BALL STATE AT DAYTON PREVIEW
Who: Ball State at Dayton When: 7 p.m. Where: UD Arena TV/Radio: Spectrum Sports; AM 1290, News 95.7 WHIO Probable Dayton starters Darrell Davis, 6-5, Sr., G, 5.5 PPG John Crosby, 6-3, Jr., G, 2.8 Josh Cunningham, 6-7, R-Jr., F, 6.3 Xeyrius Williams, 6-8, Jr., F, 8.2 Trey Landers, 6-4, So., G, 3.0 Probable Ball State starters Tayler Persons, 6-3, R-Jr., G, 15.5 Francis Kiapway, 6-3, Sr., G, 8.1 Sean Sellers, 6-6, Sr., F, 8.6 Kyle Mallers, 6-7, So., F, 2.2 Tahjai Teague, 6-8, R-So., F, 7.3 * Points per game are averages from last season
Series history: Dayton leads the series 5-1. The Flyers won the last game 59-35 on Jan. 5, 2010 at UD Arena. This is the third meeting since 1958.
Coaches: This is the first game as Dayton coach for Anthony Grant.
His career record in three seasons at Virginia Commonwealth and six at Alabama is 119-110. Ball State’s James Whitford enters his fifth season with a record of 54-75. About Dayton: The Flyers have won 12 straight season openers and 15 of their last 16. Dayton is 44-4 in home openers at UD Arena. It won 23 straight home openers from 1969-91 . ... Davis has started 18 games in his career.
Williams has started eight games. Cunningham has two starts with
the Flyers. This will be the first start for Landers and Crosby.
... Dayton’s director of player development, Devin Davis, was a player at Miami University when Whitford was an assistantcoach.
About Ball State: The Cardinals received one vote in
the Associated Press top 25 preseason poll, as did the Flyers. ... Ball State finished 21-13 last season. It beat an Atlantic 10 team in its opener a year ago, routing Saint Louis 85-64 on the road . ... Ball State has recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons for
the first time since 1991-92 and 1992-93 . ... Ball State assistant coach Jason Grunkemeyer played for Miami University’s Sweet 16 team in 1999. Whitford was an assistant coach during his three seasons with the RedHawks . ... Kiapway ranks fourth in school
history with 184 3-pointers . ... Persons played his freshman season at Northern Kentucky before transferring . ... Freshman guard Ishmael El-Amin is the son of Khalid El-Amin, a point guard who led Connecticut to the national title in 1999.
Next games: Dayton opens play in the Charleston Classic at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16 against Hofstra. Ball State plays at Oklahoma at 8 p.m. Nov. 15.