Men's Basketball Hosting Buffalo Saturday Afternoon for Community Day

Ball State Men's Basketball Mid-American Conference Play
Game 27 vs. Buffalo	Saturday, Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+
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The Ball State men's basketball team is set to return home to host Buffalo at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Parking is free and hot dogs and popcorn cost $1 each for Community Day, and the 1999-2000 MAC Tournament champion men's basketball team will be honored at halftime.

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

Buffalo leads the head-to-head series with the Cardinals 22-18, but the Cardinals have won the last two matchups and own a 10-8 record in home games against the Bulls. Ball State won the first game against Buffalo 89-76 on Feb. 1 in New York.

Ball State (13-13, 6-7 Mid-American Conference) fell 67-66 in a heartbreaker Tuesday night at Toledo after Jermahri Hill's apparent game-winning buzzer beater was waived off after a review. Hill and Payton Sparks paced the Cardinals with 16 points each in the setback that snapped a three-game winning streak.

Buffalo (8-18, 3-10 MAC) fell 97-64 at home to Western Michigan on Tuesday night after dropping a 63-59 decision to Bowling Green last Saturday afternoon. The Bulls have conference wins at Northern Illinois (73-67 on Feb. 11), vs Central Michigan (75-69 on Jan. 28) and at Western Michigan (85-76 on Jan. 18).

Buffalo is third in the MAC in blocks per game (3.5), fastbreak points (13.2 per game) and fewest fouls per game (16.6). Sophomore guard Ryan Sabol leads the league in 3-point attempts (196) while ranking second in free throw shooting (87.8 percent). Senior guard Tyson Dunn paces the MAC at 5.4 assists per game, which ranks 39^th nationally.

The Cardinals will remain home and host Akron at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Worthen Arena.

CARDIAC CARDS: The Cardinals have now played in four straight games decided by one point or in overtime following Tuesday night's 67-66 setback at Toledo.

The last time the Ball State men's basketball team had such a stretch was late in the 2008-09 season when they had a one-point game at Northern Illinois and overtime contests against
Western, Eastern and Central Michigan. This year's Cardinals are 5-2 in games decided by four points or fewer.

CELEBRATING A SILVER ANNIVERSARY: Members of the 1999-2000 Ball State men's basketball team will be in attendance to celebrate their Mid-American Conference Tournament title that season.

The team had three exciting wins in the tourney to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Duane Clemens was named the MAC Tournament MVP after a Second Team All-MAC selection for his performance in the regular season.

BACK TO BATTLE THE BULLS: Ball State beat Buffalo 89-76 on Feb. 1 in the first meeting with the Bulls this season.

Senior center Payton Sparks put up a career-high 27 points and added 14 rebounds in that game on his way to MAC Player of the Week honors. This will be Buffalo's first trip to Worthen
Arena since Jan. 24, 2023.

BACK-TO-BACK OVERTIME GAMES: Ball State beat Eastern Michigan (86-84) on Feb. 11 and Northern Illinois (89-83) last Saturday in overtime.

The men's basketball team last played back-to-back overtime games in late January of 2018 at Kent State and vs Akron. The most recent time Ball State has won two straight games that both went to overtime was in 2017 when the Cardinals won 81-72 at Northern Illinois on Feb. 14 and 109-100 at Central Michigan on Feb. 18.

GORO-THREE-TO: Junior guard Juanse Gorosito put up a season-best 24 points, making 5 of 8 3-pointers, in Ball State's 89-83 overtime win over Northern Illinois last Saturday afternoon.

Gorosito has now made multiple triples in 18 games this season and ranks fourth in the conference in 3-pointers made (65) and second in shooting percentage (41.9) from distance among qualifiers, which ranks No. 26 in NCAA Division I. The Argentina native is three 3-pointers shy of 200 for his collegiate career.

LOVING THE LINE: The Cardinals had season-bests in both free throws made (34) and attempted (50) last Saturday vs NIU.

The previous season highs for Ball State at the line occurred on Nov. 16 against Indiana State when the Cardinals went 33-for-46 on free throws.

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 Feb. 11 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.

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 Feb. 11 vs Eastern Michigan.

Sparks secured his 1,000th point on New Year's Eve before Mickey Pearson Jr., hit the mark on Feb. 8.

MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOK: Sparks (734 career rebounds at Ball State) passed Mike Readnour (732) Tuesday night at Toledo to move into the Top 10 in the Ball State record book.

Franko House (741) is also in striking distance for Sparks at 9th.

HUGE NIGHT FOR HERNANDEZ: Jeremiah Hernandez scored a season-best 18 points in Ball State's 86-84 win over Eastern Michigan on Feb. 11.

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 8.0 points per game.

BIG GAME FOR MICKEY: Mickey Pearson Jr., scored a season-best 21 points, including 19 in the second half, in Ball State's win over Southern Miss on Feb. 8.

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.

GETTING FAMILIAR WITH THE FREE THROW LINE: Sparks (183) and Hill (177) are first and second in the league in free throw attempts, respectively.

The two also go 2-3 in the conference in free throws made, with 118 for Hill and 115 for Sparks. Sparks ranks No. 15 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 (26.6) and free throws made per game (18.6) through the season's first 26 games.

Ball State ranks No. 4 and No. 8 in those categories in NCAA Division I, respectively. The total tallies (692 attempts and 483 makes) outpace the next-closest MAC team (Toledo) by 139 attempts and 77 makes.

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 Hosting Buffalo Saturday Afternoon for Community Day

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Players Mentioned

Ethan Brittain-Watts

Zane Doughty

Juanse Gorosito

Joey Hart

Jeremiah Hernandez

Jermahri Hill

Mason Jones

Mickey Pearson Jr.

Payton Sparks

Jurica Zagorsak