Cardinals Face UTEP in Late Night Tip at Diamond Head

Game 12
Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic
Ball State (6-5, 0-0 MAC) vs. UTEP (8-3, 0-0 C-USA)
Monday, Dec. 23 (8:30 p.m. HT/1:30 a.m. ET Tuesday)
Honolulu, Hawaii (Stan Sheriff Center)
Watch: ESPNU | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats

Setting the Stage
• Ball State meets UTEP for the first time ever Monday in a consolation game at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. The Cardinals fell to 22nd-ranked Washington, 85-64, in Sunday's quarterfinal round as the Huskies pulled away in the second half despite a double-double from Tahjai Teague. UTEP held a second-half lead over tournament host Hawaii but saw the Rainbow Warriors rally for a 67-63 victory despite 33 points from Bryson Williams.

• The winner of Monday's contest will meet either Boise State or Portland on Christmas Day in the fifth-place game, while the loser will meet one of those teams for seventh place.

The Matchup
• UTEP was 8-1 until suffering losses in its past two games on the road against a top-50 Houston team (77-57) and against host Hawaii (67-63) in its first game of the Diamond Head Classic. The Miners' only other loss came at New Mexico State, but they also beat the Aggies this season at home where they are undefeated. UTEP also owns quality wins over New Mexico and UC Irvine. The Miners feature Conference USA's second-leading scorer in Bryson Williams at 20.8 points per game.

• The power rating systems measure Ball State and UTEP slightly differently. Ken Pomeroy rates the Cardinals at No. 110 and the Miners at No. 118. The NCAA's NET ranking has UTEP at No. 94 and BSU at No. 130.

• Ball State has never faced UTEP before and has not played a Conference USA opponent in quite some time. The Cardinals' most recent matchup with a current C-USA member was in November 2006 against Western Kentucky (L, 76-66) at the Las Vegas Holiday Invitational, but the Hilltoppers were not a member of the league at the point.

• BSU is 10-13 all-time against current C-USA members, but 11 of those 23 games came against Marshall when the Thundering Herd played alongside the Cardinals in the MAC from 1997-2005.

• BSU's last matchup against a team that was in Conference USA at the time of the meeting came at home against South Florida in the first round of the 2002 NIT (W, 98-92). The Cardinals won that game behind 40 points from Chris Williams and 26 from Theron Smith. BSU went on to reach the NIT quarterfinals that year.

• Ball State's only matchup against a school that was in the league at the time of the meeting and remains in the league today came in December 1996 against UAB (W, 82-70) at the Hawaii-Nike Festival, also in Honolulu.

What's Trending
• Tahjai Teague recorded his fourth double-double of the season and the 18th of his career in Sunday's quarterfinal loss to Washington. The fifth-year senior scored 20 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Teague's 18 career double-doubles rank second among MAC players only to Toledo's Willie Jackson (20). His 769 career rebounds rank ninth among all active players in the country.

• Freshman guard Jarron Coleman reached double figures for the third straight game with 11 points against Washington. Coleman is averaging 16.0 points per game over the past three contests, including a career-high 20 against IUPUI and 17 in the Cardinals' win at Georgia Tech. He started all three of those games at point guard.

• Ball State started 5-for-10 from 3-point range against Washington but made just two of its final 14 attempts. The Cardinals are shooting 36.4 percent from 3-point range and feature two of the MAC's top shooters from beyond the arc in Ishmael El-Amin (.483) and Kyle Mallers (.459).

Cardinals Face UTEP in Late Night Tip at Diamond Head

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Players Mentioned

Jarron Coleman

Ishmael El-Amin

Kyle Mallers

Tahjai Teague