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Greetings from John E. Worthen Arena as the Crusaders prepare to open their season against Ball State.

Tonight is the beginning of what Homer Drew and the Valparaiso coaching staff hope is a revitalization of the program after a disappointing 9-22 season last year. 

There is plenty of reason for hope and it starts at the top with fifth-year senior (and four-year captain) Brandon McPherson. The Indianapolis native is back after sitting out most of last season because of knee surgery and is expected to lead the team in every facet.

A year after the Crusaders struggled to field an entire lineup of scholarship players on some nights, depth is expected to be a major asset for Drew's squad. Iowa State transfer Cory Johnson and Southern Illinois/JUCO transfer Brandon Wood are expected to join McPherson and juniors Howard Little and Michael Rogers in the starting lineup.

The second unit will be led by a number of freshmen, including Indiana All-Star Matt Kenney and Penn product Tommy Kurth. Kurth has impressed the coaching staff and his teammates with his decision-making ability in the preseason and could cut into the minutes of sophomore Erik Buggs. This will be one of the position battles to watch out for tonight. 

Another player who I'll have my eye on is freshman Ryan Broekhoff. The Australian native missed a number of practices and the Chicago State scrimmage because of flu-like symptoms and has only recently returned to practice. After scoring eight points in 16 minutes against Indianapolis on Nov. 1, it will be interesting to see how Broekhoff's game translates to the Division I level.

Cameron Witt is also expected to be a leader in the second unit and he will more than likely spell Johnson off the bench. The two other post players on the roster, Chris Halvorsen and Milos Milosevic, appear to be a bit behind the rest of their teammates. Milosevic has had a number of injuries to deal with in the preseason and Halvorsen is adjusting to playing in the post after spending much of his high school career playing outside the paint. Croatian native Hrvoje Vucic is not with the team on the trip, almost a guarantee that he will redshirt this season.

The teams are out on the floor warming up and Drew just stopped by to confirm that McPherson, Wood, Rogers, Little and Johnson will be the starting lineup. He is excited for the season to start and thinks tonight is going to be an entertaining basketball game.

I'll be back closer to tip to give my final thoughts, as well as my prediction for Valparaiso's season-opener.

5:35 p.m. -- Just had a good exchange with Ball State play-by-play announcer Morry Mannies. Mannies is starting his 54th season of calling Cardinals basketball games. He claims to be 71, which would mean he was 17 when he started broadcasting. If you do the math there, it would be easy to figure that Mannies could have broadcast games for a grandfather, father and son. Wow. Mannies explained that he has been to "every place in the country 100 times," and then he told a story about a game Ball State played at Valparaiso in the mid-90's which involved a Cardinals coach ripping a urinal out of the wall. Hilarious stuff from a truly great broadcaster.

5:51 p.m. -- The Cardinals have announced their starting lineup. Michigan City product and MAC Freshman of the Year Jarrod Jones starts in the middle in addition to junior Malik Perry and senior Terrence Watson in the frontcourt. Sophomore Randy Davis will start in the backcourt along with freshman Jauwan Scaife, who is related to former BSU great Bonzi Wells. Jones was highly recruited by Valparaiso during his junior and senior years, but a torn ACL ultimately sidelined him and he decided to sign with the Cardinals. While he might not be on the same "one that got away" level as Michigan sophomore Zack Novak, it will be especially painful if Jones contributes to a Ball State victory tonight. 

5:57 p.m. -- The Crusaders are out on the court in their new shiny Nike uniforms. The road uniforms are all yellow with black trim, coupled with white shooting shirts that have a mixture of yellow to them. A number of the players have cut their hair down, including freshman Matt Kenney, who has brought down his shaggy locks. Ryan Broekhoff didn't touch his hair and Cameron Witt still has his curls, but mostly everyone else has very short hair. This could've never happened in the Urule Igbavboa era.

6:04 p.m. -- Tip is just moments away. Talking to the Valparaiso coaching staff today, you can really feel their energy and excitement. The players have had a bounce in their step today. I'm not sure if that will translate into anything, but I'll drink the Valpo Kool-Aid today. My prediction...Valparaiso 73, Ball State 67. I'll say that Brandon Wood leads all scorers with 25 points. You read it here first.

6:14 p.m. -- Not exactly the start that the Crusaders were looking for. With 15:02 remaining in the first half, Ball State has raced out to a 14-3 lead. Brawley Chisholm has knocked down two 3-pointers off the bench and Malik Perry scored the first four points of the game inside. Cory Johnson has all three points for the Crusaders.

6:17 p.m. -- Johnson has added two more inside baskets and the Crusaders have pulled with nine at 16-7 with 13:44 remaining. In the early going, Witt, Kenney and Kurth have come off the bench and Broekhoff is ready to check in. We still have not seen Buggs, Halvorsen or Milosevic. In the first four minutes of the game, the Crusaders failed to generate any points off set offensive plays, but have done so in the last two possessions. The Cardinals are bigger inside and have taken advantage of two screens to get their 3-pointers. Kurth, Kenney and Broekhoff on the floor with McPherson and Witt.

6:23 p.m. -- With 10:12 remaining in the first half, the Crusaders are trailing 23-10. After seven points to open the game from Johnson, Valparaiso has started shooting the long ball. Broekhoff is 1-3 on 3-pointers, including a wide-open air ball that I'm sure he'll hear about from the Ball State faithful all night. Even Witt got into the act, shooting a 3 early in the shot clock. The Cardinals are shooting 10-15 from the field while the Crusaders are struggling at 28.6 percent and 16.7 from the arc. Buggs is now in the game.

6:28 p.m. -- Buggs and Rogers check in the game and immediately the defensive intensity gets raised a level. The Crusaders have the lead down to 25-17 with 7:53 remaining off another basket by Johnson (nine points) and five straight points from Brandon Wood. The Crusaders are up to 38.9 percent shooting. The issue is still interior defense where Perry has eight points for the Cardinals. Interesting that Howard Little has been quiet tonight. Setting the lineup, Buggs, McPherson, Wood, Johnson and Rogers.

6:42 p.m. -- We've had some slight techical delays.

6:56 p.m. -- We're at halftime where Ball State leads Valparaiso 42-38. The first half was as frustrating for the Crusaders as it was for me to diagnose this wireless internet problem. In the end, it seems everything has worked out.

Brandon Wood leads the way with 17 points while Cory Johnson has 11 points. Wood completely took over the game in the latter stages of the first half and is 6-10 from the field and 3-3 from beyond the arc. McPherson hasn't scored, but has four assists to go with two fouls. Little and Broekhoff have both knocked down 3-pointers and Rogers has four points and that rounds out the scoring. Malik Perry has 12 points for Ball State and he hasn't missed from the field.

I have to hand it to Valpo for coming back in the game. They were down by as many as 14 at one point and have closed the deficit to four at the break. Credit Buggs for stepping up the defensive intensity. Valpo is now shooting 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc after being at 28 and 16 earlier in the half. Ball State is still shooting 64 percent from the field, so you'd expect that number to fall a bit in the second half. Should be an interesting close to the game.

7:08 p.m. -- Keys to the second half...McPherson needs to become more involved with the game. Interior defense also needs to step up. Interesting that Buggs, the last player off the bench, starts the second half in place of Little. What can I say, he earned it. 

7:11 p.m. -- Wood with a turnover to start the half, his third of the game, and then McPherson draws contact but gets no call. Ball State is up 44-38 and you have the feeling that Valpo is right there. Looking at the minutes dispersal from the first half, Ball State had eight guys playing in a range of 10-14 minutes. Valparaiso played 10 guys in the range of 5-16 minutes. Johnson (16), McPherson (15), Wood (14) and Witt (10) played the most minutes. Also notable, Kurth had three assists in nine minutes.

7:17 p.m. -- Crusaders get the ball off a rebound and Johnson scores again and now has 15 points off 6-8 shooting. This is what we expected from Wood and Johnson, with a combined 32 points. Valpo down 46-45 with 16:27 remaining and a BSU timeout.

7:20 p.m. -- These officials are really in early season form. I write that as an objective observer, because guards from both teams are being hammered as they drive in the lane, but the post players are getting calls for barely any contact. On the last call, Johnson screamed in frustration after he was whistled for a foul. BSU up 47-45 with 15:29 remaining and Watson is at the line.

7:38 p.m. -- Wood is up to 21 points and Johnson has 19, but for every basket the Crusaders score, Ball State is coming back with a basket and a free throw. The Cardinals are up 64-57 with 8:36 remaining. Jones has 17 points and Perry has 16 off a perfect 6-6 shooting night.

7:40 p.m. -- Buggs fouls out with his fifth and the Cardinals are back on the line. BSU has shot 26 free throws tonight to Valparaiso's 12.

7:41 p.m. -- The Cardinals have stretched the lead back to nine with 7:31 remaining as BSU is up 68-59. On the floor right now are five players who didn't (really) play for the Crusaders last year. McPherson, Johnson, Kenney, Kurth and Broekhoff. McPherson has yet to score tonight. 

7:51 p.m. -- As this game goes on, it looks apparent that Valparaiso might come up short, but I think there is plenty of good to take from this. Wood adds a dynamic scorer that the Crusaders haven't had in quite some time and Johnson offers an inside offensive presence that has been missing since Dan Oppland graduated. Johnson has 21 points and eight rebounds and is heading to the free throw line down 73-62 with 3:59 remaining. McPherson missed a free throw, BSU got the rebound and Johnson stripped the ball away and was immediately fouled. I'll call him a junkyard dog the way he plays. The disappointment tonight has been the play of McPherson, but I suppose with the year-long hype all the media have given him, how could he possibly live up to those lofty expectations?

7:55 p.m. -- Ball State is up 73-64 with 3:27 remaining. Now is the time to see who rises up in the clutch. Is Wood the kind of player who can score when the game is on the line? Will McPherson defer to Wood? Lineup is Wood, McPherson, Little, Kenney and Johnson.

8:04 p.m. -- We're playing the free throw game now as the Crusaders are trying to claw their way back in. Chris Halvorsen is checking in, probably to soak up some fouls as Howard Little has just fouled out. It's 79-68 with 1:43 remaining. Milos Milosevic is the only scholarship player on the roster who hasn't played.

8:06 p.m. -- Wood just knocked down a shot on his 21st attempt of the night. The season high for attempts last season was 15 on three different occasions. Wood's 23 points would've been the third-highest total last season.

8:11 p.m. -- McPherson has come alive with 11 second-half points as the Crusaders trail just 84-76 with 53.6 seconds remaining. The senior just drilled a 3-pointer. This could get interesting if the Cardinals continue to miss their free throws (28/42 for 66.7 percent).

8:18 p.m. -- Ball State 88, Valparaiso 78. More to come after the press conference.