Cardinals Welcome Surging Eastern Michigan for Fifth Annual #MuncieOut

Game 27
Fifth Annual #MuncieOut
Ball State (14-12, 7-6 MAC) vs. Eastern Michigan (15-11, 5-8 MAC)
Saturday, Feb. 22 (1 p.m. ET)
Muncie, Ind. (Worthen Arena)
Watch: ESPN3 | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats | Tickets

#MuncieOut Promotions: $5 bronze level seats, $10 silver level seats, free parking, $1 hot dogs, Pacers Power Pack halftime show, Men's Basketball Alumni Day, anniversary recognitions of 1990, 1995 and 2000 championship teams with commemorative poster giveaway.

Setting the Stage
• Ball State welcomes the MAC's hottest team to Worthen Arena. After starting 0-7 in conference play, Eastern Michigan has rattled off wins on five of its past six games. Most recently, the Eagles blitzed Kent State 70-49. BSU and EMU met back on Jan. 14 in Ypsilanti, with the Cardinals pulling away for a 69-52 victory.

• Saturday's game marks the beginning of Ball State's second trip through the MAC West Division. The Cardinals are 3-2 against the division this year with home wins over Toledo and Northern Illinois, the road win at Eastern Michigan and road losses to Central Michigan and Western Michigan. BSU is looking to bounce back from a tough two-game stretch, falling last weekend to league leader Bowling Green and Saturday at two-time defending champion Buffalo.

The Matchup
• Ball State enters the weekend one game behind first-place Northern Illinois in the MAC West Division standings. The Cardinals would be the No. 5 seed if the conference tournament started today. Surging Eastern Michigan would be the No. 9 seed.

• Tahjai Teague is averaging 20.5 points and 12.0 rebounds over his past four games against Eastern Michigan. Teague scored 23 points and grabbed a then-career-high 17 rebounds in this season's first meeting in Ypsilanti. He set a new career best with 18 boards two games later at Central Michigan.

• Teague and Eastern Michigan's Boubacar Toure are two of the four MAC players averaging a double-double in conference play (Toledo's Willie Jackson and Buffalo's Josh Mballa are the others). Toure averages 12.3 points per game in league play to lead three EMU players averaging double-figure scoring.

• Saturday's game features the top two scoring defenses in the league. After giving up 70 or more points in consecutive games for only the second time this season, Ball State now ranks second in that category at 62.7 points per game. Eastern Michigan, having held its past two opponents to a combined 100 points, now leads the league at 62.1 per game.

• In addition to its scoring defense numbers, Eastern Michigan ranks second nationally in steals per game (10.3) and 12th in turnovers forced per game (17.4).

What's Trending
• Fifth-year senior Tahjai Teague is averaging a double-double in conference play at 15.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. He ranks first in the league in blocks per game in conference play (2.1), third in rebounding and 10th in scoring.

• Teague is looking to bounce back from his lowest scoring output of the season, having scored four points on 2-of-4 shooting at Buffalo. He still grabbed 10 rebounds in the game. In the season's first meeting with the Bulls, Teague scored a season-high 25 points.

• Among MAC freshmen in conference play, BSU's Jarron Coleman ranks first in rebounding (5.6 rpg), first in assists (3.3 apg) and second in scoring (10.0 ppg), behind only Miami's Dae Dae Grant (11.2). He has scored double figures in seven of the past eight games, including his highest scoring MAC games in the past two outings -- 17 versus Bowling Green and 15 at Buffalo.

• Ball State's freshmen are accounting for 69.7 minutes per game in MAC play, the most of any team in the league. Ohio is the next closest at 66.5 minutes from rookies. Jarron Coleman and true freshman Luke Bumbalough have started every league game in the backcourt for BSU, while redshirt freshman Kani Acree has also played a significant role in MAC play.

Cardinals Welcome Surging Eastern Michigan for Fifth Annual #MuncieOut

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Players Mentioned

Kani Acree

Luke Bumbalough

Jarron Coleman

Tahjai Teague