BSU Men’s Hoops Back at Eastern Michigan to Tip off MAC Tournament

Game 32
MAC Tournament First Round
Ball State (15-16, 6-12 MAC) at Eastern Michigan (15-16, 9-9 MAC)
Monday, March 11 (7 p.m.)
Ypsilanti, Mich. (Convocation Center)
Watch: ESPN+ | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats

Setting the Stage
• No. 11 seed Ball State opens MAC Tournament play at No. 6 seed Eastern Michigan for the third meeting between the teams this season and the second in seven days. The Eagles won both regular season contests, defeating the Cardinals in overtime in Muncie in January and earning a 68-61 victory last week in Ypsilanti.

• The Cardinals wrapped up the regular season Friday with a 64-57 home loss to Northern Illinois, while Eastern Michigan dropped a 64-58 decision at MAC West Division champion Toledo in its finale. The winner of Monday's matchup will advance to meet No. 3 seed Bowling Green in Thursday's quarterfinal round in Cleveland.

About the Matchup
• Ball State faces an Eastern Michigan team that ranks second in the MAC in offensive rebounding at better than 12.5 per game. Senior center James Thompson IV grabs more than four per game to rank second in the country. The Eagles are also second in the MAC in steals (7.4) and blocked shots (4.5) per game. The senior trio of Paul Jackson (14.4 ppg), Elijah Minnie (13.6) and Thompson (11.2) lead Eastern Michigan in scoring. Minnie and Thompson were both preseason All-MAC West Division selections for an EMU squad that was picked to win the division.

• Monday's matchup pits two teams looking to make some noise in the tournament after falling short of preseason expectations. Eastern Michigan and Ball State were picked first and second, respectively, in the MAC West Division preseason poll but went on to finish third and fifth.

• Ball State won five straight over Eastern Michigan before the Eagles snapped the streak with a victory in the second of last year's two meetings. The Eagles have now won three in a row after taking both matchups in the regular season this year.

• Ball State and Eastern Michigan have met eight previous times in the MAC Tournament but not once since 2008. The Eagles hold a 5-3 edge in the tournament meetings, including wins in each of the past five. The most recent matchup was a 59-55 victory in a 2008 first-round game in Cleveland.

What's Trending
• Senior center Trey Moses broke the Ball State record for career games played when he took the court for the 130th time in the regular season finale. Moses, who ranks second in school history for blocks (138), also climbed to fourth on BSU's all-time rebounding list with 898, moving ahead of both Theron Smith (1999-03) and Steve Payne (1992-95).

• Senior point guard Tayler Persons has started all 97 games of his BSU career. Only Ray McCallum (1979-83), who started his final 104 games, made more consecutive starts for the Cardinals. Despite playing just three seasons at Ball State, Persons has cracked the top 10 in school history for points (9th, 1,521) and the top 5 for assists (4th, 435).

• Tayler Persons surpassed 1,900 career points in the regular season finale. He is one of only four active Division I players in the country with at least 1,900 career points and 500 career assists. The others are Marshall's Jon Elmore (2,505, 748), Georgia Southern's Tookie Brown (2,272, 521), Charlotte's Jon Davis (2,113, 547) and Fort Wayne's John Konchar (2,034, 540).

• Ball State has held seven of its past eight opponents to fewer than 70 points and limited three of them to fewer than 60. Unfortunately, the Cardinals have only topped 70 points once themselves during that stretch. BSU ranks 75th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency for its best rating in the 18-year history of Ken Pomeroy's metrics. The Cardinals are one of four MAC teams to rate among the top 80 (Akron, Buffalo, Toledo).

BSU Men’s Hoops Back at Eastern Michigan to Tip off MAC Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Trey Moses

Tayler Persons