Cardinals Return Home to Host USC Upstate

The Ball State men's basketball team returns home to face USC Upstate on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in its first game of the Midwest Madness: Cardinal Classic.

The Cardinals (3-1) and Spartans (2-3) are scheduled to battle for the first time in series history. This is Ball State's first of two games as part of the Cardinal Classic, as the team will host Arkansas Pine-Bluff at 2 p.m. on Friday to bookend Thanksgiving with a pair of nonconference games.

Basheer Jihad's 21 points and eight rebounds were not enough at Evansville on Saturday, as the Purple Aces defeated the Cardinals 74-50 in Ball State's initial road game of the season. The loss broke up the men's basketball team's best start to a season since 1997.

USC Upstate, of the Big South Conference, has lost to two Southeastern Conference opponents (South Carolina on Nov. 6 and Vanderbilt on Nov. 10) and one Big Ten Conference opponent (Minnesota on Nov. 18) to begin the year, with the 74-67 loss at Vandy being its closest game of the three. The Spartans beat National Christian College Athletic Association member Carolina University 106-48 on Nov. 12 and East Carolina 83-81 on Nov. 15.

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 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 USC UPSTATE: The Spartans went 16-16 (10-8 Big South) last season in head coach Dave Dickerson's fifth leading the program. Dickerson most recently had stops as an associate head coach at Ohio State (2010-17) and with the Utah Jazz as a scout.

Sophomore Justin Bailey and redshirt junior Trae Broadnax pace Upstate in scoring with 13.8 points per game, while Ahmir Langlais (5.4) and Broadnax (3.6) lead the team in rebounds and assists per game, respectively. Bailey and Broadnax were voted second team in the Big South's preseason poll, and the Spartans were picked sixth out of nine teams.

USC Upstate leads the Big South in 3-point shooting (39.3 percent, 37^th nationally), steals (10.2 per game, 37^th) and turnover margin (+5.8, 33^rd). Bailey paces the league in steals (11) and steals per game (2.2) so far this season.

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS

Jihad leads the Cardinals in scoring (16.5 points per game), rebounding (5.8) and blocks (1.3) averages. The scoring and rebounding efforts at Evansville tied career highs for the junior out of Detroit. The juniors scoring average is fourth in the Mid-American Conference behind leader Tyson Acuff's 19.8 points per game for Eastern Michigan.
The Cardinals lead the MAC and rank in the Top 25 nationally in scoring defense (58.2 points per game, 19^th) and 3-point percentage defense (24.2, 25^th) and are 21^st in Division I with a positive 7.0 mark.
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.

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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