Men's Hoops Eyes Another MAC Road Win Saturday at Western Michigan

Game 23
Ball State (13-9, 6-3 MAC) at Western Michigan (10-12, 3-6 MAC)
Saturday, Feb. 8 (4:30 p.m. ET)
Kalamazoo, Mich. (University Arena)
Watch: ESPN3 | Listen: 96.7/104.9 | Live Stats

Setting the Stage
• Ball State wraps up a heavy road stretch Saturday, looking for its best MAC start in 15 years. The contest with Western Michigan is the Cardinals' sixth road game in the past eight. A win would move BSU to 7-3 in conference play for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The Cardinals have won two straight, most recently defeating Kent State for their first road win over the Golden Flashes since 1999.

• Western Michigan snapped a three-game losing streak with a 64-60 victory earlier this week at MAC East Division opponent Miami. The Broncos' other league wins have also come against teams from the East -- Kent State and Ohio. Saturday's contest will be just the fourth West Division game for both BSU and WMU. The Cardinals are 2-1 versus fellow West teams, while the Broncos are seeking their first division win.

The Matchup
• Ball State won both meetings with Western Michigan last season, defeating the Broncos 79-59 in Muncie and 60-58 in Kalamazoo. Kyle Mallers recorded a double-double for BSU in the first meeting last season with 22 points and 10 rebounds while hitting 6-of-10 from 3-point range. The Broncos took both matchups the previous season.

• Ball State and Western Michigan will be meeting for the 133rd time in an all-time series that is deadlocked at 66-all. When the teams get together in Muncie on Feb. 24, WMU will match Indiana State for the opponent Ball State has faced most frequently in program history.

• Ball State's freshmen are accounting for 69 minutes per game in MAC play, the most of any team in the league. Ohio is getting an average of 68 minutes from rookies, while Western Michigan is the next highest at 55. Redshirt freshman 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 conference play.

• Western Michigan features two of the top 12 scorers in the MAC in Michael Flowers (17.8 ppg) and Brandon Johnson (14.8). Flowers ranks 23rd nationally in free throw attempts, having taken 110 on the season. As a team, the Broncos have attempted the second-most free throws in the league with 496, just one fewer than Eastern Michigan.

What's Trending
• In winning the past two games, Ball State held both Ohio and Kent State to just 54 points. The Golden Flashes had only scored fewer points once this season (52 at Ohio State). Ball State lowered its MAC-best scoring defense average to 61.6 points per game. BSU has held 16 of its 22 opponents to fewer than 70 points, winning 13 of those games.

• In addition to his 12-point, 17-rebound double-double in Tuesday's win at Kent State, Tahjai Teague matched his career high with six assists. Teague also had six assists in this season's win at Georgia Tech.

• Tahjai Teague is averaging a double-double in conference play at 17.4 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. He ranks first in the league in blocks per game in conference play (2.1), second in rebounding and eighth in scoring.

• Redshirt junior forward Brachen Hazen recorded a career-high 10 rebounds in Tuesday's win at Kent State, while redshirt sophomore forward Miryne Thomas scored a season-best seven points to spark the Cardinals in the first half.

Men's Hoops Eyes Another MAC Road Win Saturday at Western Michigan

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kani Acree

Luke Bumbalough

Jarron Coleman

Brachen Hazen

Kyle Mallers

Tahjai Teague

Miryne Thomas