Cardinals Visit Buffalo Looking to Grab Share of West Division Lead

Game 26
Ball State (14-11, 7-5 MAC) at Buffalo (16-9, 7-5 MAC)
Tuesday, Feb. 18 (7 p.m. ET)
Buffalo, N.Y. (Alumni Arena)
Watch: ESPN+ | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats

Setting the Stage
• Ball State travels to Buffalo to face the two-time defending MAC champion for the second time this season. The Cardinals defeated the Bulls 88-68 in Muncie in the second game of the conference schedule. Tuesday's game is Ball State's last of the regular season against the MAC East Division. The Cardinals will then close with their final five games against fellow West Division opponents.

• A win Tuesday would move Ball State into a tie with idle Northern Illinois for the West Division lead. The Cardinals split two games at home last week against the division leaders, defeating NIU and then falling to Bowling Green despite a furious late rally to trim a 20-point deficit to three. Buffalo is coming off a pair of wins last week, defeating Central Michigan at home and Toledo on the road.

The Matchup
• With two-thirds of the MAC schedule complete, Ball State and Buffalo are part of a three-way tie with Kent State for fourth in the overall league standings. The top four teams will receive a bye in the conference tournament. BSU is a combined 2-0 against the Bulls and Golden Flashes this season.

• Tahjai Teague scored 25 points in the first meeting between the teams this season, as the Cardinals defeated the Bulls 88-68 in Muncie. His point total that evening remains the highest by a BSU player this season. The Cardinals' 47.9 percent shooting performance in the game is the team's best in a conference game this year.

• Tuesday's game features Ball State's MAC-leading scoring defense (62.4 ppg) against a Buffalo scoring offense (78.2 ppg) that ranks second in the league.

• Buffalo ranks second in the country in rebounding at 42.4 rebounds per game and second on the offensive glass at 14.8 per game. The Bulls feature five players averaging double-figure scoring led by junior guard Jayvon Graves at 16.6 points per game.

What's Trending
• Tahjai Teague had his typical stat-sheet stuffing performance Saturday against Bowling Green with 21 points, eight rebounds, four blocks, three assists and two steals.

• Teague moved into 10th place on Ball State's all-time scoring list Saturday with 1,452 for his career. He also surpassed 900 career rebounds in the game (904) and needs just two more to pass former teammate Trey Moses for fourth on the Cardinals' all-time rebounding list. Teague also ranks third in blocks (129) and seventh in steals (154) in program history.

• Among MAC freshmen in conference play, BSU's Jarron Coleman ranks first in rebounding (5.7 rpg), first in assists (3.3 apg) and second in scoring (9.6 ppg), behind only Miami's Dae Dae Grant (11.2). He has scored double figures in six of the past seven games, including his MAC-high of 17 points Saturday versus Bowling Green.

• Coleman, the Cardinals' redshirt freshman starting point guard, matched his career-high with nine rebounds against both Northern Illinois and Bowling Green last week. His 5.7 rebounds per game in league play rank second on the team behind only Tahjai Teague.

Cardinals Visit Buffalo Looking to Grab Share of West Division Lead

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Players Mentioned

Jarron Coleman

Trey Moses

Tahjai Teague