New Season of BSU Men’s Hoops Begins Tuesday versus Defiance

Tuesday, November 5

Muncie, Ind.

7:00 PM ET

Ball State University

Defiance

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Photo by: Jeff Harwell

New Season of BSU Men’s Hoops Begins Tuesday versus Defiance

November 04, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Cardinals among MAC leaders in terms of returning production this year

Game 1
Ball State (0-0, 0-0 MAC) vs. Defiance (0-0, 0-0 HCAC)
Tuesday, Nov. 5 (7 p.m.)
Muncie Ind. (Worthen Arena)
Watch: ESPN3 | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats

Setting the Stage
• Ball State opens is 99th season of competition against Division III Defiance. The Cardinals are entering their seventh season under head coach James Whitford and were picked third in the MAC West Division preseason poll by the league's coaches. BSU returns three starters and eight letterwinners from last season's squad. The Cardinals did not play a true exhibition game, opting instead for a pair of closed scrimmages.

• Defiance played an exhibition contest last week, winning 79-78 at NAIA opponent Concordia (Mich.). The Yellow Jackets overcame a nine-point deficit with fewer than 40 seconds remaining, and sophomore forward Tyler Andrew hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 7 seconds left. Andrew, who led last year's 3-22 Defiance squad with an average of 13.2 points per game, scored 18 in the win over Concordia.

Ball State Storylines
• Ball State returns 64 percent of its scoring from last year, second among MAC teams only to league preseason favorite Bowling Green (69 percent). The Cardinals welcome back 62 percent of their rebounding, trailing only Toledo (75 percent) and Central Michigan (63 percent) among league teams. BSU welcomes back eight total letterwinners and three starters in senior forwards Tahjai Teague and Kyle Mallers and senior guard K.J. Walton.

• Tahjai Teague was named to the preseason All-MAC West Division Team. Teague is the Cardinals' top returner in scoring (13.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 ppg). His field goal percentage (.550) ranked second in the MAC and among the top 50 nationally a season ago. The fifth-year senior surpassed 1,000 career points last season.

• Ball State had the benefit of a foreign trip this summer, something allowed once every four years by the NCAA. The Cardinals played three games in Costa Rica and also had 10 practices to prepare. BSU won all three games in San Jose, defeating Costa Rica Select once and the University of Ottawa, one of Canada's top programs, twice. Junior guard Ishmael El-Amin led the team in scoring at 14.0 points per game over the three contests.

• Ball State welcomes a talented freshman class rated as the best in the MAC by 247Sports. The class includes Indiana guards Luke Bumbalough and Lucas Kroft and Canadian big man Ben Hendriks. Bumbalough was a finalist for Indiana Mr. Basketball at New Castle High School, while Kroft was an honorable mention all-state selection for Richmond High School. Hendriks played for one of the top Canadian programs at Orangeville Prep.

• The three true freshmen won't be the only new players on the court for Ball State. The roster also features three players who redshirted last season. Forward Miryne Thomas sat out as a transfer from Maryland Eastern Shore where he was a member of the All-MEAC Team. Guards Jarron Coleman, a former Indiana All-Star at Cathedral High School, and Kani Acree from Carbondale Community High School in Illinois both redshirted as freshmen a year ago.