Cardinals in Buffalo to Clash with Bulls

The Ball State men's basketball team is on the road to take on Buffalo at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Alumni Arena.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with Paul Peck and Matt Mattia on the call. Mick Tidrow handles the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM - 92.5FM.

The Cardinals (9-9, 1-5 MAC) and Bulls (2-15, 1-4 MAC) meet for the 39^th time in series history. Last season, Buffalo took a 91-65 victory at Worthen Arena in the only meeting between the two schools.

Miami (OH) came back from an 11-point deficit, making a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in the final second of regulation to force overtime on Saturday, where they won 87-80 over the Cardinals at Worthen Arena. Ball State got a career high 29 points from Basheer Jihad, and Mickey Pearson Jr. tallied his first double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) of the year in the setback.

The Bulls enter Tuesday's matchup on a four-game losing skid, with their only conference win being at Central Michigan (76-64) back on Jan. 2. The win at the Chippewas has been the lone Division I triumph of the year for Buffalo, who beat NCAA Division II member Roberts Wesleyan on Nov. 15.

SCOUTING BUFFALO: The Bulls went 15-17 (9-9 MAC) last season in Jim Whitesell's final year as the Buffalo head coach. George Halcovage III, a former Villanova assistant coach, replaced Whitesell and is in his first season as a head coach.

The Bulls rank second in the MAC in blocks per game (4.4), offensive rebounds per game (12.1) and 3-point attempts per game (24.5).

Fifth year forward Sy Chatman ranks sixth in the league in average points (18.1 per game) and seventh in average rebounds (6.6) while being fifth in field goal shooting at 48.3 percent and fourth in blocks per game (1.5).

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS

Basheer Jihad leads the Cardinals in scoring (19.0 points per game) and rebounding (7.4) averages. The junior forward out of Detroit has led the Cardinals in scoring 11 games so far, scoring in double-figures 17 times, including eight games with 20+ points. The big man's total points (342) and scoring average rank third and fourth, respectively, in the Mid-American Conference, while his rebounding average is sixth.
The Cardinals lead the MAC and rank No. 38 nationally in fewest fouls committed per game (15.0), while being second in the league in 3-point shooting (36.9 percent) and third in free throw shooting (76.0 percent) and scoring defense (70.6 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.

DB FOR THREE: Junior guard Davion Bailey leads the Cardinals in 3-pointers made (34) and 3-point shooting (43.6 percent) so far this season, and his 2.43 triples made per game ranks third in the MAC.

The Indianapolis native's 17 total 3-pointers made in conference play slot him in at second in the league behind Northern Illinois' David Coit and his 18.

FREE THROWS FALLING: Redshirt junior Mickey Pearson Jr. ranks second in the Mid-American Conference in free throw shooting percentage at 86.7 (52 of 60).

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 76.0 percent.

PRODUCTIVE PAIR: Juniors Jihad (19.0 points per game) and Jalin Anderson (16.1) rank fourth and eighth in the MAC in average scoring, respectively.

The duo joins Toledo's Ra'Heim Moss (16.3 ppg, seventh) and Dante Maddox Jr. (15.8, ninth) 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 Jan. 9. Ball State's matchup on Jan. 13, Toledo, won the MAC regular season crown in 2022-23.

BANKING ON BASHEER: Jihad leads the team in scoring, rebounding (7.4 per game) and field goal percentage (48.2) 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 on Saturday against Miami (29 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 (4.7 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 while already establishing his career high for single season assists, rebounds and steals. 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 (82), rebounds (58), assists (15), blocks (17) and steals (four) in a season through the schedule's first 18 games while shooting an impressive 85.7 percent at the free throw line. The big man has seen increased playing time over his last 13 contests, averaging 20.5 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 (894) boasts the most career points in NCAA Division I on the current roster.

Up Next
The Cardinals host Northern Illinois at 2 p.m. on Saturday in their first of two straight 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