By THOMAS ST. MYER
tstmyer@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Friday, Nov. 20 2009) MUNCIE — Malik Perry momentarily confused Worthen Arena for Muscle Beach last Friday.

The Ball State junior posed WWE style, with his “guns” a-blazing, for the home crowd after a basket against Valparaiso.
Perry muscled his way through Valparaiso with relative ease as the Ball State frontcourt proved as formidable as advertised in the season opener. The trio of Jarrod Jones, Terrence Watson and Perry shot 15-of-23 from the floor and totaled 47 points, 22 rebounds and six blocks in an 88-78 victory over Valparaiso.

“Offensively they complement each other very well, and defensively it brings some more size, some more toughness to our frontline,” Ball State coach Billy Taylor said.

“Having Terrence out there, he can block shots. Malik Perry, who’s a great help defender and Jarrod Jones, who has length and athleticism, they all complement each other very well.”

Jones stands 6-foot-9 and towers over the other two forwards, but the 6-5 Watson and 6-4 Perry utilize their wide, linebacker-esque frames to hold their own in the paint.

“Us three, with Mo Hubbard in there, it’s going to be hard for teams to send guys over to me to double-team me, because when the shot goes up there’s going to be one of us there for offensive rebounds,” Jones said. “All of us working together, there’s not going to be anyone to lay off of on the inside.”

Watson debuted for Ball State in the season opener after transferring over from Mississippi. The senior topped the Cardinals with nine rebounds and four blocks, and he dished two assists.

Watson mirrors Perry in how he crashes the boards and plays lockdown defense. Perry possesses a better touch around the basket, but Watson handles and passes the ball better and acts as a point forward for the Cardinals.

“We complement each other greatly, because we have size, so most teams can’t match up with our size,” Watson said. “We can get a lot of offensive rebounds and mix the ball in there, and it frees me up or it frees Jarrod up or Malik.”

Their size proved advantageous against Valparaiso. Of course, the Crusaders resemble a YMCA pick-up squad with their tallest starter standing only 6-foot-7. Ball State plays host to another interior-inferior opponent on Saturday afternoon when SIU-Edwardsville (0-3) visits Worthen Arena. The Cougars possess size at center in 6-10, 240-pound Nikola Bundalo, but he averages a mere 2.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

How the Ball State frontcourt matches up against opponents with similar or superior size remains to be seen. Only Jones possesses the shooting touch to consistently score from outside the paint, so the defense wins anytime Perry or Watson shoot a jumper.

The Ball State frontcourt faces its first sizable challenge Tuesday at Temple. The Owls rotate three players, ranging between 6-9 and 6-11, at power forward and center.

No matter what Temple or any other future opponent, for that matter, throws at him, Perry promises to muscle his way to the basket, “guns” a-blazing.