2020-21 Ball State Basketball
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2020-21 Ball State Basketball 2020-21 Ball State Basketball Schedule (subject to change) 2020-21 Ball State Basketball NOVEMBER Ball State Cardinals (6-6, 4-3) 11/25/20 at Northern Kentucky L, 74-73 at DECEMBER Ohio Bobcats (7-6, 3-4) 12/2/20 at Michigan L, 84-65 12/5/20 UIC W, 68-66 12/8/20 at Northern Illinois * W, 79-70 (OT) Friday, January 22, 2021 - 7 p.m. ET 12/12/20 ILLINOIS STATE W, 82-66 Convocation Center - Athens, Ohio 12/19/20 at Indiana State L, 67-57 12/22/20 at Western Michigan * W, 76-68 TV: CBS Sports Network (Alex Del Barrio, Tim Doyle) Radio: 96.7 / 104.9 FM (Joel Godett, David Eha) JANUARY Twitter/Instagram: @BallStateMBB 1/2/21 OHIO * L, 78-68 1/9/21 at Buffalo * L, 86-69 1/12/21 at Bowling Green * W, 88-64 1/16/21 NORTHERN ILLINOIS * W, 78-58 Cards Head Into Friday Night TV Showdown At OU 1/19/21 at Miami (Ohio) * L, 81-71 Ball State followers can catch the Cardinals Friday night on CBS Sports Network when BSU 1/22/21 at Ohio * CBS SN 7 p.m. takes on Ohio. The Cardinals and Bobcats met on Jan. 2 in Muncie, with OU winning 78-68. 1/26/21 KENT STATE * E3 7 p.m. Ball State has won two of its last three and is coming off a loss at Miami. Ohio last played on 1/30/21 at Akron * E3 2 p.m. Jan. 16 in a loss to Kent State. FEBRUARY 2/2/21 BUFFALO * TBA 7 p.m. 2/6/21 TOLEDO * TBA 12 p.m. 2/9/21 at Central Michigan * TBA 7 p.m. Opening Tip 2/13/21 at Eastern Michigan * E3 5:30 p.m. 2/16/21 BOWLING GREEN * TBA 7 p.m. 2/20/21 AKRON * TBA 1 p.m. Ball State Ohio 2/27/21 CENTRAL MICHIGAN * TBA 1 p.m. 2020-21 Record 6-6, 4-3 7-6, 3-4 Head Coach James Whitford Jeff Boals MARCH Career Record (Years) 113-124 (8th) 79-62 (5th) 3/2/21 EASTERN MICHIGAN * TBA 7 p.m. Record at School (Years) Same 24-21 (2nd) 3/5/21 at Toledo * TBA TBA Leading Scorer K.J. Walton (16.7) Jason Preston (18.3) March 11-13 MAC Championship TBA TBA Leading Rebounder Miryne Thomas (6.0) Dwight Wilson (7.5) March 18-28 NCAA Tournament TBA TBA BSU-Ohio Series Record Ohio leads 50-35 Last Meeting Ohio 78, Ball State 68 (1-2-21 at BSU) APRIL Series Streak Ohio 1 (Ohio 3 of last 4) April 3-5 NCAA Final Four (Indianapolis, IN) TBA * MAC game Home games in BOLD CAPS and played at Worthen Arena Possible Ball State Starters (Based On Last Game) Ppg Rpg Apg Other #5 - G - Ishmael El-Amin (Sr. - 6-3, 180) 14.8 2.8 3.4 .837 FT * Preseason 2nd Team All-MAC; 3rd team All-MAC last year; 889 career points #2 - G - Luke Bumbalough (So. - 6-1, 180) 8.1 2.2 2.7 76 career 3FG Communications Contacts * 2nd on team with 20 made 3FG; also had Ball State football offer as a WR Primary Contact: Josh Rattray #1 - G - K.J. Walton (R-Sr. - 6-3, 200) 16.7 5.9 1.7 .539 FG email: [email protected] cell: 919-605-2445 * 7 games this season with 17+ points; has 1,071 career points; double-double Tuesday at Miami #0 - F - Miryne Thomas (R-Jr. - 6-8, 200) 8.5 6.0 1.3 .531 3FG Secondary Contact: Tyson Mathews * Scored Ball State-high 20 points vs. NIU; leads MAC in 3FG% email: [email protected] cell: 765-716-7235 #34 - C - Ben Hendriks (So. - 6-10, 210) 2.5 2.3 0.3 blk 12-17 FG * Center from Canada has started last 2 games; shooting .706 on the season 2020-21 Ball State Cardinals No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown (Previous School) 0 Miryne Thomas F 6-8 200 R-Jr. Cleveland, Ohio / Central Catholic (Md. Eastern Shore) 1 K.J. Walton G 6-3 200 R-Sr. Indianapolis, Ind. / Brownsburg (Missouri) 2 Luke Bumbalough G 6-1 180 So. New Castle, Ind. / New Castle 3 Teemu Suokas G 6-2 185 Fr. Helsinki, Finland / Helsinki Basketball Academy 4 Josh Bryan G 6-5 185 So. Muncie, Ind. / Delta (UIndy) 5 Ishmael El-Amin G 6-1 180 Sr. Minneapolis, Minn. / Hopkins 11 Jarron Coleman G 6-5 205 R-So. Indianapolis, Ind. / Cathedral 12 Brachen Hazen F 6-8 210 R-Sr. Columbia City, Ind. / Columbia City (Arkansas) 13 Kani Acree G 6-6 185 R-So. Carbondale, Ill. / Carbondale Community 15 Zach Gunn F 6-6 210 R-Jr. Fishers, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern 23 Reggie Jones F 6-7 210 R-Sr. Marion, Ind. / Marion (Western Michigan & Tulsa) 24 Jalen Windham G 6-5 180 So. Indianapolis, Ind. / Ben Davis (Creighton) 25 Chris Robinson G 6-2 185 So. Indianapolis, Ind. / Pike (IU Northwest) 34 Ben Hendriks C 6-10 215 So. Mississauga, Ontario / Orangeville Prep 44 Blake Huggins C 6-10 245 R-Jr. Union City, Tenn. / Obion County Central Coaching Staff Pronunciation Guide Head Coach: James Whitford (Wisconsin, 1994); 8th season 0 Miryne Thomas (MY-run) Associate Head Coach: Jason Grunkemeyer (Miami Ohio, 2001); 8th season 2 Luke Bumbalough (BUM-buh-low) Assistant Coach: Ben Botts (Purdue Fort Wayne, 2011); 3rd season 3 Teemu Suokas (TAY-ah-moo SUE-oh-kas) Assistant Coach: Matt Crenshaw (IUPUI, 2004); 3rd season 5 Ishmael El-Amin (el-ah-MEEN) Director of Basketball Operations: Kindon Crowder (Ball State, 2014); 4th season 11 Jarron Coleman (juh-RON) Strength and Conditioning Coach: Collin Michael (Buffalo, 2017) 12 Brachen Hazen (BRACK-en) Athletic Trainer: Troy Hershman (Ball State, 1992) 13 Kani Acree (kuh-NYE A-kree) The Starting 5 - The Top 5 Storylines For This Game 1. CARDS AND OHIO - THE SERIES Friday’s matchup is the 86th meeting between between the two schools, with Ohio leading 50-35. The Bobcats have won three of the last four in the series, including a win in Muncie earlier this month. Ball State’s last win at Ohio came on Jan. 9, 2018 - a 75-68 win where BSU held Ohio to 38% shooting. Only one active player on either team played in that game three years ago: Ishmael El-Amin. 2. TUESDAY NIGHT IN MIAMI If someone predicted Ball State would go to Miami and shoot a better field goal percentage than MU, grab more rebounds, shoot 42% fom 3-point range and make all 19 of its free throws...all of those suggest Ball State won the game. However, pressure defense by Miami resulting in a 25-6 edge in points of turnovers and Miami shooting 38 free throws would be too much to overcome. Ball State led by seven at one point early and led 36-35 at halftime before Miami shot 27 foul shots in the second half. 3. CONFERENCE CALL A road win at Ohio keeps the Cardinals squarely in the hunt for top-4 positioning in the MAC standings, and gives the Cards a fourth league win on the road. Only Toledo, Bowling Green and Ball State own three MAC road wins this year. Individually, Miryne Thomas - a 6-8 forward - leads the conference in 3-point shooting (.531). He would be the first non-guard to lead the conference in 3FG% since 2013-14 when Eastern Michigan’s Karrington Ward led the league. Ishmael El-Amin is in the MAC rankings in FT% (4th), steals (T-4th), assists (10th) and scoring (12th). 4. THIS OHIO GAME MIGHT LOOK A LITTLE DIFFERENT Ball State and Ohio played just 20 days ago, but both teams will look different Friday night in Athens. Ohio is expected to have star guard Jason Preston (18.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) back. He didn’t play in the game at BSU. Ball State was missing Jarron Coleman and Blake Huggins in the first meeting. 5. STARTING FOR YOUR CARDINALS??? It’s not secret the roster juggling many teams across the country are having to do, and Ball State is no different. Ball State has used four different starting lineups in 12 games, and three of those combinations just twice or once each. The three guards (Walton, El-Amin, Bumbalough) have stay in place each game while Brachen Hazen, Miryne Thomas, Blake Huggins, Zach Gunn and Ben Hendriks have all started at different times throughout the season. Thomas and Hazen have stated aongside each other seven times, but not since the previous Ohio game on Jan. 2. Ball State at Ohio - 1/22/21 #0 | Miryne Thomas #1 | K.J. Walton #2 | Luke Bumbalough #3 | Teemu Suokas #4 | Josh Bryan R-Jr. | F | 6-8 | 200 R-Sr. | G | 6-3 | 200 Fr. | G | 6-1 | 180 Fr. | G | 6-2 | 185 So. | G | 6-5 | 185 Cleveland, Ohio Indianapolis, Ind. New Castle, Ind. Helsinki, Finland Muncie, Ind. #5 | Ishmael El-Amin #11 | Jarron Coleman #12 | Brachen Hazen #13 | Kani Acree #15 | Zach Gunn Sr. | G | 6-3 | 180 R-So. | G | 6-5 | 205 R-Sr. | F | 6-8 | 210 R-So. | G | 6-6 | 185 R-Jr. | F | 6-6 | 210 Minneapolis, Minn. Indianapolis, Ind. Columbia City, Ind. Carbondale, Ill. Fishers, Ind. #23 | Reggie Jones #24 | Jalen Windham #25 | Chris Robinson #34 | Ben Hendriks #44 | Blake Huggins R-Sr.