Cardinals Ride Three-Game Winning Streak into Oxford

Game 26
Ball State (14-11, 5-7 MAC) at Miami (13-12, 5-7 MAC)
Tuesday, Feb. 19 (7 p.m.)
Oxford, Ohio (Millett Hall)
Watch: ESPN+ | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats

Setting the Stage
• Ball State visits Oxford, Ohio, for the second of only two road trips in the month of February. The Cardinals have rebounded from a four-game losing streak by winning three in a row to climb within a game of second place in the MAC West Division. Most recently, Ball State slugged out a 57-56 victory over Akron, with Trey Moses' tip-in with 15 seconds remaining proving to be the difference.

• Ball State is looking to even the season series with Miami, after the RedHawks won 71-65 last month in Muncie in a game that was decided in the final minute. Miami has gone 3-3 since that first matchup, most recently suffering an overtime loss Saturday at Western Michigan. The RedHawks are returning to Millett Hall after playing three of their past four games on the road.

About the Matchup
• Ball State faces a Miami team that ranks third in the MAC in scoring defense, allowing 68.6 points per game. Last time out, the Cardinals faced the league's No. 1 scoring defense in Akron. Sophomore guard Nike Sibande leads three RedHawks averaging double-figure scoring at 15.7 points per game. Senior guard Darrian Ringo leads the MAC is steals per game (2.3) and ranks second in assists per game (5.2).

• Ball State has not experienced great success all-time against Miami in Oxford (12-36), but the Cardinals have won two of their past four visits to Millett Hall (2013 and (2016).

What's Trending
• Ball State is one of five teams in the country with three 1,000-point scorers, along with Lipscomb, Northwestern, TCU and Washington. The Cardinals are on the verge of becoming the only team with four. Tayler Persons, Trey Moses and Austin Nehls are currently in the 1000-point club, while Tahjai Teague (977) needs just 23 more points to reach the mark.

• Tayler Persons led Ball State with 15 points and five assists while also tying for the team lead with nine rebounds in Saturday's win over Akron. It was the first time a player led the Cardinals in all three categories since teammate Trey Moses just more than a year ago (Feb. 2, 2018 at Eastern Michigan).

• The win over Akron was Ball State's first of the season when trailing at the half. The Cardinals trailed 29-21 before coming back to win 57-56. BSU was previously 0-9 when down at the half.

• Seven of BSU's MAC games have been decided by six points or fewer. The Cardinals lost the first five of those by an average of 3.2 points. They have won the past two such games by one point each -- at Northern Illinois and versus Akron.

• Sophomore forward Brachen Hazen has averaged 9.5 points per game over the past two contests since returning from a back injury. Hazen (16 games), Ishmael El-Amin (13) and Zach Gunn (3) have combined to miss a total of 32 games to injury, limiting the Cardinals' bench.

Cardinals Ride Three-Game Winning Streak into Oxford

Players Mentioned

Ishmael El-Amin

Zach Gunn

Brachen Hazen

Trey Moses

Austin Nehls

Tayler Persons

Tahjai Teague

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