Cards Close Regular Season At MAC Champ Toledo

Ball State (10-11, 8-8) at Toledo (19-7, 14-4)
Date	Friday, March 5
Time	7 pm ET
Location	Savage Arena - Toledo, Ohio
Television	CBS Sports Network (Chick Hernandez, Julianne Viani) (Watch)
Radio	96.7 and 104.9 FM (Joel Godett, David Eha) (Listen)
Tickets	NONE AVAILABLE
Game Notes	Ball State (PDF) \| Toledo
Live Stats	Live Stats
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

The Starting 5 - The Top 5 Storylines For This Game

A Ball State basketball squad playing well at the right time closes the regular season on TV Friday night against MAC regular season champ Toledo. BSU has won four of six and is scoring 91.5 points per game over the last four games. Toledo clinched the MAC's No. 1 seed this week, while BSU can still be the 7 or 8 in next week's tournament.

1. WHAT'S AT STAKE FRIDAY NIGHT
Toledo has already clinched the top seed in next week's MAC Basketball Championship in Cleveland, but there's still some seeding to be determined for Ball State. BSU is currently the 8th seed but can be the 7 with a win and a Miami loss at Akron. Should Ball State be the 8, it will have a rematch with Toledo on Thursday in the tournament quarterfinal.

2. LET'S GET STUPID, I MEAN OUTRAGEOUS
In last Saturday's postgame presser, Ball State's offensive output was described as "stupid." Or maybe "stoopid." The Cardinals' offensive output has been outrageous in recent games, with the Cards averaging 95.7 points on 54% shooting over the last three games. The Cardinals put up 90 vs. Kent State, 97 vs. Central and 100 vs. Eastern - marking the first time in school history the team has scored 90+ in three straight games. Over the last four games, it's 91.5 points on 52% shooting. Ball State is shooting 43% (45-of-104) from 3-point range over the last four games.

3. THE 3 STARTING GUARDS OVER 3 GAMES
If winning in the postseason is about guard play, Ball State is in a good place as the regular season comes to a close. Over the last three games, Ball State's starting guards are averaging a combined 61.4 points on 56% shooting. Jarron Coleman, last week's MAC Player of the Week, is averaging 21 points and 4.7 assists over the last three games while making 13 of his 24 3-pointers. Here's how the three guards are faring over the last three games:

COLEMAN	21.0 ppg	4.0 rpg	4.7 apg	62% FG	54% 3FG	8-10 FT
EL-AMIN	20.7 ppg	4.0 rpg	2.0 apg	51% FG	36% 3FG	11-12 FT
WALTON	19.7 ppg	6.7 rpg	0.7 apg	56% FG	0-2 3FG	9-11 FT

4. CONNECT 4
Ball State is currently on its second three-game win streak of the season. The Cardinals also won three games in a row in December (UIC, Northern Illinois, Illinois State). A win Friday night would give the Cards their first four-game win streak since the 2018-19 team won four times in a row in December-January of that year. The 18-19 Cards actually had a four-game streak and a separate five-game streak in a stretch where the team won nine of 10 games.

5. CARDS AND TOLEDO - THE SERIES
Friday's game is the 99th meeting between Ball State and Toledo, with UT holding a slight 50-48 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 1938. Ball State has won eight of the last 11 and seven of the last nine over Toledo. UT won 13 of the first 14 meetings but the series has been nearly even since 2000.

The Starting 5 - The Top 5 Storylines For This Game

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Players Mentioned

Jarron Coleman