Saturday, March 1
Bowling Green, Ohio
2 PM
Ball State University
at
Bowling Green
Photo by: Mya Cataline, Ball State Athletics
Men's Basketball Returns to the Road to Play at Bowling Green Saturday Afternoon
February 28, 2025 | Men's Basketball
The Ball State men's basketball team plays Bowling Green at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Northwest Ohio to open up the month of March.
The matchup will be streamed on ESPN+, while Mick Tidrow and David Eha handle the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM – 92.5FM.
Bowling Green leads the head-to-head series against the Cardinals 55-42 with a 33-14 record in home games. Ball State won 91-69 in Muncie back on Jan. 11 in the first matchup between the two teams this year.
The Cardinals (14-14, 7-8 Mid-American Conference) got within three points of Akron in the closing seconds but the Zips escaped with an 87-82 road win on Tuesday night at Worthen Arena. Jermahri Hill (26 points) and Mickey Pearson Jr. (24) led the Ball State offense in the second-to-last home game of the season for the Cardinals.
The Falcons (12-16, 6-9 MAC) sit one game back of Ball State in the conference standings after winning 65-60 at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday and 69-68 at Toledo last Saturday.
Bowling Green is third in the league standings in free throw percentage (75.0), steals per game (7.6) and turnovers forced per game (13.1).
Junior guard Javontae Campbell is fourth nationally in steals per game (2.9) and total steals (82) this season, while forward Marcus Johnson (91.0 percent on free throws, No. 10 in NCAA Division I) and Jamai Felt (41 blocks) lead the league in those respective categories. Johnson's 15.9 points per game paces a Bowling Green lineup with four averaging in double figures scoring.
Ball State will next play its home finale at 7 p.m. on Tuesday against Central Michigan. There will be a pregame ceremony for Senior Day.
SEASON HIGHS FOR FATT AND MICKEY: Both Jermahri Hill (26 points) and Mickey Pearson Jr. (24) set season bests in scoring on Tuesday against Akron.
Hill had put up 25 points twice earlier this season (Dayton on Nov. 13 and Anderson on Dec. 31), while Pearson Jr., had his previous season high of 21 points on Feb. 8 vs Southern Miss. Pearson Jr., also tied his career-best with four 3-pointers and finished one point shy of his career-high in scoring (25 at Central Michigan on Feb. 27, 2024).
TJ TIME: True freshman guard TJ Burch scored seven points and dished out two assists in the second half on Tuesday against Akron in just over 10 minutes.
Burch had the best plus/minus (+8) on the team for the game and helped the Cardinals rally back from a 13-point deficit when he first checked in to get as close as three points in the closing seconds of the game. The freshman played his most minutes and scored his most points in a MAC game.
IMPROVEMENT IN THE REMATCH: Ball State has improved its point differential in the second game of each of its four home-and-homes so far this season.
The Cardinals improved by 16 points against Northern Illinois, 17 against Toledo, one point against Buffalo and three points against Akron after Tuesday night's 87-82 setback at Worthen Arena.
LOCKING DOWN THE PERIMETER: The Cardinals have been successful in limiting opponents' shooting from distance to the tune of a Mid-American Conference best 3-point defense percentage of 31.0.
Ball State is even better in conference play percentage-wise at 30.6 which is second in the MAC (Akron at 30.3).
CAREER HIGH FOR THE CANADIAN: Center Ben Hendriks scored a career-best 14 points in last Saturday's 80-66 triumph over the Bulls.
Hendriks was efficient in doing so, going 6-for-8 from the field and making both free throw attempts in 11 minutes of playing time.
CARDIAC CARDS: The Cardinals had played in four straight games decided by one point or in overtime following last 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.
BACK-TO-BACK OVERTIME GAMES: Ball State beat Eastern Michigan (86-84) on Feb. 11 and Northern Illinois (89-83) on Feb. 15 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 hit his 200th career 3-pointer early in the second half of Tuesday night's game against Akron.
Gorosito has now made multiple triples in 19 games this season and ranks fourth in the conference in 3-pointers made (68) and second in shooting percentage (41.2) from distance among among those who've made at least two per game.
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 (744 career rebounds at Ball State) passed Franko House (741) last Saturday afternoon against Buffalo to move up the Ball State record book for career boards.
Bonzi Wells (843 career rebounds) is 7th on the list. Sparks is currently 5th on the career free throws made list (379).
GETTING FAMILIAR WITH THE FREE THROW LINE: Sparks (193) and Hill (191) are first and second in the league in free throw attempts, respectively.
Sparks ranks No. 19 nationally in free throw attempts, while Hill is No. 21 in NCAA Division I. Hill is second in the MAC in free throws made with 128.
GETTING TO THE LINE: The Cardinals pace the Mid-American Conference in both free throw attempts per game (26.8) and free throws made per game (18.8) through the season's first 28 games.
Ball State ranks No. 4 and No. 8 in those categories in NCAA Division I, respectively. The total tallies (749 attempts and 525 makes) outpace the next-closest MAC team (Toledo) by 161 attempts and 92 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.
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The matchup will be streamed on ESPN+, while Mick Tidrow and David Eha handle the radio broadcast on WMUN 1340AM – 92.5FM.
Bowling Green leads the head-to-head series against the Cardinals 55-42 with a 33-14 record in home games. Ball State won 91-69 in Muncie back on Jan. 11 in the first matchup between the two teams this year.
The Cardinals (14-14, 7-8 Mid-American Conference) got within three points of Akron in the closing seconds but the Zips escaped with an 87-82 road win on Tuesday night at Worthen Arena. Jermahri Hill (26 points) and Mickey Pearson Jr. (24) led the Ball State offense in the second-to-last home game of the season for the Cardinals.
The Falcons (12-16, 6-9 MAC) sit one game back of Ball State in the conference standings after winning 65-60 at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday and 69-68 at Toledo last Saturday.
Bowling Green is third in the league standings in free throw percentage (75.0), steals per game (7.6) and turnovers forced per game (13.1).
Junior guard Javontae Campbell is fourth nationally in steals per game (2.9) and total steals (82) this season, while forward Marcus Johnson (91.0 percent on free throws, No. 10 in NCAA Division I) and Jamai Felt (41 blocks) lead the league in those respective categories. Johnson's 15.9 points per game paces a Bowling Green lineup with four averaging in double figures scoring.
Ball State will next play its home finale at 7 p.m. on Tuesday against Central Michigan. There will be a pregame ceremony for Senior Day.
SEASON HIGHS FOR FATT AND MICKEY: Both Jermahri Hill (26 points) and Mickey Pearson Jr. (24) set season bests in scoring on Tuesday against Akron.
Hill had put up 25 points twice earlier this season (Dayton on Nov. 13 and Anderson on Dec. 31), while Pearson Jr., had his previous season high of 21 points on Feb. 8 vs Southern Miss. Pearson Jr., also tied his career-best with four 3-pointers and finished one point shy of his career-high in scoring (25 at Central Michigan on Feb. 27, 2024).
TJ TIME: True freshman guard TJ Burch scored seven points and dished out two assists in the second half on Tuesday against Akron in just over 10 minutes.
Burch had the best plus/minus (+8) on the team for the game and helped the Cardinals rally back from a 13-point deficit when he first checked in to get as close as three points in the closing seconds of the game. The freshman played his most minutes and scored his most points in a MAC game.
IMPROVEMENT IN THE REMATCH: Ball State has improved its point differential in the second game of each of its four home-and-homes so far this season.
The Cardinals improved by 16 points against Northern Illinois, 17 against Toledo, one point against Buffalo and three points against Akron after Tuesday night's 87-82 setback at Worthen Arena.
LOCKING DOWN THE PERIMETER: The Cardinals have been successful in limiting opponents' shooting from distance to the tune of a Mid-American Conference best 3-point defense percentage of 31.0.
Ball State is even better in conference play percentage-wise at 30.6 which is second in the MAC (Akron at 30.3).
CAREER HIGH FOR THE CANADIAN: Center Ben Hendriks scored a career-best 14 points in last Saturday's 80-66 triumph over the Bulls.
Hendriks was efficient in doing so, going 6-for-8 from the field and making both free throw attempts in 11 minutes of playing time.
CARDIAC CARDS: The Cardinals had played in four straight games decided by one point or in overtime following last 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.
BACK-TO-BACK OVERTIME GAMES: Ball State beat Eastern Michigan (86-84) on Feb. 11 and Northern Illinois (89-83) on Feb. 15 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 hit his 200th career 3-pointer early in the second half of Tuesday night's game against Akron.
Gorosito has now made multiple triples in 19 games this season and ranks fourth in the conference in 3-pointers made (68) and second in shooting percentage (41.2) from distance among among those who've made at least two per game.
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 (744 career rebounds at Ball State) passed Franko House (741) last Saturday afternoon against Buffalo to move up the Ball State record book for career boards.
Bonzi Wells (843 career rebounds) is 7th on the list. Sparks is currently 5th on the career free throws made list (379).
GETTING FAMILIAR WITH THE FREE THROW LINE: Sparks (193) and Hill (191) are first and second in the league in free throw attempts, respectively.
Sparks ranks No. 19 nationally in free throw attempts, while Hill is No. 21 in NCAA Division I. Hill is second in the MAC in free throws made with 128.
GETTING TO THE LINE: The Cardinals pace the Mid-American Conference in both free throw attempts per game (26.8) and free throws made per game (18.8) through the season's first 28 games.
Ball State ranks No. 4 and No. 8 in those categories in NCAA Division I, respectively. The total tallies (749 attempts and 525 makes) outpace the next-closest MAC team (Toledo) by 161 attempts and 92 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.
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