After falling Saturday to Western Michigan in a battle of West Division leaders, Bowling Green comes into Worthen Arena today looking to remain unbeaten in Mid-American Conference road contests.
The Falcons are at 10-3 overall and 4-1 in the MAC following their 70-61 loss, but they are one of just two teams that hasn't lost a MAC road game. Ball State stands at 2-2 in the MAC (7-5 overall) after a road loss of its own at Toledo.
One reason for Bowling Green's success is its shooting. The Falcons have put up the fewest number of three-pointers in the league (85 of 222), but they have the highest team shooting percentage at 51 percent. They are the fourth-highest scoring team in the MAC with 73.2 points per game.
"They take the best shot available," Ball State coach Tim Buckley said. "They do a good job of finding open people in the motion offense."
Two people who take a lot of those good shots are senior forwards Josh Almanson (6-foot-8) and John Reimold (6-6), the top two shooters in the conference.
Almanson's emergence -- he leads the MAC with 18.7 points per game -- has eased the loss of Ron Lewis, last year's leading scorer who transferred to Ohio State. Reimold is making a league-best 51.4 percent of his three-pointers and adds 16.8 per game.
"They set a lot of stagger screens for Reimold," Ball State sophomore Skip Mills said. "Even if some of them are illegal, we have to be ready for that."
"If we keep running into their screens," Buckley added. "They're going to get open shots."
In the BG backcourt, Steven Wright contributes 12.8 ppg and John Floyd 5.7 assists.
Ball State was fortunate to have the weekend off, as it gave leading scorer Peyton Stovall (17.2 ppg, 3.6 apg) and leading rebounder Terrance Chapman (15.6 ppg, 9.8 rpg) a chance to recover from shoulder and ankle injuries, respectively. Buckley said Chapman's twisted ankle isn't quite 100 percent yet, but he will play.
"They could have played if we had a game," Buckley said. "This allowed them to heal properly."
Chapman ranks second in the MAC in rebounding, as the Cardinals are outboarding opponents by 4.2 per game.
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