MBB to Play at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday Night

The Ball State men's basketball team plays at Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. on Tuesday to conclude its two-game Mid-American Conference roadswing.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with Ryan Wolley and Justin Rose on the call. Mick Tidrow and David Eha handle the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM - 92.5FM.

The Cardinals (8-8, 0-4 MAC) and Eagles (8-8, 1-3 MAC) meet for the 116^th time in series history. Last season, the road team took both contests, as Ball State won 91-90 on Feb. 3 at Worthen Arena before the Eagles took a 75-68 decision on Feb. 25 in Ypsilanti.

Ball State, led by Jalin Anderson's 25 points and six rebounds, rallied back from a 40-33 halftime deficit at Toledo on Saturday night to lead by six midway through the second half, but the Rockets closed strong for a 77-72 win to extend their MAC record conference winning streak to 19 games.

Eastern Michigan has begun MAC play 1-3, with the win being a 71-69 overtime victory over Kent State on Jan. 6. In addition to the Golden Flashes, Ball State and Eastern Michigan have also both played Detroit Mercy, who the Eagles beat 76-72 on Nov. 21, and Central Michigan, who won 80-64 over EMU on Jan. 9.

SCOUTING EASTERN MICHIGAN: The Eagles went 8-23 (5-13 MAC) last season in head coach Stan Heath's 1^st leading the program. EMU tied for ninth place in the MAC and missed the conference tournament.

The Eagles rank No. 10 in the MAC in scoring offense (67.9 points per game) and No. 8 in scoring defense (74.3), while their -1.8 rebounding margin is ninth.

Junior guard Tyson Acuff leads the league and ranks No. 7 and No. 6 in NCAA Division I in points per game (21.8) and minutes per game (37:24), respectively, so far this season.

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS

Basheer Jihad leads the Cardinals in scoring (18.7 points per game) and rebounding (7.8) averages. The junior forward out of Detroit has led the Cardinals in scoring 10 games so far, scoring in double-figures 15 times, including seven games with 20+ points. The big man's total points (299) and scoring average both rank fourth in the Mid-American Conference, while his rebounding average is fifth.
The Cardinals lead the MAC and rank No. 39 nationally in fewest fouls committed per game (14.9), while being third in the league in rebounding margin (+3.1), 3-point shooting (36.6 percent), free throw shooting (75.7 percent) and scoring defense (70.1 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.

FREE THROWS FALLING: Redshirt junior Mickey Pearson Jr. leads the Mid-American Conference in free throw shooting percentage at 87.5 (49 of 56).

Ben Hendriks has made 85.7 percent (18-21) of his attempts at the charity stripe so far this season, while the Cardinals as a whole rank third in the MAC in free throw shooting at 75.7 percent.

FAMILY REUNION: Basheer Jihad faces off against his brother, Yusuf, on Tuesday in a homecoming for the Detroit area natives.

Basheer has scored 13 points in four career matchups against the Eagles, with Ball State going 3-1 in those games. Yusuf went for six points while playing three games head-to-head.

PRODUCTIVE PAIR: Juniors Jihad (18.7 points per game) and Jalin Anderson (16.4) rank fourth and eighth in the MAC in average scoring, respectively.

The duo joins Northern Illinois' David Coit (19.5 ppg, third) 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 included 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 (18.7 points per game), rebounding (7.8 per game) and field goal percentage (49.0) 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 and the team in assists (4.6 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 and steals while already establishing his career high for single season assists and rebounds. Anderson has shown a penchant for explosive offensive performances, posting six 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 (72), rebounds (50), assists (13), blocks (14) and steals (four) in a season through the schedule's first 16 games while shooting an impressive 85.7 percent at the free throw line. The big man has seen increased playing time over his last 11 contests, averaging 19.7 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 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 Dec. 16 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 (866) boasts the most career points in NCAA Division I on the current roster.

Up Next
The Cardinals host Miami (OH) at 2 p.m. on Saturday in their first of back-to-back home games.

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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.

Mickey Pearson Jr.

Jurica Zagorsak