Mid-American foes will lock horns when the Bowling Green Falcons (13-8) face off against the Ball State Cardinals (13-8) at Stroh Center. Action begins at 7:00 pm ET on Tuesday, Feb. 2 and can be seen on ES3.
The Falcons are hoping to rebound after their 77-65 loss to Central Michigan on Saturday. Rasheed Worrell had a good outing, putting up 12 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks for Bowling Green. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after their 73-64 loss against Akron on Saturday. Jeremie Tyler had a game-high 18 points.
Bowling Green is a slim two-point favorite at home against Ball State. The matchup has an estimated Over/Under (O/U) of 134 points. The Falcons come into this game 13-8 Straight Up (SU) and 9-8 Against The Spread (ATS). Teams usually don’t get many offensive rebounds against the Falcons, who are one of the top defensive rebounding teams in the country with an average of 27.8 per game.
Over on the other bench, the Cardinals are unsuccessful ATS with a 6-9 record even though they have a 13-8 SU record. The Cardinals allow just 65.8 points per game, ranking them 47th in the nation.
This game marks the season’s first head-to-head clash between these conference foes. Their previous game was a Falcons victory, bumping their SU record to 9-1 over Ball State in their most recent meetings. Furthermore, Bowling Green holds the advantage ATS with a record of 6-4. During their latest five matchups, neither team ever held the advantage in field goals, rebounds, or three-pointers.
Predictions: SU Winner – BallSt, ATS Winner – BallSt, O/U – Over
Notes
Bowling Green is 12-6 SU in its last 18 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Bowling Green’s last 6 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Bowling Green’s last 5 games when playing Ball State.
Bowling Green is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Ball State.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Bowling Green’s last 7 games when playing at home against Ball State.
Bowling Green averages 73.3 points per game, placing the team just 178th in the nation. Ball State ranks 47th in points allowed, giving up 65.8 points per game.
On average, Bowling Green has 69.7 possessions per game and scores 1.051 points on each possession. Ball State has both fewer possessions (67.2) and scores fewer points during those possessions (1.040).
Bowling Green has an average effective field goal percentage of 49.8%. Ball State is a subpar 2-6 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Bowling Green attempts an average of 16.0 three pointers per game and Ball State attempts 22.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Bowling Green Falcons have a winning 4-1 record while the Ball State Cardinals have a 9-6 record.
Bowling Green, the 78th-ranked team in rebounding, register an average of 38.7 rebounds per game. Ball State does worse, ranked 212th with 35.9.
The Ball State Cardinals average 6.4 steals per game. When giving up 6 or more steals, the Bowling Green Falcons are an even 6-6 this season.
