Men's Basketball Returns to MAC Play with Rivalry Game at Miami

The Ball State men's basketball team plays at rival Miami (OH) at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday following a week in between games.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+, while Mick Tidrow and David Eha handle the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM - 92.5FM. This will be the 111^th meeting in the series between the Cardinals and RedHawks.

Ball State (12-12, 4-7 Mid-American Conference) fell to Miami (11-13, 5-6 MAC) in overtime back on Jan. 20 at Worthen Arena. The RedHawks got a last-second 3-pointer from forward Darweshi Hunter to force the extra period. Basheer Jihad's career high 29 points and a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double from Mickey Pearson Jr. were spoiled by Miami's comeback.

The Cardinals are coming off a 68-60 setback at Texas State last Saturday afternoon. Ball State held an early lead and got 19 points and nine rebounds out of Jihad, but the host Bobcats benefitted from balanced scoring and interior production to win their second MAC-SBC Challenge game.

Miami has gone 2-4 since the first battle at Ball State, beating league-leading Akron 70-68 at home on Jan. 27 but dropping a 62-59 decision to Northern Illinois on Feb. 6. The RedHawks lost 73-53 at Georgia State on Saturday in their most recent game.

SCOUTING MIAMI (OH): The RedHawks went 12-20 (6-12 MAC) last season in head coach Travis Steele's second year leading the program. Miami claimed the No. 8 seed in the MAC Tournament and fell to top-seeded Toledo 91-75 in the quarterfinals.

The RedHawks lead the MAC in assists per game (15.0) and bench points per game (28.58), with their bench production ranking No. 25 in NCAA Division I.

Graduate forward Hunter's average 3-pointers made per game (2.12) ranks sixth in the league, and his 143 attempts from long distance ranks third. Hunter and senior center Anderson Mirambeaux lead the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game, while 10 RedHawks average at least 6.0 points per game on the season.

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS

Jihad leads the Cardinals in scoring (19.3 points per game) and rebounding (7.7) averages. The junior forward out of Detroit has led the Cardinals in scoring 15 games so far, scoring in double-figures 23 times, including 11 games with 20+ points. The big man's total points (462) and scoring average rank third in the Mid-American Conference, while his rebounding average is fourth.
The Cardinals lead the MAC and rank in the Top 40 nationally in free throws made per game (16.5, No. 35) and 3-point percentage (37.7, No. 21). Ball State also commits the fewest fouls per game (15.4) while ranking No. 34 nationally in free throw percentage (16.5).
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 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.

SECOND TRIP AROUND THE MAC: Ball State begins its back end of double play opponents on Saturday after playing each of the other 11 Mid-American Conference teams in first 11 league games of the year.

Ball State's regular season series against Akron, Buffalo, Ohio and Toledo have wrapped up with those schools being single-play opponents for the 2024 schedule.

CROATIAN DESTINATION: Ball State is the only Division I school featuring Croatia natives on both its men's basketball (Jurica Zagorsak) and women's basketball (Hana Muhl) teams.
Zagorsak is one of only nine Croatians currently on Division I men's basketball rosters. Ball State has played three of the other teams with a Croatian (Detroit Mercy, Little Rock and Toledo).

HANDLING THE HUSKIES: Ball State topped Northern Illinois for the eighth time in the last nine games between the two MAC foes with the 81-71 win on Jan. 27.

The men's basketball team has won by double-figures over the Huskies five times in that span and bettered record to 62-40 in the series, including 37-13 in Muncie.

BUFFALO BLOWOUT: The 28-point winning margin on Jan. 23 at Buffalo was Ball State's largest of the season against a Division I opponent and second-largest overall behind a 101-40 rout of Goshen in the Nov. 7 season opener.

The loss for the Bulls was their second-most lopsided in MAC play to date and third-worst overall.

DB FOR THREE: Junior guard Davion Bailey leads the Cardinals in 3-pointers made (46) and 3-point shooting (42.6 percent) so far this season, and his 2.3 triples made per game ranks fourth in the MAC.

The Indianapolis native paces the MAC in 3-point percentage among players who've made at least 40 trifectas, ranking fourth overall.

FREE THROWS FALLING: Redshirt junior Mickey Pearson Jr. ranks second in the Mid-American Conference and No. 35 nationally among qualifiers in free throw shooting percentage at 88.0 (66 of 75), and first in conference games at 94.4 percent (34 of 36).

Bailey (85.2 percent, 23-27) and Trent Middleton Jr. (81.0 percent, 47-58) have also been efficient at the foul line, while the Cardinals as a whole lead are third in the MAC and No. 34 in NCAA Division I in free throw shooting at 76.0 percent.

BANKING ON BASHEER: Jihad leads the team in scoring (19.3 ppg), rebounding (7.7 per game) and field goal percentage (48.0) among Cardinals averaging at least four field goal attempts this season. Jihad has established or tied career highs in scoring six times already this season, including on Jan. 20 against Miami (29 points).

The Detroit native's scoring average has nearly tripled ovr 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: Jalin Anderson, a transfer out of Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, leads the Ball State backcourt in scoring and the team in assists (4.4 per game) as the Cardinals' lead guard. The Jackson, Tenn., native leads the MAC in steals (25) in conference play and is tied for second overall at 40 total steals so far.

The Jackson, Tenn., native boasts Ball State's highest offensive output (29 points against Old Dominion) so far and has already established his career high for single season points, assists, rebounds and steals. Anderson has shown a penchant for explosive offensive performances, posting eight 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 (103), rebounds (63), assists (16), blocks (18) and steals (four) in a season through the schedule's first 24 games. The big man has seen increased playing time over his last 18 contests, averaging 18.3 minutes per game after playing 6.8 per in the first four games.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK X3: Jihad was named the Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Co-Player of the Week on Jan. 29 after taking home the honor on Dec. 4 and Dec. 11.

Jihad averaged 24.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.5 per game in wins at Buffalo and vs Northern Illinois, including a 28-point, 14-rebound double-double on Jan. 27 against the Huskies.

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: Anderson is 29 points away from scoring 1,000 in his career. The junior had 604 of those while playing for LMU.

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.

Up Next
Ball State plays another road game on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) at Northern Illinois.

Men's Basketball Returns to MAC Play with Rivalry Game at Miami

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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