MUNCIE, Indiana -- The Ball State
men's basketball team returns to action from a nine-day holiday break, hosting
Norfolk State for a 7 p.m. tipoff Wednesday at Worthen Arena.It will be the final tuneup before conference play for the Cardinals (5-6), which are looking to bounce back from a 77-68 loss to IUPUI in their most recent action. Norfolk State (6-9) dropped a 74-63 decision at East Carolina its last time out.
Live Coverage
• Radio (Flagship): Ball State Radio Network (104.1 FM WLBC); Play-by-play: Joel Godett; Analyst: David Eha
• Radio (Student): Sports Link Radio (91.3 FM WCRD); Play-by-play: Sean Stewart; Analyst: Donnie Kolakowski, Tyler Bradfield
• Internet: Live video, live audio and live stats at ballstatesports.com
The Matchup
• Wednesday's meeting will be the first ever between Ball State and Norfolk State in men's basketball.
• Norfolk State will be Ball State's third first-time opponent in the past six games.
• The Cardinals also played Holy Cross (Ind.) and South Dakota for the first time earlier this year.
• Wednesday's game is the final contest for Ball State before opening Mid-American Conference play next Wednesday at Eastern Michigan.
A Quick Look at the Cardinals • Ball State has been off since a Dec. 23 loss to IUPUI that dropped the Cardinals to 5-6 on the year.
• Senior guard Jauwan Scaife scored a season-high 21 points for Ball State, but the Cardinals could not put the clamps on a hot-shooting IUPUI team.
• Ball State shot a season-high 48 percent from the floor, but IUPUI connected on 51.9 percent, including 11 of 22 from 3-point range against a Cardinals team that had held its previous six opponents to a combined 25 percent from beyond the arc.
• The Cardinals out-scored IUPUI in the paint, 40-20, and held a 33-24 advantage on the boards.
• Junior forward Chris Bond scored 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds against IUPUI, while Tyler Koch added 10 points and grabbed seven boards in his most extensive action since returning to the lineup from injury.
• Junior guard Jesse Berry -- a preseason All-Mid-American Conference selection -- leads the Cardinals with 13.6 points per game, while junior forward Majok Majok is one of 19 players in the nation averaging a double-double with 11.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
• Majok, who leads the MAC and ranks in the 11th in the country in rebounding, had a streak of five straight double-figure rebounding games snapped against IUPUI.
Scouting Norfolk State • Norfolk State is 6-9 on the season and comes to Muncie looking to snap a four-game losing skid.
• All four of those losses have come on the road, and two of them came at ranked opponents -- then-No. 10 Illinois and then-No. 25 NC State.
• The Spartans then lost at Iona and most recently at East Carolina, 74-63, on Saturday.
• Junior guard Pendarvis Williams leads Norfolk State in scoring at 11.8 points per game, while backcourt mate Malcolm Hawkins is adding 11.5 points per game.
• Freshman forward Rashid Gaston, the current MEAC Rookie of the Week, is scoring 8.9 points and grabbing a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game.
• Williams is the only returning starter from last year's Norfolk State team that finished 26-10 and upset No. 2 seed Missouri in the NCAA Tournament round of 64.
RELATED LINKS
The Non-Conference Schedule • Wednesday's game with Norfolk State is Ball State's final tuneup for the MAC schedule.
• The Dec. 15 game at South Dakota marked Ball State's only trip outside the state of Indiana before conference play. The Cardinals will play eight of their first 12 games at home and have made three trips to in-state opponents -- Indiana (Nov. 25), Butler (Dec. 1) and Purdue (Dec. 18).
• Two of Ball State's home games have come against Indiana State (Nov. 20) and IUPUI (Dec. 23), giving the Cardinals five games against in-state Division I programs.
• Ball State had never before faced Big 10 opponents Indiana and Purdue in the same season.
COURTESY BALL STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
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