Ball State Travels to Bowling Green on Saturday

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team returns to the hardwood for a Mid-American Conference matchup at Bowling Green on Saturday. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. jump from the Stroh Center.

The Cardinals are one of the youngest teams in the NCAA this season. The Cardinals are ranked 348th out of 358 in terms of experience. It is the lowest of any MAC schools over the last nine seasons. The conference has not seen a team ranked worse than 340 in the Whitford era at Ball State.

Last time out, Payton Sparks recorded his 15th-straight game in double figures with his 16 points. He added eight rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal. Miryne Thomas posted 11 points, for his ninth double-digit performance in 11 games. Thomas added a career-high three blocks, which is the most by any Cardinal this season, and added two rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Demarius Jacobs finished with 10 points, two rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Tyler Cochran brought down a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with six points, two assists, and a steal. Luke Bumbalough and Jaylin Sellers tied for a team-high three assists.

Sparks paces the Cardinals with 13.3 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game. Cochran is second on the squad with 12.0 points a game, second on the team with 5.8 rebounds per game and has a team-best 47 steals. Bumbalough is averaging 11.4 points a contest and leads the squad with 72 assists. Thomas rounds out the double-digit scorers with 11.0 a game and has a team-best 13 blocks.

In the matchup against Bowling Green earlier this season, Bumbalough finished with a game-high 21 points and added a game-high four assists, a steal and a rebound. Sparks recorded a career high with his 20 points with nine boards, two assists and a block. Thomas finished with a game-high and a season-high 14 rebounds. Thomas added eight points, two assists, and a blocked shot. Jacobs recorded a career-high two blocks and added six points with four rebounds. Sellers was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points, giving Ball State three players in double figures.

Bowling Green leads the overall series 53-38. The Cardinals won the meeting earlier this season, 81-80, and have won two of the last three meetings. Ball State is 12-32 at Bowling Green, but won the last meeting at BGSU, 88-64, on January 12, 2021.

Daeqwon Plowden leads the Falcons with 15.9 points per game, has a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game, and has a team-best 28 blocks. Trey Diggs is second on the team with 9.6 points per game and second in rebounding with 4.7 a contest. Samari Curtis leads the squad with 24 steals and has a team-high 77 assists.

In the meeting earlier this season, Diggs led Bowling Green with 18 points with five rebounds and two steals. Plowden added 15 points and three rebounds. Curtis finished with 13 points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist. Joe Reece closed out the double-digit scoring for the Falcons with 10 points. Gabe O'Neal led BGSU with six rebounds.

All of BSU's games are presented on the Ball State Gainbridge Radio Network on Woof Boom stations 96.7 FM, 102.9 FM, 104.9 FM, WLBC HD2, and the stream of 967BlakeFM.com as well as WERKFM.net.

Tale of the Tape

BSU	Category	BGSU
74.6	POINTS PER GAME	82.1
76.9	OPP. POINTS PER GAME	79.7
.447	FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE	.436
.448	OPP. FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE	.444
.361	3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE	.352
.364	OPP. 3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE	.342
.685	FREE THROW PERCENTAGE	.750
35.4	REBOUNDS PER GAME	40.1
-1.0	REBOUNDING MARGIN	2.2
13.2	ASSISTS PER GAME	12.8
14.0	TURNOVERS PER GAME	12.6
-1.4	TURNOVER MARGIN	1.1
6.1	STEALS PER GAME	7.8
2.3	BLOCKS PER GAME	3.3

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Players Mentioned

Luke Bumbalough

Tyler Cochran

Demarius Jacobs

Jaylin Sellers

Payton Sparks

Miryne Thomas