'New Beginning' Starting For Cardinals This Weekend

Ball State (6-9, 4-6) vs. Toledo (16-4, 11-1)
Date	Saturday, Feb. 6
Time	12 pm ET
Location	Worthen Arena - Muncie
Television	CBS Sports Network (Alex Del Barrio, Tim Doyle)
Radio	96.7 / 104.9 FM (Joel Godett, David Eha) (LISTEN)
Tickets	NONE AVAILABLE
Game Notes	Ball State \| Toledo
Live Stats	Live Stats
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

There was a preseason in the fall. And now preparing for its 16th game of the season, the Ball State men's basketball team achieved a new first: this week the Cardinals finally had all 14 players on the roster cleared for physical activity at practice.

"We walked into the gym, it felt like the first day of practice. It was exciting. Like a new beginning," head coach James Whitford said. "To be able to play 5-on-5 for practice is great."

The Cardinals are aiming to get back on track Saturday in a nationally-televised contest against MAC leader Toledo. In order to get back on track, Whitford mentioned three important elements. Just simply getting players back on the court is important. Next, those players need to be comfortable in their roles. It's not enough to roll into a game with eight players, but those eight players need to know their assignments. Whitford compares the situation to baseball, where maybe the rightfielder is pitching, and you've got an infielder playing catcher.

"We need our guys comfortable with the dynamics of the five guys who are on the court," Whitford said. "When you don't play together for a long time, and the lineup is always changing, your chemistry is a little off. Reestablishing the attention for detail for the guys who are on the court will be important."

Lastly, another important element is getting 2020 MAC Freshman of the Year Jarron Coleman at full strength. The Indy native had 11 points and eight rebounds vs. Buffalo on Tuesday and is rounding into top playing form.

"Jarron is one of the most talented point guards in the league," Whitford said. "Three weeks from now, he's gotta be full-go. The guy we know he is, an all-conference-caliber player."

Toledo has won five straight and has lost only one MAC game, and that was by a single point. Still, Ball State has had an edge in a very competitive series with Toledo.

"When we play them, it's a meaningful game," Whitford said. "We respect their program, and I think they probably do the same for us. We've been the two best teams in the division and there's energy around our games against them."

The Starting 5 - The Top 5 Storylines For This Game

1. CARDS AND TOLEDO - THE SERIES
Saturday's game is the 98th meeting between Ball State and Toledo, with UT holding a slight lead in the all-time series that dates back to 1938. Ball State has won seven of the last 10 and six of the last eight over Toledo. UT won 13 of the first 14 meetings but Ball State had the better of the series at the turn of the century, but the series has been nearly even since 2000.

2. CARDS MISSING FROM THE DECK
Between injuries and COVID protocols, one could say Ball State has had a very fluid roster. Ball State had nine available players January 9 at Buffalo, and also had nine available this Saturday at Akron. This past weekend, BSU was missing five players who were expected to contribute, including starters K.J. Walton and Miryne Thomas. In total, Cardinal players have missed 42 games in addition to Ishmael El-Amin missing the second half of the first Buffalo game. Here's a breakdown of games missed by player:

Player	Games Missed
Reggie Jones	15
Jarron Coleman	10
Jalen Windham	7
Miryne Thomas	3
Hazen/Walton/Gunn	2
Gunn/Walton/Huggins	1
Ish El-Amin	0.5 (2nd half at Buffalo)

3. ON THE TUBE
CBS Sports Network selected this BSU-Toledo game as one of its MAC wild card selections. The game was designated for national TV on Jan. 23. It's the third nationally-televised game of the year for Ball State, which had a fourth TV game postponed at Ohio.

4. TRIPLEHEADER IN WORTHEN
Worthen Arena will be action-packed Saturday. Following Ball State-Toledo, BSU women's basketball will play at 4 p.m. and the school's men's volleyball team will play at 8 p.m. Cardinals women's basketball has won five straight and men's volleyball is on a three-match win streak.

5. CARDS GUARDS vs. TOLEDO LAST YEAR
Ball State and Toledo split a pair last year with the home team winning each game. Jarron Coleman had 18 points in the win in Muncie for BSU, and Ishmael El-Amin had a team-high 17 in the game at Toledo. El-Amin averaged 13.5 points against Toledo last year and Coleman averaged 12.5.