BALL STATE

IUPUI brings friendly face for Davis, Mallory

Dakota Crawford
dakota.crawford@indystar.com
Ball State's Jeremiah Davis looks for an opening in Valparaiso's defense during their game at Worthen Arena Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to former Muncie Central and current Ball State men’s basketball player as Kyle Mallory. His name is Kaleb Mallory. We regret this error.

MUNCIE — While Ball State prepares to host IUPUI looking for a fifth-straight win, fifth-year senior Jeremiah Davis will look forward to playing against one of his best friends.

Jaguars’ junior forward Nick Osborne played two years with Davis at Muncie Central High School. But the two were friends long before that.

“That’s my guy,” Davis said. “I’ve known Nick since I was in third grade. Our relationship goes back way further than high school.

“I’m happy to see him back. On the court it’s business, but off the court, it’s all love.”

Davis said the two talk daily, or at least every other day, just staying in touch and “keeping each other up and on track.” But with IUPUI on the radar, it’s about more than playing against an old friend.

Ball State (5-2) is looking to stay perfect at Worthen Arena this year after most recently knocking off Valparaiso 69-66. IUPUI (2-5) is better than its record indicates, as one of those wins was over Indiana State. One of the losses came in overtime to a good Marquette team.

Last year the Jaguars knocked the Cardinals off 71-69 in a wild overtime finish. That was the third straight win in the series for IUPUI. Ball State was without starting point guard at the time, Zavier Turner, and suffered 25 turnovers in his absence.

“We’re not really worried about last year,” Davis said. “We’re just worried about right now. Just doing the best we can right now.”

Davis, who had a rocky start to the season, has come off the bench in the last two games to record 14 assists for Ball State. He notched a career-high 8 against IU Kokomo on Wednesday as he continues to find ways to help the team despite his poor shooting.

Another Muncie Central guy, Kaleb Mallory, is at the bottom of Ball State’s roster, a preferred walk-on when he joined the team two years ago. He wasn’t very close to Osborne in high school, but Davis — who was a senior when Mallory was a freshman —  was like a big brother to him.

“I guess he kind of took me under his wing at Muncie Central,” Mallory said. “When we came here that kind of carried over. We’re still really good friends.”

The three Muncie Central products will find themselves on the same court again Wednesday night, all looking for a win. Just this time, it will be for different teams. Osborne said he looks forward to being back in Muncie and hopes to play well in front of his family.

As far as playing against his friends go, there won’t be any hard feelings, win or lose.

“It’s all respect,” Osborne said. “I know a couple other players on Ball State’s team as well, so we’ll be competitive on the court but at the end of the day, it’s all respect.”

Contact Ball State sports reporter Dakota Crawford atdcrawford@muncie.gannett.com and follow@DakotaCrawford_.

IUPUI (2-5) at Ball State (5-2)

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Worthen Arena

Video: ESPN3, WatchESPN

Radio: WLBC (104.1 FM), WCRD (91.3 FM)