To wrap up a three-game home stand, Ball State will host the Mid-American Conference's most successful program in recent history, Kent State, in Worthen Arena at 7 p.m.
Kent State has captured the MAC Tournament title three of the last four years, including last season when the Golden Flashes finished 30-6 and advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament.
So far this season, not much has changed for Kent State. The Flashes head into tonight's game with an overall record of 17-3 and a conference-leading 10-2 mark.
Ball State (10-11, 5-6), on the other hand, will try for its third straight win and an even .500 record for the first time since the new year.
Antonio Gates, whom Ball State coach Tim Buckley called the league's top player, will attempt to prevent the Cardinals from accomplishing such a task.
Gates is Kent State's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 21 points and eight rebounds per contest. His points per game rate him No. 6 in the MAC.
"He might be one of the best (players) the MAC has seen in some time," Buckley said. "I have been here for nine years. He's right there as a Bonzi Wells-type guy and might even handle the ball better."
Buckley explained that one of the biggest challenges with the 6-foot-5-inch Gates is deciding how best to defend him.
"We have to decide how we want to guard Gates," Buckley said. "Do we put a smaller guy on him, do we put a bigger guy on him? You have to kind of pick your poison on how he's going to score or what he's going to do with the basketball."
Buckley didn't want to reveal who he will match up with Gates. Against Ronald Blackshear of Marshall, the MAC's No. 4 in scorer, Ball State chose to put junior Robert Owens up against him on defense.
It is still unclear if it will be Owens against Gates in Wednesday's game, but if that is the case, Owens is preparing himself.
"Last year he got us from the inside and the outside, so we are going to have to just follow the game plan," Owens said. "He is very aggressive. He came in and got a lot of jumpers and inside points.
"If I guard him I just have to keep him in front of me and not let him body up," Owens said.
Buckley not only spoke highly of Gates' abilities, but also of the fact that a good player makes the rest of a team strong as well.
"He is one of those guys who is a lot like Theron (Smith) in that he makes everyone else around him very good," Buckley said.
"The people around him are very good complements to him; they have good shooters. They have some of the top field goal percentages in the country right now. When you do that you have a good chance to win a lot of your games.
Kent State leads the MAC and is fifth in the nation in field goal percentage, shooting a little more than 50 percent. The Flashes also lead the conference and nation in 3-point field goal percentage at just under 43 percent.
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