Cardinals Host Western Michigan Tuesday as MAC Race Hits Home Stretch

Game 28
Ball State (15-12, 8-6 MAC) vs. Western Michigan (11-16, 4-10 MAC)
Tuesday, Feb. 25 (7 p.m. ET)
Muncie, Ind. (Worthen Arena)
Watch: ESPN+ | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats | Tickets

Setting the Stage
• Ball State welcomes Western Michigan for the second meeting between the teams this month as the Cardinals look to avenge a 68-64 loss in Kalamazoo. This meeting takes place at Worthen Arena where BSU is 6-1 this season in conference play. The most recent of those wins came Saturday when the Cardinals overcame an 11-point deficit with 10 minutes left to overtake Eastern Michigan, 64-55. Ball State hit 13 3-pointers in the game, its most in MAC play, behind a 5-for-8 effort from Luke Bumbalough from deep.

• Tuesday's meeting will be Ball State's 134th all-time with Western Michigan which will match Indiana State as the opponent the Cardinals have faced most often in program history. WMU's win earlier this month gave the Broncos a slim, 67-66 lead in the series.

The Matchup
• Ball State remains 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 and are one game behind the Huskies for the No. 4 seed and final first-round bye. BSU will face NIU on the road in the final game of the regular season.

• Western Michigan's Brandon Johnson scored a career-high 29 points on 12-of-14 shooting to lead the Broncos to victory in this season's first meeting. WMU shot 61.9 percent as a team, the highest by a BSU opponent since Cleveland State hit 62.8 percent in November 2013.

• In conference play, Ball State ranks second in the MAC in scoring defense (63.6 ppg) and third in field goal percentage defense (.413). Western Michigan is the only league team to shoot better than 47 percent against BSU.

• Freshmen Luke Bumbalough and Jarron Coleman led BSU with 15 and 14 points, respectively, in the first meeting. Their 29 combined points were the most for the duo in MAC play until Saturday when they had 36 (Coleman 19, Bumbalough 17) versus EMU.

• WMU has lost four in a row since its win over Ball State. The Broncos most recently fell at home to Toledo, 68-59. Michael Flowers (16.9 ppg) and Brandon Johnson (15.0 ppg) lead Western Michigan in scoring, ranking sixth and 11th in the MAC, respectively. The pair ranks second and third in the league in free throw attempts (140 for Flowers and 138 for Johnson).

What's Trending
• Fifth-year senior Tahjai Teague is averaging a double-double in conference play at 15.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. He ranks first in the league in blocks per game in conference play (2.0), fourth in rebounding and 12th in scoring.

• Teague was held to eight points Saturday against Eastern Michigan but matched his career high with six assists. The Cardinals assisted on 19 of their 23 field goals against the Eagles.

• 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 (10.6 ppg), behind only Miami's Dae Dae Grant (11.0). He has scored double figures in eight of the past nine games, including his three highest-scoring MAC games in his past three outings -- 17 versus Bowling Green, 15 at Buffalo and 19 against Eastern Michigan.

• BSU's average home attendance of 4,476 leads the MAC. The Cardinals drew a season-high 5,921 Saturday versus Eastern Michigan.

Cardinals Host Western Michigan Tuesday as MAC Race Hits Home Stretch

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Players Mentioned

Luke Bumbalough

Jarron Coleman

Tahjai Teague