Men's Basketball to Play at Little Rock on Tuesday Night

The Ball State men's basketball team travels to Little Rock (Ark.) to take on the Trojans at 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CT) in its second road contest of the season.

The Cardinals (5-1) and Trojans (2-4) are scheduled to play for the first time in series history. Ball State beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 92-74 on Friday afternoon to remain undefeated (5-0) at home and sweep its pair of games in the Midwest Madness: Cardinal Classic.

Basheer Jihad recorded his first career double-double, and first of the season for the Cardinals, with 18 points and 11 rebounds to turn away the Lions on Black Friday. Arkansas-Pine Bluff led 46-40 at halftime, but a consisted Ball State offense, which shot 60+ percent in each half, outlasted the visitors from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Little Rock, of the Ohio Valley Conference, has sandwiched wins over Texas State (71-66 on Nov. 6) and Tulsa (84-82 in OT on Nov. 25) with losses to UIC, Northern Illinois and Georgia State (twice). The Trojans are coming off back-to-back overtime games, losing 93-90 to Georgia State before the most recent win against Tulsa.

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 LITTLE ROCK: The Trojans went 10-21 (6-12 OVC) last season in head coach Darrell Walker's fifth leading the program and their first in the Ohio Valley Conference. Little Rock made the conference switch after competing in the Sun Belt since 1991.

Senior guard KK Robinson paces the Trojan offense with 19.0 points and 5.4 assists per game, while forward DeAntoni Gordon follows at 17.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Other Little Rock players averaging double figures scoring include Jamir Chaplin (15.8 points, 8.7 rebounds) and Cougar Downing (10.2 points per game).

Chaplin leads the OVC and ranks No. 15 nationally in offensive rebounds per game (4.00) and double-doubles (three).

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS

Jihad leads the Cardinals in scoring (16.0 points per game) and rebounding (6.5) averages. The junior forward out of Detroit has led the Cardinals in scoring four times so far, scoring in double-figures five times, including a pair of games with 20+ points.
The Cardinals lead the MAC and rank in the Top 25 nationally in scoring defense (60.8 points per game, 21^st) and scoring margin (+19.7, 22^nd).
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 home to host Bellarmine at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Worthen Arena.

Men's Basketball to Play at Little Rock on Tuesday Night

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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