Saturday, December 14
Louisville, Ky.
3 PM
Ball State University
at
Bellarmine
Photo by: Sam Findley/Ball State Athletics
Men's Basketball Playing at Bellarmine on Saturday Afternoon
December 13, 2024 | Men's Basketball
Contest in Louisville is Final Road Nonconference Game on the Schedule
The Ball State men's basketball team emerges from Finals Week to play Bellarmine at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Louisville.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+, while Mick Tidrow and David Eha handle the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM – 92.5FM. The Cardinals topped the Knights 67-58 in Muncie on Dec. 2, 2023 in the first meeting between the two programs.
Ball State fell 82-69 at SIUE on Sunday afternoon despite a hot-shooting first half that gave the visiting Cardinals a 41-39 halftime lead. Juanse Gorosito scored 17 points and Ben Hendriks added a career-best 13 points in the setback.
Bellarmine (3-7) of the Atlantic Sun Conference beat Brescia University 94-66 last Saturday in its most recent game. The Knights have won three of their last five contests after starting the season 0-5, including an 80-68 win over Mid-American Conference member Bowling Green on Nov. 23.
The Cardinals will return home for a game for the first time in a month when they host Evansville at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21 in Worthen Arena.
SCOUTING BELLARMINE: The Knights were picked to finish 10th by the coaches and 11th by the media in the ASUN preseason poll. Head coach Scott Davenport is in his 20th season leading the team.
The Knights can shoot it, as they lead the ASUN in free throw percentage (81.8, No. 4 in NCAA Division I), field goal percentage (47.9), 3-point percentage (37.4) and effective field goal percentage (57.0).
Redshirt junior guard Ben Johnson paces the team in scoring (14.2 points per game) while ranking second in the ASUN in 3-point percentage (39.4) and third in 3-pointers made (28) so far this season.
MILESTONE WATCH: Payton Sparks (950 points), Jeremiah Hernandez (877) and Mickey Pearson Jr. (825) are each closing in on scoring 1,000 points in his Division I career.
Ethan Brittain-Watts recently made his 100th career 3-pointer, while Sparks (573 rebounds) needs only 12 more boards to move into the Top-20 in Ball State program history for a career.
KEEPING UP WITH KENTUCKY SCHOOLS: Saturday's game at Bellarmine will be Ball State's second of the year against a team from the Bluegrass State.
The Cardinals defeated Eastern Kentucky 63-61 on Nov. 25 in the first game of the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla.
TOP OF THE HILL: Junior Jermahri Hill was named the Mid-American Conference Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 2 after averaging 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in three games at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Hill had assists on three-point plays to Mickey Pearson Jr. and Payton Sparks in the final minute of the 63-61 win over Eastern Kentucky in the opener on Nov. 25. The guard paces the MAC in free throw attempts (61) and makes (41) while ranking fifth at 16.2 points per game on the year.
GORO-THREE-TO: Junior guard Juanse Gorosito has gone 17-for-32 from beyond the arc in the last four games to raise his shooting percentage from distance to 48.2 percent on the year.
Gorosito made at least three triples in each of the four games including 6 of 10 against Richmond and 5 of 9 at SIUE. The 3-point percentage leads the MAC and ranks No. 20 in NCAA Division I, while Gorosito's 27 made 3-pointers are the second-most in the MAC.
I REMEMBER YOU: Ball State has played seven different players this season who were on MAC rosters during the 2023-24 season. SIUE's Darrion Baker (from Akron) was the seventh. The full list is below.
Darrion Baker (Akron to SIUE)
Legend Geeter (Eastern Michigan to Detroit Mercy)
Markus Harding (Central Michigan to Indiana State)
Orlando Lovejoy (Eastern Michigan to Detroit Mercy)
Cyril Martynov (Eastern Michigan to Eastern Kentucky)
Zarique Nutter (Northern Illinois to Georgia State)
B. Artis White (Western Michigan to Richmond)
GETTING TO THE LINE: The Cardinals paced the Mid-American Conference in both free throw attempts per game (25.9) and free throws made per game (17.8) through the season's first nine games.
Ball State ranks No. 18 and No. 39 in those categories in NCAA Division I, respectively. The tallies outpace the next-closest MAC team (Buffalo) by 15 attempts and nine makes.
FAMILIAR FOES: Ball State's matchup with Bellarmine will be its fourth of five games this season against nonconference opponents that the Cardinals also faced last year.
Including Indiana State (Nov. 16), Detroit Mercy (Nov. 20) and SIUE (Dec. 8), Ball State will also play Evansville (Dec. 21).
SLAM JAM: Hill's one-hand slam dunk for an and-one at the end of the first half on Nov. 13 at Dayton was the No. 1 play on SportsCenter's Top 10 list.
Hill led the Cardinals with 25 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the game.
WE'LL PLAY ANYWHERE: The Cardinals will play in a fifth different state away from home when they take on Bellarmine in Louisville, Ky. It will be the final road game on the nonconference schedule.
Ball State played at Georgia State in the season opener, at Dayton in the third game of the year, in Florida for the Gulf Coast Showcase in late November, and last Sunday at SIUE in Illinois.
IN-STATE BATTLES: Ball State is set to host Franklin (Nov. 8), Indiana State (Nov. 16), Evansville (Dec. 21) and Anderson (Dec. 31) for a quartet of in-state rivalries this season.
The men's basketball program hasn't hosted at least four teams from the state of Indiana since 2013-14 when that team played Taylor, Butler, Valparaiso and Oakland City at Worthen Arena.
PEARSON POUNDING THE GLASS: Mickey Pearson Jr. tied his career-best with 13 rebounds in the season opener at Georgia State before grabbing 11 against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 20.
The forward also notched 13 boards on Nov. 7, 2022 against Earlham at Worthen Arena. Pearson Jr. averages 6.8 rebounds per game which ranks fourth in the MAC, while his 61 total rebounds are second.
HOME STATE HEROES: Brittain-Watts (2019), Zane Doughty, Joey Hart and Jones (2023) were each named Indiana High School All-Stars, while three more Cardinals also had ties to the state before arriving in Muncie.
Ball State has the second-most players from Indiana high schools among Indiana-based Division I teams behind Purdue.
WORLD FLYERS: The 2024-25 Ball State roster consists of student-athletes from three different countries in addition to the United States of America.
Juanse Gorosito (Argentina), Hendriks (Canada) and Jurica Zagorsak (Croatia) are international Cardinals this season. Interestingly, Juanse, Ben and Jurica were born on different continents, so Ball State has student-athletes from North America, South America and Europe on the team.
TRANSFERS FROM ALL OVER: Each of Ball State's seven student-athletes who have transferred into the program have come from different college basketball conferences.
The list includes Brittain-Watts (Patriot League, Boston), Gorosito (West Coast Conference, Portland), Hart (SEC, Kentucky), Hernandez (Ohio Valley Conference, USI), Pearson Jr. (Big 12, TCU), Sparks (Big Ten, Indiana) and Hill who played junior college ball at South Plains in Levelland, Texas.
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The game will be streamed on ESPN+, while Mick Tidrow and David Eha handle the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM – 92.5FM. The Cardinals topped the Knights 67-58 in Muncie on Dec. 2, 2023 in the first meeting between the two programs.
Ball State fell 82-69 at SIUE on Sunday afternoon despite a hot-shooting first half that gave the visiting Cardinals a 41-39 halftime lead. Juanse Gorosito scored 17 points and Ben Hendriks added a career-best 13 points in the setback.
Bellarmine (3-7) of the Atlantic Sun Conference beat Brescia University 94-66 last Saturday in its most recent game. The Knights have won three of their last five contests after starting the season 0-5, including an 80-68 win over Mid-American Conference member Bowling Green on Nov. 23.
The Cardinals will return home for a game for the first time in a month when they host Evansville at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21 in Worthen Arena.
SCOUTING BELLARMINE: The Knights were picked to finish 10th by the coaches and 11th by the media in the ASUN preseason poll. Head coach Scott Davenport is in his 20th season leading the team.
The Knights can shoot it, as they lead the ASUN in free throw percentage (81.8, No. 4 in NCAA Division I), field goal percentage (47.9), 3-point percentage (37.4) and effective field goal percentage (57.0).
Redshirt junior guard Ben Johnson paces the team in scoring (14.2 points per game) while ranking second in the ASUN in 3-point percentage (39.4) and third in 3-pointers made (28) so far this season.
MILESTONE WATCH: Payton Sparks (950 points), Jeremiah Hernandez (877) and Mickey Pearson Jr. (825) are each closing in on scoring 1,000 points in his Division I career.
Ethan Brittain-Watts recently made his 100th career 3-pointer, while Sparks (573 rebounds) needs only 12 more boards to move into the Top-20 in Ball State program history for a career.
KEEPING UP WITH KENTUCKY SCHOOLS: Saturday's game at Bellarmine will be Ball State's second of the year against a team from the Bluegrass State.
The Cardinals defeated Eastern Kentucky 63-61 on Nov. 25 in the first game of the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla.
TOP OF THE HILL: Junior Jermahri Hill was named the Mid-American Conference Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 2 after averaging 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in three games at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Hill had assists on three-point plays to Mickey Pearson Jr. and Payton Sparks in the final minute of the 63-61 win over Eastern Kentucky in the opener on Nov. 25. The guard paces the MAC in free throw attempts (61) and makes (41) while ranking fifth at 16.2 points per game on the year.
GORO-THREE-TO: Junior guard Juanse Gorosito has gone 17-for-32 from beyond the arc in the last four games to raise his shooting percentage from distance to 48.2 percent on the year.
Gorosito made at least three triples in each of the four games including 6 of 10 against Richmond and 5 of 9 at SIUE. The 3-point percentage leads the MAC and ranks No. 20 in NCAA Division I, while Gorosito's 27 made 3-pointers are the second-most in the MAC.
I REMEMBER YOU: Ball State has played seven different players this season who were on MAC rosters during the 2023-24 season. SIUE's Darrion Baker (from Akron) was the seventh. The full list is below.
Darrion Baker (Akron to SIUE)
Legend Geeter (Eastern Michigan to Detroit Mercy)
Markus Harding (Central Michigan to Indiana State)
Orlando Lovejoy (Eastern Michigan to Detroit Mercy)
Cyril Martynov (Eastern Michigan to Eastern Kentucky)
Zarique Nutter (Northern Illinois to Georgia State)
B. Artis White (Western Michigan to Richmond)
GETTING TO THE LINE: The Cardinals paced the Mid-American Conference in both free throw attempts per game (25.9) and free throws made per game (17.8) through the season's first nine games.
Ball State ranks No. 18 and No. 39 in those categories in NCAA Division I, respectively. The tallies outpace the next-closest MAC team (Buffalo) by 15 attempts and nine makes.
FAMILIAR FOES: Ball State's matchup with Bellarmine will be its fourth of five games this season against nonconference opponents that the Cardinals also faced last year.
Including Indiana State (Nov. 16), Detroit Mercy (Nov. 20) and SIUE (Dec. 8), Ball State will also play Evansville (Dec. 21).
SLAM JAM: Hill's one-hand slam dunk for an and-one at the end of the first half on Nov. 13 at Dayton was the No. 1 play on SportsCenter's Top 10 list.
Hill led the Cardinals with 25 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the game.
WE'LL PLAY ANYWHERE: The Cardinals will play in a fifth different state away from home when they take on Bellarmine in Louisville, Ky. It will be the final road game on the nonconference schedule.
Ball State played at Georgia State in the season opener, at Dayton in the third game of the year, in Florida for the Gulf Coast Showcase in late November, and last Sunday at SIUE in Illinois.
IN-STATE BATTLES: Ball State is set to host Franklin (Nov. 8), Indiana State (Nov. 16), Evansville (Dec. 21) and Anderson (Dec. 31) for a quartet of in-state rivalries this season.
The men's basketball program hasn't hosted at least four teams from the state of Indiana since 2013-14 when that team played Taylor, Butler, Valparaiso and Oakland City at Worthen Arena.
PEARSON POUNDING THE GLASS: Mickey Pearson Jr. tied his career-best with 13 rebounds in the season opener at Georgia State before grabbing 11 against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 20.
The forward also notched 13 boards on Nov. 7, 2022 against Earlham at Worthen Arena. Pearson Jr. averages 6.8 rebounds per game which ranks fourth in the MAC, while his 61 total rebounds are second.
HOME STATE HEROES: Brittain-Watts (2019), Zane Doughty, Joey Hart and Jones (2023) were each named Indiana High School All-Stars, while three more Cardinals also had ties to the state before arriving in Muncie.
Ball State has the second-most players from Indiana high schools among Indiana-based Division I teams behind Purdue.
WORLD FLYERS: The 2024-25 Ball State roster consists of student-athletes from three different countries in addition to the United States of America.
Juanse Gorosito (Argentina), Hendriks (Canada) and Jurica Zagorsak (Croatia) are international Cardinals this season. Interestingly, Juanse, Ben and Jurica were born on different continents, so Ball State has student-athletes from North America, South America and Europe on the team.
TRANSFERS FROM ALL OVER: Each of Ball State's seven student-athletes who have transferred into the program have come from different college basketball conferences.
The list includes Brittain-Watts (Patriot League, Boston), Gorosito (West Coast Conference, Portland), Hart (SEC, Kentucky), Hernandez (Ohio Valley Conference, USI), Pearson Jr. (Big 12, TCU), Sparks (Big Ten, Indiana) and Hill who played junior college ball at South Plains in Levelland, Texas.
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