Men's Hoops Opens Five-Game Homestand versus 2019 NCAA Tourney Team

Game 5
Ball State (3-1, 0-0 MAC) vs. Northern Kentucky (3-1, 0-0 Horizon)
Wednesday, Nov. 20 (7 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind. (Worthen Arena)
Watch: ESPN+ | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats | Tickets

Setting the Stage
• Ball State opens a five-game homestand Wednesday against reigning Horizon League champion Northern Kentucky. The Cardinals will not hit the road again until their Dec. 18 matchup at Georgia Tech. Wednesday marks the first-ever meeting between BSU and NKU.

• Both teams are coming off 2-0 weeks. Ball State defeated UIC on the road and Indiana State on a neutral floor at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, both by double digits. Northern Kentucky won at Coastal Carolina and defeated Coppin State at home. BSU's only loss so far came in a tight game on the road against an Evansville team that defeated then-No. 1 Kentucky three days later. The Cardinals took down the in-state rival Sycamores on Sunday for the third straight year.

The Matchup
• Northern Kentucky is the second first-time opponent on Ball State's schedule and the second of that variety from the Horizon League. BSU defeated UIC last week in its first meeting with the Flames.

• Ball State has won 17 consecutive non-conference home games. The last loss came Dec. 3, 2016 against IUPUI.

• Northern Kentucky won the Horizon League last year, finishing 26-9 overall and 13-5 in conference play. The Norse fell to national finalist Texas Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. NKU returns 10 players and four starters from that team but features a new head coach in Darrin Horn. The former Western Kentucky and South Carolina head man replaced John Brannen who left for Cincinnati.

• Preseason all-conference selection Tyler Sharpe leads four double-figure scorers for NKU at 16.3 points per game. Jalen Tate is a preseason candidate for the Lou Henson Award which goes to the nation's top mid-major player. He is averaging 6.3 assists per game.

• Ball State is 28-16 all-time against current members of the Horizon League. Outside of in-state foe IUPUI, the Cardinals have not matched up with current members of the conference often in recent history. Before last week's game at UIC, the last current Horizon League team Ball State faced other than IUPUI was Cleveland State in November 2013. Common BSU foe Valparaiso left the league for the Missouri Valley Conference in 2017.

BSU-NKU Connections
• Ball State president Geoffrey Mearns came to Muncie in May 2017 after serving five years as president at Northern Kentucky. He is the 17th president of Ball State University.

• Former Ball State point guard Tayler Persons began his collegiate career at Northern Kentucky. Persons was the Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year for NKU transferring to Ball State. He was an All-MAC selection in each of his three years in Muncie and became the first BSU player ever to reach 1,500 points and 400 assists in a Cardinals uniform. The Kokomo, Indiana, native graduated in the spring and is now playing professionally in the Netherlands.

• Brennan Gillis, a fifth-year senior receiver for the Ball State football team, spent his first two years of college as a member of the basketball program at Northern Kentucky. He played for the Norse's NCAA Tournament team in 2017. Gillis then transferred to Ball State and has played the past three seasons for the Cardinals football team.

What's Trending
• BSU climbed to No. 104 in the Ken Pomeroy ratings after Sunday's win over Indiana State. There are six MAC teams in the top 125.

• Tahjai Teague shared MAC West Division Player of the Week honors with Toledo's Luke Knapke after averaging a near double-double in Ball State's wins over UIC and Indiana State. He capped the week with his first double-double of the season, 22 points and 10 rebounds plus three blocks in the win over the Sycamores.

• Teague played only 15 minutes in the opener against D-III Defiance. Against three D-I opponents, he is averaging 20 points and nine rebounds.

• Fifth-year senior Josh Thompson has 12 assists and only one turnover through four games. He is one of only six players in the country with at least 10 assists and just one turnover. Thompson made his first career start in the opener and has started all four games.

• The Cardinals rank 11th nationally in turnover rate, giving the ball away on only 13.4 percent of their possessions. Last year, BSU ranked in the bottom quarter of the country, turning it over 20.2 percent of the time. The Cardinals rank 12th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.73-to-1.

• BSU ranks 22nd in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 56.3 points per game. The Cardinals have held their opponents to 55 points or fewer in three of their four games.

• The Cardinals feature three players shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range -- Luke Bumbalough (50 percent), Kyle Mallers (42.1) and Ishmael El-Amin (41.7). Last year, El-Amin was the team leader at 36.8 percent from deep.

Men's Hoops Opens Five-Game Homestand versus 2019 NCAA Tourney Team

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Players Mentioned

Luke Bumbalough

Ishmael El-Amin

Kyle Mallers

Tayler Persons

Tahjai Teague

Josh Thompson