Men's Basketball Concludes Three-Game Homestand Saturday Afternoon vs NIU

Ball State Men's Basketball Mid-American Conference Play
Game 25 vs. Northern Illinois	Saturday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+
Tickets and Gameday Info	Purchase Tickets Here \| Gameday A-to-Z Guide
Game Notes and Media Info	Ball State \| Northern Illinois
Social Media	X \| Instagram \| Facebook

The Ball State men's basketball team concludes a three-game homestand when it hosts Northern Illinois at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Worthen Arena.

The matchup will be streamed on ESPN+ with Noah Reed and David Eha on the call, while Mick Tidrow and Scot Bunnell handle the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM – 92.5FM.

Ball State leads the head-to-head series with the Huskies 63-41 including a 37-13 advantage in games played in Muncie. Northern Illinois won the first matchup of the season between the two teams 76-66 on Jan. 25 in DeKalb.

The Cardinals (12-12, 5-6 Mid-American Conference) are coming off an 86-84 overtime win Tuesday night against Eastern Michigan which was highlighted by Jermahri Hill's game-winning dunk with under three seconds to play. Ball State has won two in a row after taking down Southern Miss last Saturday.

The Huskies (5-19, 1-10 MAC) have dropped five straight including a 73-67 setback to Buffalo on Tuesday. Northern ranks second in the MAC in blocks per game (3.7) and 3-point attempts per game (27.3), while ranking third in 3-pointers made per game (9.0) and turnover margin (+2.1).

Sophomore guard Quentin Jones is second in the league in playing time (36:03, No. 28 nationally) and points per game (16.3), while junior forward Ethan Butler is second in the MAC in blocks per game (1.56).

Next up for the Cardinals is a road game at Toledo at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

FATT WITH THE FLUSH: Junior guard Jermahri Hill had a highlight reel game-winning two-hand slam dunk with 2.8 seconds on the clock in Ball State's 86-84 overtime win over Eastern Michigan on Tuesday night at Worthen Arena.

Hill took the ball coast-to-coast for the jam which was featured as the No. 6 play on SportsCenter's Top 10 segment. The Bessemer, Ala., native led the Cardinals with 21 points, eight rebounds and a season-best seven assists.

FLYING IN OT WITH THE EAGLES: The overtime win was Ball State's first since Feb. 3, 2023 when the Cardinals topped Eastern Michigan 91-90 at home.

The last three games played in Muncie between Ball State and Eastern Michigan have been decided by a total of five points, as the Eagles claimed a 58-56 decision last February.

TRIO OF 1,000 POINT SCORERS: Jeremiah Hernandez became the third Ball State men's basketball player of the season to amass 1,000 career points when he hit the milestone early in the second half on Tuesday night.

Payton Sparks secured his 1,000th point on New Year's Eve before Mickey Pearson Jr., hit the mark last Saturday.

MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOK: Sparks (720 career rebounds at Ball State) is 12 away from from moving into the Top 10 in the Ball State record book.

Mike Readnour (732) is currently 10th, while Franko House (741) is also in striking distance for Sparks at 9th.

CARDIAC CARDS: Ball State's 86-84 win on Tuesday night was its fifth of the season by four points or fewer and second straight.

The Cardinals also had thrilling wins vs Southern Miss last Saturday (77-76), at Central Michigan (82-80), Bellarmine (86-82) and vs Eastern Kentucky (63-61) earlier in the schedule.

HUGE NIGHT FOR HERNANDEZ: Jeremiah Hernandez scored a season-best 18 points in Ball State's 86-84 win over Eastern Michigan on Tuesday.

The graduate student out of Chicago's previous season-best was 15 points at Central Michigan. Hernandez is currently fifth on the team in scoring at 7.8 points per game.

BIG GAME FOR MICKEY: Pearson Jr., scored a season-best 21 points, including 19 in the second half, in Ball State's win over Southern Miss last Saturday.

The forward reached the 1,000 career points mark in the second half after securing his 500th rebound at Ball State in the first half.

COMEBACK CARDS: Ball State rallied from a 10-point deficit on Jan. 28 at Buffalo for its second double-digit comeback of the year.

The Cardinals trailed 25-15 midway through the first half but used a 30-7 scoring run to claim a 45-32 lead at halftime. The biggest comeback of the year was from 13 points down at Central Michigan on Jan. 21.

PAYTON POUNDING THE GLASS: Sparks pulled down 14 rebounds along with putting up a career-high 27 points in the Jan. 28 win at Buffalo.

The Winchester, Ind., native leads the league in rebounding in conference games (10.0 per game) while ranking second overall (7.8). Sparks is the 10th Ball State men's basketball player in program history to reach 1,000 career points and 700 career rebounds for the Cardinals.

GETTING FAMILIAR WITH THE FREE THROW LINE: Sparks (163) and Hill (163) are first and second in the league in free throw attempts, respectively.

The two also go 1-2 in the conference in free throws made, with 109 for Hill and 105 for Sparks. Sparks ranks No. 19 nationally in free throw attempts, while Hill is No. 23 in NCAA Division I.

GETTING TO THE LINE: The Cardinals pace the Mid-American Conference in both free throw attempts per game (26.0) and free throws made per game (18.1) through the season's first 24 games.

Ball State ranks No. 9 and No. 10 in those categories in NCAA Division I, respectively. The total tallies (625 attempts and 434 makes) outpace the next-closest MAC team (Toledo) by 100 attempts and 47 makes.

GORO-THREE-TO: Junior guard Juanse Gorosito had made multiple 3-pointers in 16 games this season, including a season-best seven on Dec. 14 at Bellarmine to lead the Cardinals to an 86-82 win and eventually being named the MAC Player of the Week for the performance.

Gorosito is fourth in the conference in 3-pointers made (57) and secondd in shooting percentage (40.0) from distance among those who've made at least two per game.

HOME STATE HEROES: Brittain-Watts (2019), Zane Doughty, Joey Hart and Mason 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.

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 Ethan 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.

Men's Basketball Concludes Three-Game Homestand Saturday Afternoon vs NIU

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ethan Brittain-Watts

Zane Doughty

Juanse Gorosito

Joey Hart

Jeremiah Hernandez

Jermahri Hill

Mason Jones

Mickey Pearson Jr.

Payton Sparks

Jurica Zagorsak