Utah vs. Ball State

Our opponent this week is Ball State from the Mid-American Conference. It's the first of a three-game series: to be played again in Salt Lake next year and in Muncie in 2015. Ball State is a respectable basketball school and will clearly be the best team we've faced so far this season. Here are five things you should know about the Cardinals:

1. They currently hold a 2-2 record. Both losses came against quality in-state rivals: Indiana State and Butler. The Butler game, in particular, ended in dramatic fashion when Ball State missed a contested layup in the final seconds of a 59-58 game.

2. Ball State is led by first-year coach James Whitford. He was an assistant at Xavier under Sean Miller and followed him to Tucson when he was hired at Arizona. So he's been part of Miller's successes for nearly a decade and is very familiar with the Runnin' Utes.

3. The Cardinals play several seniors including Jesse Berry (14.5ppg) and Chris Bond (12.3ppg). Their starting center is Majok Majok (pron. muh-ZHUK muh-ZHUK), a juco transfer from a year ago who was picked West Division Pre-Season All-MAC. Majok led Ball State with 15p/11r against Butler (he avgs. 10.0p/10.5r on the season).

4. Freshman PG Zavier Turner has been a major addition for the Cardinals. He leads the team with 15.3ppg/4.3apg and so far looks to be the MAC freshman of the year.

5. The Utes and Cardinals share some history. The last time Utah played Ball State was at the Huntsman Center in the 1992 NIT tournament. The Utes won, 72-57. Utah was coached by Rick Majerus and Ball State was coached by Dick Hunsaker (former Majerus assistant and current coach of Utah Valley). Of course, Majerus coached Ball State from 1987-89. In 1990, Hunsaker led Ball State to the Sweet Sixteen by beating Oregon State and Louisville in the Huntsman Center.