Cardinals Hosting South Dakota State Tuesday Night in Return to Worthen Arena

Tuesday, December 9

Muncie, Ind.

7 PM

Ball State University

South Dakota State

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Photo by: Sam Findley/Ball State Athletics

Cardinals Hosting South Dakota State Tuesday Night in Return to Worthen Arena

December 08, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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The Ball State men's basketball team is set to host South Dakota State on Tuesday night in its first home game in more than three weeks.

The game at Worthen Arena will be streamed on ESPN+ and is set to begin at 7 p.m. Mick Tidrow and David Eha are on the ESPN+ broadcast, while Mark Foerster and Scot Bunnell handle the radio call on WMUN 92.5 FM / 1340 AM and on the WMUN app. Links to both broadcasts, live stats and tickets can be found above and on the schedule page.

Ball State (3-6) fell 64-52 at Evansville on Wednesday night before getting the weekend off from competition. The Cardinals trailed by three points with under four minutes to play, but Evansville finished the game on a 9-0 run to win the in-state matchup.

Tuesday's game will be the first at Worthen for the Cardinals since Nov. 15 against Little Rock. Ball State has played five straight games away from home since that contest.

South Dakota State (5-5) led 44-41 at halftime but lost 84-81 at home to Idaho on Saturday afternoon. It was the first home loss of the season for the Jackrabbits, who are 1-2 in away games and 1-2 in neutral contests.

Head coach Bryan Petersen is in his first season in charge at South Dakota State after six seasons as an assistant. The Jackrabbits were picked third in the nine-team Summit League preseason poll after going 20-12 (11-5 Summit) in 2024-25 for a third-place finish in the final regular season standings.

South Dakota State leads the Summit League in scoring defense (66.5 points per game), field goal percentage defense (41.3), 3-point percentage defense (31.1) and rebounds per game (38.2) early in the campaign. The Jackrabbits are eighth in the league in points per game (72.9) and second in scoring margin (+6.4).

Sophomore center Damon Wilkinson averages 11.3 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds per game while making 78.7 percent of his free throw attempts (seventh in the Summit League). Sophomore guards Jaden Jackson (12.6 points per game) and Joe Sayler (12.1) lead the team in scoring along with being the top two for the Jackrabbits in assists, 3-pointers made and playing time.

Next up for Ball State is a road game at Campbell on Sunday afternoon.

SUMMIT LEAGUE SHOWDOWN: Tuesday night's game will be Ball State's first against South Dakota State in program history and the first against an opponent from the Summit League since 2022.

The Cardinals topped Omaha 71-61 on the road on Nov. 16 in the third game of the 2022-23 season. Ball State took a 73-69 decision against Omaha on Nov. 13, 2021 in the most recent home game against a Summit League member.

DOUBLE DIGIT STEALS: Ball State collected 10 steals last Wednesday night at Evansville, making it the third time this season the Cardinals have had 10+ steals in a game.

Ball State also had double figures in that category against Mansfield (11) and Little Rock (10) in November. This is the first time since the 2019-20 season that the Cardinals have had three non-conference games with 10+ steals (four times that season).

BIG GAME FROM MAXEY: Senior guard Juwan Maxey went 7-for-14 on 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 27 points in Ball State's 96-85 win over Le Moyne on Nov. 30 at the Lafayette Classic.

The Detroit native had the 16th game by a Ball State men's basketball player with at least seven triples. Maxey also added five assists in the contest.

COPELAND CAN REALLY REBOUND: Freshman Preston Copeland grabbed 16 rebounds against Le Moyne to go along with 10 points for his first collegiate double-double.

The forward became only the second freshman at Ball State since at least the 2009-10 season to record 15+ rebounds in a game (Payton Sparks with 16 on Jan. 14, 2022 vs Buffalo).

PUTTING UP THE POINTS: The 96 points the Cardinals scored against Le Moyne were the most in a single game since the 2023-24 season opener against Goshen (101).

The offensive output was the highest for Ball State against an NCAA Division I opponent since a 97-75 victory over Indiana State on Nov. 27, 2021.

BALANCED BOX SCORES: Ball State has six players averaging between 6 and 12 points per game: Davion Hill (11.7), Armoni Zeigler (11.4), Maxey (8.7), Devon Barnes (8.3), Elmore James IV (7.4), and Cam Denson (6.3).

Five Cardinals are between 4 and 5 rebounds per contest: Copeland (4.8), Hill (4.6), Mason Jones (4.6), Zeigler (4.4) and Denson (4.3).

CARDINALS CLAMPING DOWN ON DEFENSE: Ball State is third in the Mid-American Conference in fewest fouls committed per game (15.6, No. 44 in NCAA Division I) and scoring defense (69.6 points per game) and fifth in turnovers forced per game (14.1) through the season's first nine contests.

Junior forward Mason Jones is fourth in the league in steals per game (2.0) and fifth in total steals (18).

CAREER HIGHS FOR JONES: Mason Jones set career bests in 3-pointers made (three) and steals (four) on Nov. 11 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. Jones followed that up with another four-steal performance on Nov. 22 at Indiana State.

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.

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.