ESTERO, Fla. – Eastern Kentucky University will begin the 2024 Gulf Coast Showcase against Ball State on Monday.  The Colonels will face Southern Illinois on Tuesday and Louisiana Tech on Wednesday.
 
The event is being held at Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida.  All three games for EKU will begin at 12 p.m. ET and air live on FloCollege.  The live radio broadcast of the game is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, or worldwide on EKUSports.com.
 
THE COLONELS
-  EKU improved to 3-1 this season after an 86-66 road win at Chicago State on Tuesday.  The Colonels will have only played two games in 16 days when they take the court against Ball State.
 
-  Devontae Blanton is on the 2024-25 Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year Award Watch List.  Blanton is one of three players from the Atlantic Sun Conference to be selected to the initial list of 50 players from across the nation.  In his last three games, the senior wing is averaging 19 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 57 percent from the field.
 
-  Against Chicago State, Mayar Wol set a new career-high for points for the fourth straight game.  He finished with 13 on 6-of-10 shooting.
 
-  The Colonels dished out 25 assists on 35 made field goals against Chicago State.  George Kimble III led the way with nine helpers.  EKU leads the ASUN with 16.75 assists per game.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-  Ball State sits at 1-4 this season after losing three straight to Dayton (77-69), Indiana State (94-84) and Detroit Mercy (70-59).  
 
- Jermahri Hill, a 6-foot-5 JUCO transfer guard, leads the team with an average of 15.4 points per game.  Mickey Pearson Jr., a 6-foot-8 senior forward, is second on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg) and leads the team in rebounding (8.0 rpg).
 
-  BSU averages 73 points per game and has given up 74 per contest.  The Cardinals are shooting just 39.9 percent from the field as a team and 27.6 percent from behind the arc.
 
-  Payton Sparks is on the Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year Award Watch List.  The 6-foot-10, 265-pound center played his first two seasons at Ball State before playing at Indiana during the 2023-24 season, and then returning to BSU for 2024-25.  In his first two seasons, he averaged more than 13 points and nearly nine rebounds per game.  He was the 2022 Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year and All-MAC in 2022 and 2023.  He averaged 2.1 points and 1.8 rebounds at IU.  This season he is contributing 9.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest.
 
INSIDE THE MATCH-UP
-  The Cardinals have only averaged 12.6 turnovers per game this season.  The Colonels are forcing an average of 17.3 turnovers per game.
 
-  EKU averages 17.75 offensive rebounds per game.  Ball State has been out-rebounded on average by 1.8 per game this season.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
-  EKU leads the all-time series with Ball State 7-1.  The teams have never met at a neutral site.  The Cardinals won the most recent meeting, 91-86, in overtime on Dec. 10, 2016 in Muncie, Indiana.
 
-  Five Colonels scored in double figures in the 2016 meeting.  Freshman guard Asante Gist led the way with 19 points and four assists.  Sophomore forward Nick Mayo scored 17 points and pulled down six rebounds.  EKU took an 85-84 lead on a Mayo jumper with 2:25 to play in overtime, however Ball State closed out the game on a 7-1 run to take the victory.  The back-and-forth affair featured nine ties and 10 lead changes.  Neither team led by more than four points during the second half.