Cardinals Set to Battle Rockets in Toledo Saturday Night

The Ball State men's basketball team returns to the road to play Toledo at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Savage Arena.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with Mason Lowry and Rhett Boyd on the call. Mick Tidrow and David Eha handle the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM - 92.5FM.

The Cardinals (8-7, 0-3 MAC) and Rockets (9-6, 3-0 MAC) meet for the 105^th time in series history. Last season, the road team took both contests, as Ball State won 90-83 on Jan. 3 in Toledo before the Rockets got revenge to the tune of an 87-81 victory on March 3 at Worthen Arena.

Ball State dropped a heartbreaker to preseason league favorite Akron on Tuesday night, falling 80-76 after being up by six points with under four minutes to play, as the Zips hit a trio of three-pointers in a row to pull ahead. Basheer Jihad went for 27 points and 16 rebounds, while Jalin Anderson tallied 21 points and five assists for the Cardinals.

Toledo begins its Mid-American Conference slate undefeated after beating Ohio 86-77 on Jan. 2, Miami 68-64 on Jan. 5 and Kent State 89-75 on Jan. 9. In addition to the Golden Flashes, the Rockets have played common opponents with Ball State twice in nonconference action including Detroit Mercy on Nov. 6 (won 94-60) and Indiana State on Nov. 24 (lost 76-74).

SCOUTING TOLEDO: The Rockets went 27-8 (16-2 MAC) last season in head coach Tod Kowalczyk's 13^th leading the program. Toledo won the MAC regular season title but fell to Kent State in the tournament championship game.

The Rockets lead the MAC in scoring offense (79.3 points per game), field goal percentage (47.9) and fastbreak points per game (13.7) so far this season while ranking No. 16 in NCAA Division I in free throw percentage (77.4).

Junior guard Tyler Cochran leads the league with 2.27 steals per game (No. 31 nationally) and ranks tenth at 6.1 rebounds per game. Fellow junior guards Ra'Heim Moss (15.7) and Dante Maddox Jr. (14.8) rank 9^th and 12^th in the conference in points per game, respectively.

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS

Jihad leads the Cardinals in scoring (19.1 points per game) and rebounding (8.0) averages. The junior forward out of Detroit has led the Cardinals in scoring 10 games so far, scoring in double-figures 14 times, including seven games with 20+ points. The big man's total points (286) and scoring average both rank third in the Mid-American Conference, while his rebounding average is fifth.
The Cardinals lead the MAC and rank No. 37 nationally in fewest fouls committed per game (14.7), while being second in the league in rebounding margin (+3.7) and third in 3-point shooting (37.0 percent), free throw shooting (75.2 percent) and scoring defense (69.7 points per game).
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.

PRODUCTIVE PAIR: Juniors Basheer Jihad (19.1 points per game) and Jalin Anderson (15.8) rank third and eighth in the MAC in average scoring, respectively.

The duo joins Northern Illinois' David Coit (19.0 ppg, fourth) and Zarique Nutter (15.2 ppg, tenth), as the only two tandems in the league to rank in the Top 10 in scoring.

TOP OF THE MAC: Ball State's first four games on its Mid-American Conference schedule include games against the three teams who finished at the top of the MAC in 2022-23.

The Cardinals played at Kent State, who was voted second in the MAC preseason coaches poll, on Jan. 2 and preseason league favorite Akron on Tuesday. Ball State's matchup on Saturday, Toledo, won the MAC regular season crown in 2022-23.

BANKING ON BASHEER: Jihad leads the team in scoring (19.1 points per game), rebounding (8.0 per game) and field goal percentage (49.2) 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 the Dec. 10 win vs SIUE (27 points).

The Detroit native's scoring average has nearly tripled over last year (7.1), while his rebounding average has 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 (15.8 points per game) and the team in assists (4.5 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, assists and steals while already establishing his career high for single season rebounds. Anderson has shown a penchant for explosive offensive performances, posting five 20+ point games so far this season.

EMERGENCE OF BIG BEN: Redshirt junior center Ben Hendriks had started each of the last six games before missing the Dec. 21 game at Minnesota, 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 (64), rebounds (48), assists (13), blocks (13) and steals (four) in a season through the schedule's first 15 games while shooting an impressive 84.2 percent at the free throw line. The big man has seen increased playing time over his last 10 contests, averaging 19.8 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 on both Dec. 4 and Dec. 11.

Jihad averaged 24.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, setting career highs in scoring three times over the four-game stretch to lead Ball State to a 3-1 record.

WINNING IN WORTHEN: The Cardinals clinched an undefeated home nonconference slate for the fourth straight season with the Dec. 10 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
Western Michigan - 1,372

MILESTONE WATCH: Jihad and Pearson Jr. both scored their 500th career points in the second half on Saturday against Indiana St, with Jihad hitting the figure with a 3-pointer and Pearson Jr. getting to the total on a layup.

Pearson Jr. tallied 23 of those points playing at TCU, while Anderson (841) boasts the most career points in NCAA Division I on the current roster.

HOME HEROES: Ball State boasts a 7-2 record in the friendly confines of Worthen Arena, beating visitors by an average of 17.0 points per game (80.4-63.4).

The success includes advantages in rebounding margin (+7.2), turnover margin (+2.7), field goal shooting (.477 to .420) and 3-point shooting (.387 to .310).

Up Next
The Cardinals stay on the road to play Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Cardinals Set to Battle Rockets in Toledo Saturday Night

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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