Cardinals Visit Toledo Saturday with Chance to Sweep Season Series

Game 29
Ball State (16-12, 9-6 MAC) at Toledo (14-14, 6-9 MAC)
Saturday, Feb. 29 (2 p.m. ET)
Toledo, Ohio (Savage Arena)
Watch: ESPN3 | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats

Setting the Stage
• Ball State heads to Toledo seeking to sweep the season series from the Rockets. The Cardinals were 61-57 winners in the MAC opener in Muncie back on Jan. 3. BSU is looking to extend its winning streak to three games, returning to the road after winning back-to-back home games over Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan. The Cardinals are 5-2 this season against fellow MAC West Division opponents.

• Toledo has won three of its past four games, finding its form after the preseason West Division favorite got off to a 3-8 start in league play. The Rockets also have a chance for a three-game winning streak, returning to their home court after posting back-to-back road victories over Western Michigan and Central Michigan.

The Matchup
• Ball State has won six of the past seven meetings with Toledo, including each of its past three trips to Savage Arena.

• Over seven career matchups against Toledo, BSU forward Tahjai Teague is averaging 13.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game with three double-doubles. He had 20 points and 12 boards in last year's win at Toledo.

• Despite Teague posting only five points and six rebounds in this season's first meeting, the Cardinals won behind 17 points from Ishmael El-Amin and 15 from Kyle Mallers.

• Toledo's Marreon Jackson, coming off a 37-point game against Central Michigan, ranks second in the MAC in both scoring (19.8 ppg) and assists (5.6 apg). Luke Knapke is scoring 15.7 points per game, while Willie Jackson is averaging a double-double at 12.1 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. His rebounding average ranks fourth nationally. The Rockets lead the MAC in 3-point percentage (.370) but are also allowing opponents to shoot 35 percent.

• Saturday's matchup features two of the four MAC players averaging double-doubles in league play in Teague and Toledo's Willie Jackson. Eastern Michigan's Boubacar Toure and Buffalo's Josh Mballa are the others.

• Ball State has played only four times previously on Feb. 29, winning all of them. The Cardinals' most recent Leap Day game was a 71-52 home victory over Central Michigan in 2012.

Implications
• Ball State is one game behind Northern Illinois for first place in the MAC West Division. The Cardinals are seeking a third division championship in five years, having shared it in both 2016 and 2017. Toledo won it in 2018 and 2019. BSU will visit NIU in the final game of the regular season.

• The Cardinals are tied with Buffalo for fourth in the overall MAC standings. The top four seeds earn byes in the MAC Tournament. BSU would currently be the No. 5 seed based on tiebreakers.

What's Trending
• Ball State scored a season-high 26 fastbreak points Tuesday versus Western Michigan. The Cardinals also had 21 bench points, their highest total since Jan. 7 against Buffalo (23).

• Junior guard Ishmael El-Amin recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season with 21 against Western Michigan. He also tied his career high for 3-pointers by hitting 5-of-9.

• After holding WMU to 61 points, Ball State is back on top of the MAC's scoring defense rankings, allowing 62.4 points per game.

• Offensively, 39.7 percent of Ball State's production comes from the 3-point line. That ranks 14th in the country. The Cardinals have made 23-of-51 (45.1 percent) from beyond the arc over the past two games, including a MAC season-high 13 treys versus Eastern Michigan.

Cardinals Visit Toledo Saturday with Chance to Sweep Season Series

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Players Mentioned

Ishmael El-Amin

Kyle Mallers

Tahjai Teague