Mid-American foes will lock horns when the Eastern Michigan Eagles (10-8) face the Ball State Cardinals (12-6) at Convocation Center. Action begins at 11:30 am ET on Saturday, Jan. 23 and can be seen on ES3.
The Eagles are hoping to rebound after their 92-88 loss to Akron on Tuesday. Willie Mangum IV was the team’s leading scorer with 22 points. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after their 76-68 loss against Kent State on Tuesday. Ryan Weber led the team in scoring with 16 points.
Eastern Michigan is a six-point favorite against Ball State and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is sitting at 143 points. The Eagles have gone 10-8 Straight Up (SU) and 5-6 Against The Spread (ATS). The Eagles are one of the best in Division I in terms of free throws made, making an impressive 18.0 per game.
As for their opponent, the Cardinals have records of 5-7 ATS and 12-6 SU. The Ball State defense has been a problem for competitors, allowing only .399 shooting from the field to its opponents.
These conference foes meet for what will be their first head-to-head battle of the season. Eastern Michigan won the last game in the matchup, bumping its SU record to 6-4 over Ball State in their most recent meetings. The Eagles also lead the matchup ATS with a record of 6-4. Ball State held the edge in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers one time, while Eastern Michigan was never able to do so in their most recent five games.
Predictions: SU Winner – EastMi, ATS Winner – BallSt, O/U – Over
Notes
Eastern Michigan is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games.
Eastern Michigan is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Eastern Michigan’s last 15 games when playing Ball State.
Eastern Michigan is 2-3 against its conference rivals, while Ball State is 3-2.
Eastern Michigan averages 83.0 points per home game (ranked 61st). Ball State allows 71.0 points per away game (ranked 89th).
The Ball State Cardinals have a defensive rating of 96.5 (ranked 57th), while the Eastern Michigan Eagles have an offensive rating of 107.7 (ranked 130th).
Eastern Michigan has an average field goal percentage of 45.2%. Ball State is a losing 1-2 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Eastern Michigan Eagles rank higher based on their field goal percentage (110th) than their effective field goal percentage (195th). The Ball State Cardinals rank higher based on their effective field goal percentage (149th) than their field goal percentage (208th).
The Ball State Cardinals make an average of 6.5 steals per game. When the Eastern Michigan Eagles give up 6 or more steals, they are a winning 6-3.
