Next Up: BG at Ball State
Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:07 pm
BG will be looking to match its longest winning streak of the season (three games) with a win over Ball State on Wednesday. BG owns a 37-33 lead in the series, however, Ball State has beaten BG in 15 of the last 21 meetings dating back to 1995. The Falcons have won two of the last three games against the Cardinals in the series but have lost three in a row in Muncie with the last BG win coming there during the 2001-02 season. This year, Ball State is 3-15 overall and 2-4 in the MAC. But those records are sort of misleading. Ball State got off to a very slow start to say the least (0-11 to begin the year) but the Cardinals were without leading scorer Anthony Newell (19.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg) for part of that stretch and he is now back in action and playing very, very well. Newell teams up with Peyton Stovall (14.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg) to form one of the MAC’s better duos. Ball State has won three of its last seven games with the three victories coming in its last four home games. Three of Ball State’s four MAC losses have occurred by four points or less (58-54 at Toledo, 60-58 at NIU and 61-59 at Ohio) including the Cardinals’ last two games (at NIU and at OU, respectively). BSU is a team somewhat similar to BG right now in that it’s under new direction, it’s starting to come into its own, it’s becoming more competitive, and it’s starting to find a rhythm in the MAC. I expect another grind-it-out effort by BG and hopefully we can find a win to get a win in Muncie.