The Ball State University men's basketball team's 72-59 season-opening win against Eastern Illinois University on Saturday at Worthen Arena set the pace for the upcoming season.
Jones creating excitement
Earning his first career rebound and bucket 16 seconds into the game via putback off a missed layup, the 6-foot-9-inch Jarrod Jones gives Ball State something it has lacked in the starting lineup in the past couple seasons - height.
Senior forward Anthony Newell was Ball State's tallest regular last season, often playing out of position at 6-feet-5-inches.
Jones' continued hustle on rebounds and defensive effort, including a game-high three steals and added two assists and a blocked shot, got the attention of Newell, one of four senior team captains this season.
"What [Jones] did [against Eastern Illinois] was incredible," said Newell, who finished with 19 points and six rebounds against the Panthers. "It seemed like every time I looked up, he was either getting an offensive rebound or getting fouled. I love it."
Coach Billy Taylor said he's ready to see what additional damage having Jones down low will provide throughout the season.
"We want to try to continue to get the ball inside to [Jones, and] he provides a nice balance to what Anthony [Newell] can do on the perimeter, or Laron Frazier or Brandon Lampley," Taylor said. "So it's great to have that inside-outside scoring punch."
When asked about the potential hype his performance might have with the Cardinal faithful, Jones said he's taking it one game at a time.
"It started off pretty good," Jones said. "I just tried to go with the flow."
Newcomers have immediate effect
Five freshmen and two transfer players are eligible to play this season as newcomers for Ball State, and with an ankle injury to freshman guard Randy Davis suffered in Thursday's practice, six Cardinal rookies were available for the Eastern Illinois game.
Four of the six newcomers - Jones, freshman forward Maurice Hubbard, junior guard Brawley Chisholm and junior forward Eric Wormely - all played in the game, with Jones and Hubbard earning their first career starts. All the playing newcomers played at least 17 minutes in the game.
Hubbard added three rebounds, an assist and a steal in his debut, while Chisholm had eight points and an assist and Wormely added three points and two rebounds for Ball State.
Taylor said he was pleased with how quickly his returners and newcomers came together.
"I think that credit really has to go to the players, in particular our seniors and our captains in providing that leadership," Taylor said. "That's what's going to make to group gel together and come together if freshmen, sophomores, new guys are welcomed by the older, experienced players in the program - and we had that right away."
Newell was caught off-guard by the early cohesion.
"The guys came out there and they played even better than I thought," he said. "They came out there and they were ready - there wasn't one guy who wasn't ready, and that's good to see."
Long-range shooting mostly on the mark
The Cardinals shot 27.2 percent in the 2006-07 season and an even 30 percent last season from beyond the 3-point arc - an area Taylor was hoping to improve this season.
Taylor emphasized the importance of the long-range shot especially with the 3-point line being moved back one foot for men's college basketball this season.
"For a shot to get one more point, that's a significant impact on the game," Taylor said. "Some numbers will go down, some might not take as many 3-point shots, but I think it's a good move for the game and also creates some more space inside for some post play, so hopefully there's a nice balance and mix of exterior plays as well as interior."
Game one for the Cardinals saw a 35 percent 3-point shooting performance, including a 6-for-11 (54.5 percent) showing in the first half.
Newell was 2-for-4 from 3-point range, senior guard Lampley was 1-for-3, senior guard Frazier was 1-for-5, Chisholm was 2-for-6 and senior guard Rob Giles was 1-for-2.
"We have guys that can knock it down. We got some open looks, made shots," Taylor said. "We just had nice balance to our offense. We scored on drives, scored in the paint, scored on open 3-point shots, and that's they way we want to play."
Next up: Butler University
Ball State (1-0) next plays Wednesday night against in-state rival Butler. The Bulldogs (1-0) lost four of five starters from last season's 30-4 NCAA Tournament team and defeated Drake University 58-48 in their season opener Nov. 15.
For a complete preview of the Butler game, read Wednesday's edition of The Ball State Daily News.
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