Men's Basketball Returns Home to Host Little Rock Saturday Night

Ball State Men's Basketball
Game 4 vs. Little Rock	Saturday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+ \| Listen
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The Ball State men's basketball team returns home to host Little Rock on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Links to the ESPN+ stream, radio broadcast, live stats and tickets can be found above and on the schedule page. Jack Kizer and David Eha are on ESPN+, and Mick Tidrow and Scot Bunnell handle the radio call on WMUN 92.5 FM / 1340 AM and on the WMUN app.

The Cardinals (2-1) most recently fell 86-55 at No. 24 Wisconsin on Tuesday night. Elmore James IV paced Ball State in scoring (17 points) in the team's first road game of the regular season.

Little Rock (1-2) lost 89-49 to Marquette Wednesday night after dropping a 92-72 decision at Milwaukee Monday. The Trojans opened the season with a 92-63 win over Arkansas Tech on Nov. 4.

Head coach Darrell Walker is in his eighth season leading Little Rock, who went 19-14 (12-8 Ohio Valley) last season to tie for third in the OVC regular season standings. The Trojans were picked to win the league in the OVC preseason poll and feature two of the five returning All-OVC performers in guard Johnathan Lawson and forward Tuongthach Gatkek.

Lawson paces Little Rock in scoring (11.7 points per game) through the season's first three contests while being the team's highest volume shooter both on 3-point attempts (17) and overall field goal attempts (29).

Ball State next plays at Indiana State next Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.

OVC OPPORTUNITIES: Ball State has played at least one opponent from the Ohio Valley Conference every year since the 2021-22 season.

That season's Cardinals played Eastern Illinois (and Western Illinois two seasons before it joined the OVC). The 2022-23 team also played the Panthers, while the 2023-24 group played Little Rock and SIUE. Last season Ball State played at SIUE.

CAREER HIGHS FOR JONES: Junior forward Mason Jones set career bests in 3-pointers made (three) and steals (four) on Tuesday night at Wisconsin.

The Valparaiso, Ind., native tallied three of those steals in the first half and went 3-for-3 from distance in the second period.

DYNAMIC DUO: Guards Davion Hill and Armoni Zeigler traded off leading the team in points and rebounds in the first two games of the season, with the other pacing the Cardinals in assists.

Hill went for 16 points, eight boards and four assists in the Nov. 3 season-opening win over Louisiana, while Zeigler chipped in 13 points, three rebounds and a team-best five assists. Zeigler tallied 20 points, nine rebounds and five steals on Nov. 7 against Mansfield as Hill had 16 points, six rebounds and four helpers.

FINISHING STRONG: Ball State controlled the closing minutes in the 75-64 win over the Ragin' Cajuns and 84-54 decision vs the Mountaineers.

The Cardinals scored the final 12 points of the game and 36 of the last 44 overall against Mansfield on Nov. 7. Ball State used an 11-2 run with under five minutes on the clock vs Louisiana the previous Monday to create separation in the season opener.

SUCCESS VS SUN BELT: The Nov. 3 win over Louisiana in the season opener was Ball State's third in as many tries in home games of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.

Ball State topped Old Dominion 73-68 on Nov. 11, 2023 and Southern Miss 77-76 on Feb. 8, 2025 in the two previous installments of the challenge at Worthen Arena.

I'VE SEEN YOU BEFORE: Senior guard Elmore James IV is no stranger to the Mid-American Conference having played three seasons at Ohio before coming to Ball State.

The Cleveland, Ohio native has made 24 starts in 50 career MAC games, scoring 339 points. James averaged 8.2 points and 2.6 rebounds overall last season for the Bobcats while shooting 37.3 percent from 3-point range.

FAMILIAR NAME: Junior guard Armoni Zeigler, a transfer from Saint Peter's, is the brother of former Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler.

Armoni averaged 11.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for the Peacocks last season while leading the team in field goals made (114) and steals (43).

BIG GAME POTENTIAL: Guards Devon Barnes, Juwan Maxey and Davion Hill have shown the ability to put up big scoring games in their collegiate careers.

The senior Barnes put up 40 points in a game as a freshman at Triton Community College and 33 against California Baptist as a sophomore at Tarleton State. Fellow senior Maxey scored 29 points against Milwaukee last season when he went to Youngstown State and 23 points vs Robert Morris in the Horizon League championship game. Hill, a redshirt sophomore, tallied double figures in points on 22 occasions including a season-high 38 points last season at Northwest Florida State College.

FLYING FISH: Redshirt sophomore forward Kayden Fish comes to Muncie with NCAA Tournament experience after scoring an and-one and registering a block and a steal last March in Iowa State's first round win over Lipscomb.

The Kansas City, Mo., was awarded a medical redshirt his freshman year with the Cyclones and played in nine games last season before transferring to Ball State.

TV GAME AT WORTHEN ARENA: The game against Ohio originally scheduled for Jan. 17 in Muncie has been moved to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 16 due to it being aired on CBS Sports Network.

Ball State's most recent home MAC game on a Friday was back on March 3, 2023 against Toledo in a game that was also broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

WELCOME TO THE MAC: Ball State plays league newcomer UMass twice in the regular season in the first season in the league for the Minutemen.

The Cardinals play at UMass on Jan. 10 before hosting the Minutemen on Tuesday, Feb. 24. The two teams have faced off only once prior, in an 89-86 Ball State win on Nov. 21, 2021 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Men's Basketball Returns Home to Host Little Rock Saturday Night

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Players Mentioned

Devon Barnes

Kayden Fish

Davion Hill

Elmore James IV

Mason Jones

Juwan Maxey

Armoni Zeigler