HOOPS Preview: No. 9 Notre Dame Vs. Ball State

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NOTRE DAME (7-1, 0-0 ACC) VS. BALL STATE (4-4, 0-0 MAC)

Where: Purcell Pavilion (South Bend, Ind.)

Rankings: Notre Dame is ranked No. 9 in the AP poll.

Time/TV: 7 p.m. ET/ACC Network Extra (WatchESPN app).

Last Meeting: Jan. 14, 1976. Notre Dame 119-78.

Series Info: Notre Dame leads all-time series 9-0.

Notre Dame welcomes a Ball State program to South Bend tonight that has won 21 games each of the past two seasons.

After starting 1-4, the Cardinals are on a three-game win streak with wins over Indiana State, Oakland City and IUPUI. The Irish look to bounce back after a sloppy 71-53 win over St. Francis Brooklyn which saw Mike Brey land his first career ejection.

Despite being located in the same state, the two programs will meet for just the 10th time this evening in the first matchup since 1976.

Here is a quick preview of Notre Dame and Ball State heading into tonight's matchup.

Notre Dame sits at 7-1 early in the season and hasn’t played a complete game on both ends except for twice (Chicago State and LSU). In its other wins, the Irish wasn’t able to put it altogether for 40 minutes on one end of the court or the other.

Not that it’s a bad thing for the Irish. The team has shown flashes on both ends at times and still has a lot of room to grow.

In the last three games, the Irish have struggled to get out of the gate against Wichita State and Michigan State while fading in the second half against St. Francis Brooklyn. Brey and his staff will look to find ways to get the team humming on all cylinders offensively for a full 40 minutes.

Notre Dame shot 41.4 percent against St. Francis Brooklyn which followed a 44.4 percent mark in East Lansing against Michigan State. However, the Irish have shot 50.3 percent on the season.

Senior big man Martinas Geben is averaging 11 points and six rebounds over the past four games going back to their 92-53 win over LSU in Maui. The Lithuanian is contributing 8.75 points and 5.5 rebounds for the season.

His production is certainly encouraging for the Irish in terms of his potential production in ACC play.

St. Francis Brooklyn was supposed to be a game Notre Dame could find a flow offensively against an overmatched team and get to the bench early. But, the Irish couldn’t buy a basket in the second half and allowed the Terriers to remain just close enough to keep the starters in the for their typical minutes output.

Notre Dame will face a Ball State team tonight which allows over 80 points per game (more on that to follow) and a 45.6-percent clip on field goals attempts.

Full Irish stats can be FOUND HERE.

Life away from Muncie has not been kind to Ball State this season with all four of its losses coming on the road.

Of those four losses, two have come against high-majors (Oklahoma and Oregon) and two against mid-majors (Dayton and Bucknell). The Cardinals fell 108-69 to the Sooners and 95-71 to the Ducks.

The games against Bucknell (87-83) and Dayton (78-77) were much closer.

Ball State has played well against solid programs, but has come up short in its games against higher level competition.

Junior guard Tayler Persons leads the Cardinals into South Bend tonight averaging 15.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. Persons earned All-MAC second-team honors last season averaging 15.4 points.

Persons is joined in the backcourt by junior guard Jontrell Walker (9.5 points, 2.4 assists) and senior guard Sean Sellers (8.5 points, 2.3 rebounds). Walker (48.1 percent) and Sellers (37.5 percent) are also the team’s top three-point threats.

Sophomore forwards Kyle Mallers (12.0 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Tahjai Teague (10.9 points, 7.6 rebounds) make up the frontcourt for the Cardinals.

Coming off the bench, freshman forward Zach Dunn (6.9 points, 3.6 rebounds), freshman guard Ishmael El-Amin (6.3 points, 2.6 rebounds) and junior center Trey Moses (5.9 points, 5.5 rebounds) are the top options for head coach James Whitford. Senior guard Francis Kiapway (2.7 points) also makes a contribution.

Ball State is scoring a respectable 80.1 points per game. Through the team’s first eight games, the Cardinals have shot 46.2 percent from the flied including just 33.8 percent behind the arc.

Defense has been the issue for Ball State this season allowing 81.2 points per game with opponents shooting 45.6 percent from the field overall and 35.3 percent from deep. Teams are also out-rebounding the Cardinals 37.1-34.8.

Ball State has steadily improved under Whitford’s direction going from winning 12 games total in his first two seasons at the helm to winning 21 games each of the previous two years. The Cardinals have won the MAC West division the past two seasons while being selected for the CIT.

Given its proximity to South Bend, Ball State should bring a decent contingent as well which will bring some noise. The in-state program will have a lot of motivation this evening.

Ball State is a solid program that has continued to improve over the past four seasons under Whitford, so the Cardinals will provide somewhat of a test for the Irish.

However, the Cardinals defense has not fared well against the two high-major programs its faced the season and Notre Dame presents quite the challenge boasting one of the nation’s more efficient offenses.

Can Ball State play good enough on the defensive end to keep it close? That will be the key. Especially if Notre Dame continues to find a consistent offensive rhythm.

Prediction

Notre Dame 88, Ball State 67

Though the offense hasn’t always been pretty for Brey’s group, the defense has been a consistent weapon to make up for any struggles offensively.

Ball State isn’t where a mid-major team needs to be defensively in order to take down Notre Dame in South Bend. Can that change for one night? Sure. But the Irish know Ball State will give all its got to take down the in-state power.

I’m interested to see if the Irish make any slight changes to its offense in order to find a better rhythm. Even if the recent trend continues, I expect the Irish to record another double-digit win.

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