Cardinals Host Saturday Night Test vs. Illinois State

Ball State (2-2) vs. Illinois State (2-2)
Date	Saturday, Dec. 12
Time	7 p.m. ET (6 CT)
Location	Worthen Arena - Muncie, Ind.
Live Video	ESPN 3 (Joel Godett, David Eha) (Watch)
Radio	Ball State Network 96.7 / 104.9 (Listen Live)
Tickets	NONE AVAILABLE
Game Notes	Ball State \| Illinois State
Live Stats	Live Stats
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

Cardinals Host Illinois State For Saturday Night Test

The Ball State men's basketball team will shoot for its third straight win Saturday night when it hosts Illinois State at 7 p.m. Ball State enters after picking up wins over Land of Lincoln opponents UIC and Northern Illinois. Illinois State, like Ball State is 2-2 but hasn't played in a week. The two teams last met as part of an ESPN Bracketbusters home-and-away in 2007.

BSU aims to go over .500 for the first time this season and brings the momentum of a pair of wins into Saturday's contest. The last time out saw Ball State go on the road in league play and win despite being down double figures. The Cardinals came back to tie the game and then blitzed Northern Illinois by scoring the first 11 points of the extra period.

"It was a good performance by our guys. We kept our poise, especially in the second half," head coach James Whitford said. "In the last two games we've played really well down the stretch and it's great to see that growth from our team."

The Cardinals are learning and coming together as a team very much on the fly this season. Over time, roles are being carved out and chemistry starts to form. The Cards are taking it one day at a time, and are staying the course.

"We're going to keep making progress over the next 3-4 weeks and we're going to get better," the head coach said. "Eventually, we'll get healthy and get everybody back. And at that point, we can be a very dangerous team."

Saturday's game will be a tough test for Ball State, hosting an Illinois State team scoring 97 points per game. Those totals, however, are deceptive because of the outlier ISU-Greenville game that was a 177-108 final. ISU's lone D-I win is an 82-72 victory over UMass Lowell.

"They have historically been a storied program with a great tradition," Whitford said. "They have a lot of physically talented athletes. Outside of Michigan, this is the most athletic team we'll play. We're going to have to play well, smart and poised to win the game."

The Starting 5 - The Top 5 Storylines For This Game

1. A LOSS IN THE NON-CON IS A NON-STARTER
non-conference opponents in recent years have left Muncie with a win. BSU is 29-6 in non-conference home games since the 2015-16 season. That includes a streak of 18 straight non-conference home wins from 2017-19. Additionally, the Cardinals were 8-1 at home in league play last year. This is BSU's second and final non-conference home game of the season.

2. WALTON ONE OF THE LEAGUE'S BEST EARLY
guards have had the start K.J. Walton has. The 6th-year guard is averaging 22.8 points and 5.8 rebounds and has three 20-point games to his credit already. And he's been efficient, ranking eighth in the conference with a .569 field goal percentage. He's been both prolific and efficient despite shooting just one 3-pointer this season. He's also second in the conference with 25 made free throws, using his strength and speed to draw fouls.

3. LEADING FROM THE BACKCOURT
It's no surprise a strength for Ball State is its veteran backcourt. K.J. Walton and Ishmael El-Amin are combining for 39.1 points per game, the highest combined average for a duo in the MAC (see MAC's top 5 duos on page 6. Walton has three games with 20+ points and El-Amin is averaging 20.0 points over the last two games. Both players scored 18 points in the OT win at NIU, with El-Amin scoring 17 in the second half and overtime.

4. NOT PLAYING WITH A FULL DECK OF CARDS
Ball State has been bitten by the injury bug in the preseason. Notably, 2020 MAC Freshman of the Year Jarron Coleman is out after having foot surgery in October. Transfer Reggie Jones, who scored 723 career points at Western Michigan and Tulsa, is also out with a lower body injury. Additionally, many players have missed practice time for various reasons in a very disjointed offseason.

5. CONSIDER OUR COMPOSURE KEPT
Twice in the last week, Ball State has come under pressure in tight games. And twice, the Cards have delivered. Against UIC, BSU saw a 16-point lead disappear but found a 10-2 run and hit free throws to ice the game. The opposite happened Tuesday at Northern Illinois, when the Cards were down 10 but came back and won by scoring the first 11 points of overtime.