Cardinals Hosting Southern Miss Saturday for MAC-SBC Challenge

Ball State Men's Basketball MAC-SBC Challenge
Game 23 vs. Southern Miss	Saturday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+
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The Ball State men's basketball team is set to host Southern Miss in the MAC-SBC Challenge at 2 p.m. on Saturday in a contest presented by LifeStream Services.

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

Southern Miss has won the only two games between the programs, last winning 95-85 on Dec. 3, 1977 in Muncie.

The Cardinals (10-12, 4-6 Mid-American Conference) was within two points with about five minutes to play at league-leading Akron on Tuesday night, but the Zip pulled out an 81-73 win. Junior guard Jermahri Hill led Ball State with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the game.

The Golden Eagles (10-14, 5-7 Sun Belt Conference) most recently fell 60-58 on Wednesday at App State. Southern Miss beat Bowling Green 77-68 at home back on Nov. 4 in the first leg of the MAC-SBC Challenge.

Southern Miss ranks second in the Sun Belt and No. 36 nationally in blocks per game (4.8) while ranking third in rebounds per game (38.7, No. 42 in NCAA Division I).

Graduate forward Denijay Harris paces the Sun Belt in points per game (16.3) and rebounds per game (10.9, No. 7 nationally).

The Cardinals will remain home and host Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the second of a three-game homestand.

SEEMS LIKE AWHILE AGO: Ball State hosted Old Dominion in the inaugural MAC-SBC Challenge for the Cardinals back on Nov. 11, 2023.

The Cardinals have played two Sun Belt teams on the road and it's been 51 overall games since the matchup with the Monarchs.

HART HEATING UP: Sophomore guard Joey Hart has put together 3 of his 6 highest scoring performances in the most recent three games.

The Linton, Ind., native scored seven points on Tuesday at Akron after putting up a season-best eight at Buffalo and on Jan. 28 five points against Western Michigan. Hart has gone an efficient 7-for-11 from the field including 3-for-4 from distance in that time stretch.

BIG WEEK FOR THE BIG MAN: Senior center Payton Sparks averaged 23.0 points and 15.5 rebounds in two games last week to earn a Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week honor and increase his season averages to 12.8 points and a team-best 8.1 rebounds per game.

In MAC play, Sparks is second on the team with 15.9 points per game while averaging a team-high 10.7 rebounds per game average.

COMEBACK CARDS: Ball State rallied from a 10-point deficit last Saturday 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.

CLUTCH ON THE ROAD: Mickey Pearson Jr. averages 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 10 true road games this year, which are higher than his home averages of 10.2 and 4.6 per game.

The forward's two highest scoring outputs of the year have occured on the road (19 at Buffalo on Saturday and Ohio on Jan. 14). Pearson has scored in double figures in seven straight road games

SPREAD OUT THE SCORING: Six Cardinals scored in double figures in Ball State's 82-80 triumph at Central Michigan on Jan. 21: Mickey Pearson Jr. (16 points), Jeremiah Hernandez (15), Jermahri Hill (14), Payton Sparks (14), Ethan Brittain-Watts (13), and Juanse Gorosito (10).

It was the second time in four games six Cardinals have scored in double figures (Jan. 11 vs Bowling Green). Ball State had five in double digits in the scoring column on Jan. 18 against Toledo and on Jan. 25 at NIU.

PAYTON POUNDING THE GLASS: Sparks pulled down 14 rebounds along with putting up a career-high 27 points in last Saturday's win at Buffalo.

The Winchester, Ind., native leads the league in rebounding overall (7.9 per game) and in conference games (10.7). 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: Junior guard Jermahri Hill (159) and Sparks (151) are first and second in the league in free throw attempts, respectively.

The two are No. 1 and No. 4 in the conference in free throws made, with 105 for Hill and 91 for Sparks, while Pearson Jr. (73) is sixth in the MAC.

MILESTONE WATCH: After Sparks (currently 1,164 points) reached the milestone on New Year's Eve, Hernandez (988) and Pearson Jr. (984) are each closing in on scoring 1,000 points in his Division I career.

Sparks (705 rebounds) is currently No. 11 in Ball State program history for a career.

GETTING TO THE LINE: The Cardinals pace the Mid-American Conference in both free throw attempts per game (26.5) and free throws made per game (18.1) through the season's first 22 games.

Ball State ranks No. 8 and No. 11 in those categories in NCAA Division I, respectively. The total tallies (582 attempts and 398 makes) outpace the next-closest MAC team (Toledo) by 98 attempts and 40 makes.

GORO-THREE-TO: Junior guard Juanse Gorosito had made multiple 3-pointers in 15 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 third in the conference in 3-pointers made (54) and third 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.

Cardinals Hosting Southern Miss Saturday for MAC-SBC Challenge

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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