Early MAC Leaders Clash when Cardinals Visit Akron for Late Friday Showdown

Game 16
Ball State (9-6, 2-0 MAC) at Akron (12-3, 2-0 MAC)
Friday, Jan. 10 (9 p.m. ET)
Akron, Ohio (James A. Rhodes Arena)
Watch: CBS Sports Network | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats

Setting the Stage
• Ball State visits Akron for a matchup of 2-0 MAC teams riding three-game winning streaks. The Cardinals opened league play with home wins over both of last year's division champions, taking down Toledo from the West and two-time defending league champ Buffalo from the East. BSU will play four of its next five games and six of its next eight on the road.

• Akron won at Eastern Michigan and defeated Western Michigan at home to open league play. The Zips are 9-0 at Rhodes Arena this season. Akron is the MAC's highest-rated team at No. 49 in the NET and No. 83 by Ken Pomeroy. Ball State is third among MAC teams in KenPom at No. 101, the highest the Cardinals have reached this season.

The Matchup
• Four of the past five meetings between Ball State and Akron have been decided by five points or fewer. The Cardinals have won the past three over the Zips, including a 57-56 victory on a late Trey Moses tip-in last year in Muncie. BSU also won its most recent visit to Akron, 90-77, in 2018, snapping a nine-game losing streak inside Rhodes Arena.

• Friday's matchup pits two of the top defensive teams in the MAC. Ball State leads the league in scoring defense (61.3 ppg), while Akron ranks third (63.5). The Zips have allowed an average of just 57.0 points over their first two conference games.

• Akron tops the MAC in both 3-point field goal percentage (.375) and 3-point defense (.269). Only one Zips opponent has hit 10 3-pointers -- UMass in the non-conference finale. Ball State's 10 treys this week against Buffalo marked the seventh time this season the Cardinals hit at least 10 from beyond the arc.

• The game will feature two of the MAC's 3-point percentage leaders in Akron's Channel Banks (.468, 1st) and Ball State's Ishmael El-Amin (.450, 3rd).

• Akron features four players averaging double-figure scoring, led by junior guard Loren Cristian Jackson at 16.4 points per game. Jackson, who scored 26 in Tuesday's win over Western Michigan, also averages 4.9 assists per game. The Zips feature the MAC's second-leading rebounder in Xeyrius Williams at 9.5 boards per game.

What's Trending
• Ball State's 20-point win Tuesday over Buffalo was its eighth victory by at least 14 points this season. BSU's only victory by fewer than 14 was its four-point win over Toledo in the MAC opener.

• Fifth-year senior Tahjai Teague's 25 points against Buffalo were the most by a BSU player this season. He reached the 20-point plateau for the 12th time in his career, hitting a career-high 11 field goals in 16 attempts.

• BSU head coach James Whitford won his 98th career game Tuesday against Toledo, surpassing Dick Hunsaker (1989-93) for third on the school's all-time list. Jim Hinga (154 wins from 1954-68) is the winningest coach in program history, followed by Ray McCallum (126 wins from 1993-2000).

• The Cardinals are not getting to the foul line a lot, but they are cashing in when they do. After Tuesday's 10-for-11 performance at the line against Buffalo, Ball State is shooting 86.6 percent (58-for-67) on free throws over the past five games. BSU's 243 free throw attempts this season are third-fewest in the league behind Miami (229) and Ohio (240). The Cardinals shot only 49.5 percent from the stripe over the season's first five games but have shot 78.4 percent since then.

Early MAC Leaders Clash when Cardinals Visit Akron for Late Friday Showdown

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ishmael El-Amin

Trey Moses

Tahjai Teague