GAME NOTES: The Ball State Cardinals return home to face a familiar foe on Saturday afternoon, as they battle the Indiana State Sycamores in non- conference action at Worthen Arena.

Both teams played on Wednesday, and they resulted in defeats. The Cardinals lost at Eastern Illinois, while the Sycamores fell for a third straight time as they were blown out at home by 23rd-ranked Butler.

Ball State and Indiana State have met 128 times over the years, with the Sycamores winning 71 of those contests. Ball State is 39-22 against the Sycamores in Muncie, and that includes a 9-1 mark inside Worthen Arena. Indiana State, though, won the last encounter in Muncie on Nov. 20, 2012.

Despite solid board work recently, the Cardinals are still below .500 on the season. They have outrebounded their past four opponents by an average of more than 10 per game. On Wednesday, Zavier Turner returned from a suspension to net 20 points for Ball State, adding six rebounds and four assists in a 61-54 loss to Eastern Illinois. Jeremie Tyler scored 10 points, and Franko House pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds in the setback. Ball State entered that game shooting above 52 percent, but on Wednesday the Cardinals made only 30 percent of their field goal attempts.

Turner, a former Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, sat out nearly two weeks due to a violation of team rules. He is tied for second on the team in scoring at 15.0 ppg, equal to that of Tyler. Sean Sellers, who was limited to four points on Wednesday, paces the offense at 16.4 ppg. Center Matt Kamieniecki, the team's only senior, who missed the 2013-14 season because of a wrist injury, has 8.2 rebounds per game to pace the team, while he scores 7.8 points per contest.

Ball State averages 76.8 ppg, which is 10 more than its opponents. They've also seen success from the 3-point line, with the Cardinals making 43.1 percent. Sellers is 13-of-21 from beyond the arc.

Devonte Brown had 16 points and Jake Kitchell scored 14 to lead the Sycamores during their 77-54 defeat at the hands of Butler. Indiana State, which was coming off consecutive losses to Illinois and Memphis, also received 10 points from Brenton. Butler had a 53.8 shooting percentage. The Sycamores, who are giving up 70.7 points a game, are led offensively by Brown (13.4 ppg). He also paces the team in rebounding (5.4 rpg). Khristian Smith (12.0 ppg) has made only 4-of-30 3-point shots. Smith and Brown are a combined 6-of-41 from long distance, part of Indiana State's 27.5 percent shooting from 3-point land. They are also making only 68.8 percent of their foul shots.

Should Indiana State prevail in this matchup, it would give the Sycamores back-to-back wins against the Cardinals in Muncie for the first time since two wins in a row in Dec. 15, 1984 and Dec. 3, 1986. Expect a bounce-back effort from the Cardinals.