Men's Hoops Welcomes WMU for #MuncieOut, Senior Night on ESPN2

Game 29
#Muncie Out & Senior Night
Ball State (19-9, 10-5 MAC) vs. Western Michigan (16-12, 8-7 MAC)
Friday, Feb. 23 (9 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind. (Worthen Arena)
TV: ESPN2 | Radio: WLBC | Live Stats

About the Cardinals
• Ball State closes out its home schedule with Western Michigan for Senior Night and the annual #MuncieOut in front of a national audience on ESPN2. The Cardinals will honor seniors Francis Kiapway and Sean Sellers before the game.

• If the MAC Tournament started today, Ball State would be the No. 3 seed. The top four seeds earn first-round byes and advance straight to Cleveland for the quarterfinals. BSU can clinch a first-round bye with a win Friday.

• The Cardinals have won five games in a row and seven of their past eight, climbing to No. 88 in the NCAA RPI. BSU is coming off a 77-68 victory over Northern Illinois, as the Cardinals reached five straight wins for the second time this year. The team won nine straight from Nov. 25-Jan. 2.

• Ball State is one victory shy of reaching the 20-win mark for a third consecutive season for the first time since the Cardinals had five straight 20-win campaigns from 1988-93. A win would also give BSU 20 victories in the regular season for the second straight year.

• Ball State is 14-1 at Worthen Arena this year, one win shy of the school record for home wins in a season. The Cardinals won 15 home games three straight seasons from 1990-93.

• Senior guard Sean Sellers needs one 3-pointer to set a new Ball State career record. He hit two against NIU to match Jesse Berry for the top spot on the list with 224. Sellers is also four games shy of Franko House's school record for career games played (129).

• Junior center Trey Moses scored a career-high 23 points against NIU. Moses, who has scored 20-or-more four times in the past eight games, leads Ball State in conference play in both scoring (15.1 ppg) and rebounding (9.1 rpg).

Scouting Western Michigan
• Western Michigan snapped a two-game skid Tuesday with an 83-81 overtime win over Central Michigan.
• The Broncos are tied with Eastern Michigan for the No. 4 spot in the overall MAC standings.
• Returning All-MAC guard Thomas Wilder leads WMU and ranks second in the MAC in scoring at 19.0 points per game.
• The Preseason MAC West Division favorite Broncos lead the league in turnover margin at +3.7 in league play.
• The Broncos are in their 15th season under Steve Hawkins, the longest-tenured head coach in the MAC. WMU shared the MAC West title with Ball State last season.

Series History
• Western Michigan holds a slim, 65-64 lead in the all-time series, while Ball State holds a 39-22 advantage in Muncie.
• The Cardinals are 4-2 against the Broncos over the past three seasons, but the Broncos took the first meeting of this year in Kalamazoo, 73-58.
• Tayler Persons led the Cardinals with 13 points in that game, while Ishmael El-Amin scored 11.
• The teams met three times last season with each team winning regular season matchups on its home floor and the Cardinals taking the rubber match in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament.

Men's Hoops Welcomes WMU for #MuncieOut, Senior Night on ESPN2

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Players Mentioned

Ishmael El-Amin

Franko House

Francis Kiapway

Trey Moses

Tayler Persons

Sean Sellers