Cardinals Conclude Roadswing with Tuesday Night Game at Northern Illinois

The Ball State men's basketball team plays the final of a three-game roadswing on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) when the Cardinals take on Northern Illinois.

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 103^rd meeting in the series between the Cardinals and Huskies.

Ball State (12-13, 4-8 Mid-American Conference) topped Northern Illinois (9-16, 3-9 MAC) by a score of 81-71 back on Jan. 27 at Worthen Arena. Basheer Jihad went for 28 points and 14 rebounds to help the Cardinals peak their lead at 20 midway through the second half and cruise to their second straight victory.

Ball State trailed 30-29 at the break but fell at Miami (OH) 80-59 on Saturday afternoon in Oxford. The Cardinals got 18 points each from Jihad and Davion Bailey, but the host RedHawks shot 60.6 percent from the field in the second half to secure the rivalry game win.

Northern Illinois has gone 3-3 since the late January meeting in Muncie, claiming wins over Buffalo and Eastern Michigan at home and at Miami. The Huskies most recently lost 85-47 at Kent State on Saturday afternoon.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies went 13-19 (9-9 MAC) last season in head coach Rashon Burno's second year leading the program. NIU lost in the MAC Tournament quarterfinal to No. 2 seed Kent State 76-57 to end its season.

The Huskies lead the league and rank No. 20 in NCAA Division I in blocks per game (5.1) while ranking second in the MAC at 21.6 free throw attempts per contest.

Junior guard David Coit paces the conference in 3-pointers made per game (3.0), 3-point attempts (203) and free throw percentage (89.2) while ranking No. 24 nationally in each of those categories. Sophomore forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser leads the MAC and is No. 20 in NCAA Division I with 2.2 blocks per game.

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS

Jihad leads the Cardinals in scoring (19.2 points per game) and rebounding (7.6) averages. The junior forward out of Detroit has led the Cardinals in scoring 16 games so far, scoring in double-figures 24 times, including 11 games with 20+ points. The big man's total points (480) and scoring average rank third in the Mid-American Conference, while his rebounding average is fourth. Jihad leads the MAC in free throw attempts (188) and makes (137), ranking No. 17 and No. 20 nationally in those categories, respectively.
The Cardinals lead the MAC and rank in the Top 50 nationally in fewest fouls per game (15.2, No. 50) and 3-point percentage (37.6, No. 22).
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.

FRESHMAN MAKING MOVES: Freshman guard Trent Middleton Jr. has scored in double figures in 5 of the last 7 games after doing so twice in the first 16 games of his collegiate career.

The Philadelphia native increased his scoring average from 5.3 points per game to 7.0 during the span while also grabbing six rebounds in each of the last four games and multiple assists in eight straight contests.

SECOND TRIP AROUND THE MAC: Ball State began 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 its 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 (50) and 3-point shooting (42.7 percent) so far this season, and his 2.4 triples made per game ranks second in the MAC.

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

FREE THROWS FALLING: Redshirt junior Mickey Pearson Jr. ranks second in the Mid-American Conference 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 (86.2 percent, 25-29) and Middleton Jr. (81.7 percent, 49-60) have also been efficient at the foul line, while the Cardinals as a whole lead are third in the MAC in free throw shooting at 75.0 percent.

BANKING ON BASHEER: Jihad leads the team in scoring (19.2 ppg), rebounding (7.6 per game) and field goal percentage (48.1) 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 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: Jalin Anderson, a transfer out of Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, leads the Ball State backcourt in scoring and the team in assists (4.3 per game) as the Cardinals' lead guard. The Jackson, Tenn., native leads the MAC in steals (25) in conference play and is third overall at 41 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.

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 18 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 returns home to host Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the Cardinals' first game in Worthen since Feb. 6.

Cardinals Conclude Roadswing with Tuesday Night Game at Northern Illinois

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Players Mentioned

Jalin Anderson

Davion Bailey

Ethan Brittain-Watts

Joey Brown

Zane Doughty

Basheer Jihad

Mason Jones

Trent Middleton Jr.

Mickey Pearson Jr.

Jurica Zagorsak