UMass (3-2) vs. Ball State (1-3)
McArthur Center, St. Petersburg, Florida; Sunday, 2:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: UMass takes on Ball State in an early season matchup. Each team last saw action this past Friday. UMass snuck past UNC Greensboro by three points in overtime, while Ball State is coming off of an 85-74 loss to Weber State.
SQUAD LEADERS: Luke Bumbalough has averaged 12.8 points and 4.3 assists to lead the way for the Cardinals. Complementing Bumbalough is Payton Sparks, who is accounting for 9.8 points and seven rebounds per game. The Minutemen have been led by Noah Fernandes, who is averaging 16.8 points.NOAH IS A FORCE: Fernandes has connected on 29.2 percent of the 24 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 6 of 18 over the last three games. He’s also made 90.5 percent of his foul shots this season.
ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Cards have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Minutemen. Ball State has 47 assists on 71 field goals (66.2 percent) across its previous three contests while UMass has assists on 45 of 79 field goals (57 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The UMass offense has recorded a turnover on only 13.7 percent of its possessions, which is the 21st-best rate in the nation. The Ball State defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 16.9 percent of all possessions (ranked 289th among Division I teams).
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