three starters from last season's Final Four squad, including Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year Clayton Custer. The Ramblers were picked to repeat as MVC champions in the league's preseason poll. Custer is averaging 14.4 points per game for a balanced Loyola attack, while backcourt mate Marques Townes leads the team at 14.9.

• Ball State's win at IUPUI improved the Cardinals' record to 7-1 against opponents from the state of Indiana over the past two years. The only loss came earlier this season at nationally-ranked Purdue.

• Senior point guard Tayler Persons has racked up 27 assists during Ball State's four-game winning streak (6.8 per game). He ranks second in the MAC with 5.4 assists per game. Persons ranks 10th among active Division I players in career assists (459).

• Over the past three games, junior guard K.J. Walton is shooting 24-for-33 (72.7 percent) from the floor, while junior forward Tahjai Teague is shooting 21-for-31 (67.7 percent). Teague ranks second in the MAC at 63.8 percent for the season.

• Sophomore forward Zach Gunn leads the Cardinals at 50.0 percent from 3-point range. Gunn is shooting 48.9 percent (22-for-45) from deep over his past 14 games, dating back to last season.

Cardinals Pay Visit to Final Four Foe, Missouri Valley Favorite Wednesday

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Players Mentioned

Zach Gunn

Tayler Persons

Tahjai Teague

K.J. Walton