Men's Basketball Set for Saturday Showdown with Indiana State

The Ball State men's basketball team will play Indiana State at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in the second annual Indy Classic Powered by Gainbridge.

The game will be streamed on Peacock with Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Robbie Hummel (analyst) and Caroline Pineda (sideline reporter) on the call. Mick Tidrow and David Eha handle the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM - 92.5FM.

The Cardinals (8-2) take on the Sycamores (9-1) in their fourth intrastate showdown of the year. Indiana State leads the all-time series 75-62, but Ball State has taken 4 of the last 6 meetings. The Sycamores claimed an 83-71 decision in Terre Haute last November.

Basheer Jihad upped his career-high again to 27 points, while adding 10 rebounds, in Sunday's 83-71 win over SIUE. The Cardinals clinched their fourth straight undefeated home nonconference slate while upping their winning streak to 19 in such contests.

Indiana State, of the Missouri Valley Conference, rides an eight-game winning streaking heading into Saturday, as the Sycamores most recently topped Southern Indiana 98-54 on Dec. 9. The team from Terre Haute, Ind., features an efficient offensive attack that leads the MVC in multiple statistical categories.

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 INDIANA STATE: The Sycamores went 23-13 (13-7 MVC) last season in head coach Josh Schertz's 2^nd leading the program. Indiana State was knocked out in the semifinals of the MVC Tournament and quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational in March 2023.

The Sycamore lead the league and rank in the Top 20 nationally in effective field goal percentage (62.1, first), field goal percentage (52.5, third), 3-point shooting (41.1 percent, fifth), scoring offense (88.5 points per game, ninth), assists per game (18.2, 17^th) and scoring margin (+17.6, 20^th).

Junior guard Isaiah Swope, a transfer out of Southern Indiana, paces the team in scoring at 19.7 points per game, but didn't play last Saturday. Swope's average is second in The Valley and No. 33 in NCAA Division I, while his 3-pointers made per game (3.78) ranks sixth nationally. Indiana State also boasts four other players in double figures scoring, including sophomore center Robbie Avila (16.6 points per game), sophomore Ryan Conwell (15.2), junior Jayson Kent (13.1) and junior Julian Larry (10.5).

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS

Jihad leads the Cardinals in scoring (19.3 points per game) and rebounding (7.4) averages. The junior forward out of Detroit has led the Cardinals in scoring eight games so far, scoring in double-figures nine times, including five games with 20+ points. The big man's total points (193) rank second in the Mid-American Conference, while his rebounding average is fourth.
The Cardinals lead the MAC in scoring defense (64.9 points per game), rebounding margin (+6.0) and fewest fouls committed per game (13.3), which ranks fifth nationally. Ball State holds a +11.6 scoring margin (second in the MAC).
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.

BANKING ON BASHEER: Junior forward Basheer Jihad leads the team in scoring (19.3 points per game), rebounding (7.4 per game) and field goal percentage (52.4) among Cardinals averaging at least four field goal attempts this season. Jihad has established or tied career highs in scoring five times already this season, including in Sunday's win vs SIUE (27 points).

The Detroit native's scoring average has nearly tripled over last year (7.1), while his rebounding average has more than doubled (3.6). Jihad started only one game in his first two seasons at Ball State, but has been a mainstay in the starting lineup as an upperclassman now.

JALIN JAMS: Anderson, a transfer out of Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, leads the Ball State backcourt in scoring (15.1 points per game) and the team in assists (4.1 per game) as the Cardinals' lead guard.

The Jackson, Tenn., native boasts Ball State's highest offensive output (29 points against Old Dominion) so far and is on pace to set career bests for points, rebounds, assists and steals. Anderson has shown a penchant for explosive offensive performances, posting three 20+ point games so far in the nonconference season.

EMERGENCE OF BIG BEN: Redshirt junior center Ben Hendriks has started each of the last six games, totaling career-highs of 11 points and seven rebounds in the Dec. 2 win over Bellarmine and 32 minutes played in the Dec. 10 win against SIUE.

Hendriks already surpassed his career-bests for points (42), blocks (nine), assists (nine) and steals (three) in a season through the schedule's first 10 games while shooting an impressive 84.2 percent at the free throw line. The big man has seen increased playing time over the last six contests, averaging 22.7 minutes per game after playing 6.8 per in the first four games.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK X2: Jihad was named the Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Co-Player of the Week for the second consecutive time for his performances against Detroit Mercy and SIUE in the preceding week.

Jihad set scoring career-highs twice and went for back-to-back double-doubles, as he has put up double-digit points and rebounds in 4 of the previous 5 games.

MUNCIE MAGIC: The Cardinals clinched an undefeated home nonconference slate for the fourth straight season with Sunday's decision over the Cougars.

Ball State has won 19 consecutive nonconference contests at Worthen Arena, with its last loss being on Dec. 3, 2019 to Loyola (Chicago).

1,300 WINS: The Ball State men's basketball team recorded win No. 1,300 in program history with the Dec. 2 decision against Bellarmine. The Cardinals are the tenth current MAC men's basketball team to reach that milestone.

MAC Program Wins (as of Dec. 4, 2023)
Akron - 1,697
Ball State - 1,300
Buffalo - 1,279
Bowling Green - 1,452
Central Michigan - 1,356
Eastern Michigan - 1,292
Kent State - 1,332
Miami (OH) - 1,436
Northern Illinois - 1,315
Ohio - 1,614
Toledo - 1,551

MILESTONE WATCH: Jihad and Pearson Jr. are quickly approaching the 500-point mark, as they have 496 and 493 career points, respectively, entering Saturday's game.

Pearson Jr. tallied 23 of those points playing at TCU, while Anderson (755) boasts the most career points in NCAA Division I on the current roster.

BIRDS AND TREES: The Sycamores are the Cardinals's 2nd-most common opponent, with the 137 games in the series just two behind the 139 times Ball State has faced Western Michigan.

Indiana State has only faced Evansville (182) and Southern Illinois (144) more times in its program history.

INDY INCOMING: The Cardinals have played in Indianapolis 93 times in program history, including 52 games at Butler, 20 at UIndy, six at IUPUI, one at the Indiana Dental College (1921) and 14 neutral site games.

Ball State men's basketball has played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse four times since it opened in 1999, beating Purdue 72-52 on Dec. 18 of that year in the first college game played there. The

Cardinals are 3-2 at Gainbridge, including a 69-55 win over the Sycamores on Nov. 17, 2019.

Up Next
The Cardinals play at Minnesota on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) before Christmas Break in their last nonconference contest of the season and last game of 2023.

Men's Basketball Set for Saturday Showdown with Indiana State

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Players Mentioned

Jalin Anderson

Davion Bailey

Ethan Brittain-Watts

Joey Brown

Zane Doughty

Ben Hendriks

Basheer Jihad

Mason Jones

Trent Middleton Jr.

Jurica Zagorsak