Men's Basketball Returns Home to Face Central Michigan

The Ball State men's basketball team opens its Mid-American Conference home slate and plays a game at Worthen Arena for the first time since Dec. 10 when it hosts Central Michigan at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with Jack McMullen and David Eha on the call. Mick Tidrow and Scot Bunnell handle the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM - 92.5FM.

The Cardinals (8-5, 0-1 MAC) and Chippewas (5-8, 0-1 MAC) meet for the 108^th time in series history. Last season, Ball State won the lone meeting between the teams 65-51 on Feb. 7 at Central Michigan.

Visiting Ball State dropped an 82-69 decision at Kent State in both teams' MAC opener Tuesday night. The production of the trio of Basheer Jihad (23 points, six rebounds), Davion Bailey (14 points) and Jalin Anderson (10 points, seven rebounds, five assists) wasn't enough to overcome the athleticism of the Golden Flashes, who led 41-30 at the break and by at least seven points for the entirety of the second half.

Central Michigan lost 76-64 to Buffalo on Tuesday after falling 73-35 at Loyola (Chicago) on Dec. 30. The Chippewas beat Detroit Mercy 75-63 on Dec. 21 in Mount Pleasant against the only common opponent between BSU and CMU so far this season.

SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN: The Chippewas went 10-21 (5-13 MAC) last season in head coach Tony Barbee's 2^nd leading the program. Central Michigan finished in a tie for 9^th place in the MAC regular season standings, missing the conference tournament.

The Chippewas are No. 3 in the MAC in steals per game (6.9), No. 4 in turnovers forced per game (13.5) and No. 5 in blocks per game (3.3) so far.

Junior guard Anthony Pritchard ranks second in the league with 4.6 assists per game and 2.0 steals per game.

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS

Jihad leads the Cardinals in scoring (18.7 points per game) and rebounding (7.2) averages. The junior forward out of Detroit has led the Cardinals in scoring eight games so far, scoring in double-figures 12 times, including six games with 20+ points. The big man's total points (243) and scoring average both rank third in the Mid-American Conference, while his rebounding average is sixth.
The Cardinals lead the MAC and rank No. 27 nationally in fewest fouls committed per game (14.2), while being second in the league in rebounding margin (+3.8) and 3-point shooting (37.5 percent), which ranks 37^th nationally.
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 (18.7 points per game), rebounding (7.2 per game) and field goal percentage (49.1) 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 four 20+ point games so far in the nonconference 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 (58), rebounds (40), assists (12), blocks (10) and steals (four) in a season through the schedule's first 13 games while shooting an impressive 84.2 percent at the free throw line. The big man has seen increased playing time over his last eight contests, averaging 20.6 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

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 (809) boasts the most career points in NCAA Division I on the current roster.

HOME HEROES: Ball State boasts a 7-0 record in the friendly confines of Worthen Arena, beating visitors by an average of 23.3 points per game (83.3-60.0).

The success includes significant advantages in rebounding margin (+8.4), turnover margin (+5.1), field goal shooting (.487 to .415) and 3-point shooting (.403 to .287).

STARTING STRONG: The Ball State men's basketball program owns a 31-17 record Mid-American Conference home openers, including last year's 70-63 decision over Akron on Jan. 6.

The Cardinals have won two straight home league opener after falling 78-68 to Ohio in 2021.

Up Next
The Cardinals host league favorite Akron at 7 p.m. on Tuesday for the second of back-to-back home games.

Men's Basketball Returns Home to Face Central Michigan

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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