The Ball State University men's basketball team has already played the Mid-American Conference's top three overall scorers, rebounders, 3-point shooters and shot blockers this season.
Next up on the list?
The reigning MAC Player of the Year.
Ball State plays host to Kent State University on Saturday. The Golden Flashes' lineup features senior guard Al Fisher, the 2007-08 MAC Player of the Year, who Ball State coach Billy Taylor said isn't necessarily the best at any one skill, but extremely good at all of them.
"Fisher is special," Taylor said. "He can drive the ball either way, right or left, score in a variety of ways, drives it, creates his shots. He's also got deep 3-point range, he's electric in transition - he's just someone that is really a terrific player."
Fisher is the point guard of Kent State's No. 1 overall offensive attack in the MAC that averages 69 points per game - almost 12 points per game more than Ball State's 57.3 average. He averages 15.4 points (sixth in the MAC), 3.36 assists (fourth) and 1.59 steals (ninth) per game after averaging 13.9 points and four assists per game last season when he was also named an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American.
Taylor compared Fisher to the NBA's Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets and Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs.
"Fisher is a very tough cover," Taylor said. "What we have to try to do is just try to keep him under control and not get open looks from the perimeter."
As if Fisher wasn't enough to prepare for, junior guard Chris Singletary is 11th in the MAC with 12.5 points per game and fifth in assists at 3.24 per game.
"I think Singletary is playing extremely well," Taylor said. "He is a physical wing guard that can make 3's, he can drive the ball, he is especially tough down the low-post area ... he is a tough, tough matchup."
Taylor said after Wednesday's 59-41 loss at Miami University that his team did not bring its usual intensity on every possession both offensively and defensively. He said he knows Kent State (10-10, 4-4 MAC) - the preseason MAC Tournament favorites - will be just as hungry to put the ball in the basket.
"I didn't think we competed in a way that we needed to on the road [against Miami]," Taylor said. "There are going to be some times, some games, where you don't play your best or you may not make some shots or they make some mistakes, but we just didn't come out and compete from a mental and physical standpoint like we needed to."
First-year Kent State coach Geno Ford said at the MAC Media Day he expected the Cardinals to surprise some critics this year following last season's 6-24 overall record.
The Cardinals currently sit atop the MAC West Division standings with a 5-3 league record and are 10-10 overall.
"I'll tell you what you found with Ball State last year, even with a depleted roster, they played really hard and they executed really well," Ford said. "I know that they needed just a couple more bodies and guys got tired just to throw around to be effective, but I think they'll be really competitive."
Saturday's game tips off at 2 p.m.
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