The Ball State Cardinals enter the contest coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Dayton Flyers by a point. The Oklahoma Sooners scored 108 in their season opening win against Omaha.

Game Details

• When: Wednesday, November 15th, 2017 at 9 p.m. EST, 8 p.m. local.
• Where: Lloyd Nobel Center, Norman, Oklahoma
• Watch: Fox Sports SW Plus
• Listen: WLBC 104.1 in Muncie, or via stream on the web
• Stream: Fox Sports Go based on cable subscription
• Line: OU -16.5

Scouting The Cardinals

In their first outing, the Cardinals battled back from an awful start against a hostile crowd. In the end, they struggled to stop Dayton in the paint. A large reason why was that All-MAC Defensive player Trey Moses only managed 11 minutes, as he is still coming back from injury.

Offensively, the Cardinals rely on point guard Tayler Persons to set the action. They have plenty of weapons, including Tahjai Teague, who scored 14 and grabbed 11 boards in the opener. They like to try and work the ball in side out to set up their array of jump shooters.

Oklahoma Sooners

The Sooners can score a lot of points. 9 Sooners scored 8 or more points in their opener. They were led by local freshman Trae Young, who scored 15, grabbed 6 boards and dished 10 dimes. It was not a surprise performance, because he was a consensus 5 start recruit.

If there is a chink in this Sooners squad, they are young and aren’t particularly adept at defense yet.

Players to Watch

Tayler Persons, Ball State: Had 14 points and 8 assists in the opener. All 14 points came in the second half and he scored the final 2 points for the Cardinals to put them up with 3 second left, before Dayton hit the game winner.

Francis Kiapway, Ball State: A do everything senior, his play doesn’t always show up in the stat sheet but it will be vital for the Cardinals to pull off the upset.

Trae Young, Oklahoma: The 5 star recruit lived up to the hype in his first contest.

Brady Manek, Oklahoma: The other local recruit, the duo looks to be a formidable combination all season.

Prediction

The home court advantage and length of the Sooners will prove to be too much in the end. I wouldn’t bet this game because I think the Cardinals are much better than a 17 point underdog. However, with the way the Sooners score, it could be a close game until the end and the Sooners might still cover.