Men's Basketball to Play at Evansville Saturday in Intrastate Showdown

The Ball State men's basketball team hits the road for a game at Evansville on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT) in its first away contest of the regular season.

The Cardinals (3-0) and Purple Aces (3-0) both enter the in-state matchup undefeated. Ball State's trifecta of wins to begin the schedule mark the program's best start since 1997.

Jalin Anderson tallied 20 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in Tuesday night's 92-51 triumph over Oakland City to up his scoring average to 19.7 points per game. After opening the season with two contests against National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) opponents, the Cardinals will play NCAA Division I exclusively from here on out.

Evansville beat Mid-American Conference foe Miami (Ohio) 72-64 in their season opener on Nov. 6 before toppling the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis 116-46 on Nov. 9 and most recently beating Southeast Missouri St. 76-57 last Wednesday on the road.

Ball State recorded a 20-12 record (11-7 Mid-American Conference) in 2022-23 to earn the No. 4 seed in the MAC Tournament. Head coach Michael Lewis enters his second season leading the Cardinals after recent stops as an assistant at UCLA, Nebraska and Butler.

Juniors Mickey Pearson Jr. and Basheer Jihad headline the returners, as they averaged 7.7 points and 5.5 rebounds and 7.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, respectively, in 2022-23. Three transfers and five true freshmen bolster Ball State's 2023-24 team.

SCOUTING EVANSVILLE: The Purple Aces went 5-27 (1-19 Missouri Valley Conference) last season in head coach David Ragland's first leading the program. Ragland headed south from Butler where he was an assistant coach under LaVall Jordan.

Senior Ben Humrichous leads the Aces in scoring (15.7 points per game), rebounding (5.7) and 3-point shooting (50 percent), while senior forward Yacine Toumi (14.3) and freshman guard Braylon Jackson (14.0) also average in double figures scoring. Guard Kenny Strawbridge Jr., who was voted to the Preseason All-MVC Second Team, adds 8.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest.

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS

Anderson leads the Cardinals in scoring (19.7 points per game), rebounding (5.7), assists (2.3), field goal shooting (64.7 percent) and 3-point shooting (50 percent) among those putting up at least three shots per game. His field goals made (22) ranks No. 51 and scoring average ranks No. 72 in Division I so far this year, and both marks are second in the MAC.
The Cardinals lead the MAC and rank in the Top 10 nationally in turnover margin (+12.3, fourth), turnovers forced per game (21.0, eighth) and scoring defense (53.0 points per game, 10^th).
Ball State's 20 wins last year were its most since 2016-17 when that team won 21. This season's Cardinals will look for back-to-back 20-win schedules for the first time since that 2016-17 season.
The Cardinals are a young group, as the roster includes only one senior or graduate student (Ethan Brittain-Watts). Ball State returns only 21.5 percent of minutes played and 19.6 percent of points scored from last year's team.
Brittain-Watts (Boston University), Jalin Anderson (Loyola Marymount) and Davion Bailey (Southeastern CC) form Ball State's trio of transfers.
Joey Brown (Indianapolis), Zane Doughty (Indianapolis), Mason Jones (Valparaiso, Ind.), Trent Middleton Jr. (Philadelphia) and Jurica Zagorsak (Zadar, Croatia) are the Cardinals' quintet of true freshmen.
Ball State recently signed forward Jai Anthoni Bearden (Phoenix, Ariz.) and guard Jermarhi "Fatt" Hill (Bessemer, Ala.) to national letters of intent to form the Cardinals' 2024 recruiting class.

Up Next
Ball State returns to Worthen Arena to host USC Upstate at 7 p.m. on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Men's Basketball to Play at Evansville Saturday in Intrastate Showdown

Players Mentioned

Jalin Anderson

Davion Bailey

Ethan Brittain-Watts

Joey Brown

Zane Doughty

Basheer Jihad

Mason Jones

Trent Middleton Jr.

Mickey Pearson Jr.

Jurica Zagorsak

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