Men's Hoops Hosts Kent State Friday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU

Game 25
Ball State (15-9, 6-5 MAC) vs. Kent State (12-12, 6-5 MAC)
Friday, Feb. 9 (9 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind. (Worthen Arena)
TV: ESPNU | Radio: WLBC | Live Stats

About the Cardinals
• Ball State welcomes Kent State for a nationally televised game on ESPNU in the second meeting between the teams this season. The Golden Flashes won 88-80 in overtime on their home floor back on Jan. 23.

• BSU is 11-1 at Worthen Arena this season (4-1 in MAC play), with the only loss coming to league leader Buffalo. The Cardinals are 35-12 at home over the past three years.

• Ball State is tied for second place in the MAC West Division with Western Michigan. Both teams are three games behind a Toledo team the Cardinals defeated on the road.

• Junior point guard Tayler Persons hit his third game-winner of the season Tuesday against Bowling Green. He drained a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to lift the Cardinals to a 59-56 victory. It was the sixth time this year Persons has scored a go-ahead or game-tying bucket in the final 20 seconds.

• Junior center Trey Moses has scored 66 points over the past four games (16.5 per game). It is the highest-scoring four-game stretch of his career. Moses is averaging 13.6 points per game in conference play, just slightly behind Persons (14.0) for the team lead. Moses' 9.4 rebounds-per-game average in MAC play ranks third in the league.

• Persons surpassed the 100-assist mark for the season Saturday at Eastern Michigan. He ranks second in the MAC with 4.4 assists per game for the year, behind only Miami's Darrian Ringo (7.6). Persons' 4.7 assists-per-game average for his BSU career ranks second in school annals only to Jim Hahn who handed out 5.7 per game from 1975-79.

Scouting Kent State
• Kent State is the only MAC team to beat league-leading Buffalo. The Golden Flashes defeated the Bulls 82-79 Jan. 30 for their third straight win, but they have since dropped two in a row to Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan.
• Kent State is tied for second in the MAC East Division, four games behind Buffalo.
• The Golden Flashes lead the MAC in offensive rebound percentage (.325) and rank second in 3-point defense (.333).
• Junior guard Jaylin Walker ranks fifth in the MAC in scoring at 17.4 points per game and leads the league in 3-pointers per game at 2.9.
• Backcourt mate Jalen Avery owns the MAC's best assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.8-to-1. The next-best in the league is 2.3-to-1 by Miami's Darrian Ringo.
• The Flashes, in their seventh season under head coach Rob Senderoff, are the defending MAC Tournament champions.

Series History
• Ball State trails 44-38 in the all-time series with Kent State and leads 26-12 against the Golden Flashes in Muncie.
• The Cardinals' most recent victory in the series came in 2005.
• The teams met just three weeks ago in Kent, Ohio, with the Golden Flashes winning 88-80 in overtime. Tayler Persons led the Cardinals with 19 points and hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
• Persons is averaging 17.5 points in two career games against Kent State, while Tahjai Teague has scored 12 points in both games he has played against the Golden Flashes.

Men's Hoops Hosts Kent State Friday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU

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Players Mentioned

Trey Moses

Tayler Persons

Tahjai Teague