Men's Hoops Set for Christmas Day Diamond Head Finale versus Portland

Game 13
Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic
Ball State (6-6, 0-0 MAC) vs. Portland (8-6, 0-0 WCC)
Wednesday, Dec. 25 (8:30 a.m. HT/1:30 p.m. ET)
Honolulu, Hawaii (Stan Sheriff Center)
Watch: ESPNU | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats

Setting the Stage
• Ball State closes out the Diamond Head Classic on Christmas Day with its first ever meeting against Portland from the West Coast Conference. BSU wound up here after losses to No. 22 Washington (85-64) and UTEP (71-70) on the first two days of the tournament. Portland fell to Houston (81-56) and Boise State (85-69) in its first two games. The Cardinals have never before played a game on Christmas Day.

• The game also serves as Ball State's non-conference finale, as the Cardinals look to finish that portion of their schedule with a winning record. BSU will host MAC West Division preseason favorite Toledo (Jan. 3) and defending MAC champion Toledo (Jan. 7) to open league play in the new year.

The Matchup
• Ball State is 1-2 all-time against current members of the West Coast Conference. The most recent meeting came in December 2015 when the Cardinals fell to Pepperdine in Muncie, 81-72. BSU defeated San Francisco, 81-72, in December 1992 at the Big Island Invitational in Hilo, Hawaii. The Cardinals fell to Pacific, 83-69, in Muncie in January 1975. Pacific, however, was not a member of the WCC at the time.

• Portland has lost five of its past seven games after getting off to a 6-1 start. The Pilots feature a balanced offensive attack with seven players averaging at least 7.0 points per game, led by Isaiah White at 13.7.

• Portland is coached by Terry Porter who played 17 seasons in the NBA, most notably with the Portland Trailblazers from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s. He also had NBA head coaching stints with both the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns.

• Ball State is currently the fourth-highest MAC team in the Ken Pomeroy ratings at No. 111. The league features six teams rated among the top 140 in the country.

What's Trending
• Ball State faced its largest rebounding deficit of the season (37-21) in Monday's loss to UTEP. BSU is 6-2 when outrebounding its opponent this season but 0-4 when tied or behind on the glass. The Cardinals gave themselves a chance against UTEP by forcing 23 turnovers, their second-highest total of the season. BSU forced 24 turnovers two games earlier in the win at Georgia Tech.

• Tahjai Teague is leading Ball State in scoring (17.0 ppg) and rebounding (9.5 rpg) through two games at the Diamond Head Classic. His rebounding average ranks third among all players in the tournament. Ishmael El-Amin (13.5 ppg) and Jarron Coleman (12.5 ppg) are also averaging double figure scoring in Hawaii.

• The Cardinals are 31-for-36 (86.1 percent) from the free throw line at the Diamond Head Classic. After shooting just 49.5 percent from the stripe over the season's first five games, BSU has made 76.1 percent over the past seven contests.

• Ball State entered the Diamond Head Classic shooting 37.1 percent from 3-point range, but the Cardinals have made only 13-of-49 (26.5 percent) over two games in Honolulu.

• The Cardinals entered the event 20th in the country in field goal percentage defense at 37.6 percent but have seen opponents shoot a combined 53.7 percent in Hawaii.

Men's Hoops Set for Christmas Day Diamond Head Finale versus Portland

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Players Mentioned

Jarron Coleman

Ishmael El-Amin

Tahjai Teague