Men's Basketball Playing at UMass Saturday Afternoon

Saturday, January 10

Amherst, Mass.

3:30 PM

Ball State University

UMass

Photo by: Samantha (Blankenship) Ellis/Ball State University

Men's Basketball Playing at UMass Saturday Afternoon

January 09, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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First Game vs UMass as a MAC Member

The Ball State men's basketball team is set to play at UMass on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in the first of two straight away games.

The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+, while Mick Tidrow and David Eha handle the radio call on WMUN 92.5 FM / 1340 AM and on the WMUN app. Links to both broadcasts and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.

Ball State (4-11, 0-3 Mid-American Conference) got 15 points from Armoni Zeigler and 13 from Elmore James IV but fell 74-52 to Eastern Michigan at home on Tuesday night.

UMass (9-7, 0-4 MAC) dropped its third straight game with an 86-83 setback on Tuesday at Ohio. The Minutemen have also lost to Kent State, Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green in their first season in the MAC but boast wins over Atlantic Coast Conference opponents Boston College (76-74 on Dec. 10) and Florida State (103-95 on Dec. 13).

Frank Martin is in his fourth season as the head coach in Amherst after previously coaching at South Carolina and Kansas State. UMass was picked to finish fifth in the MAC preseason poll after going 12-20 (7-11 Atlantic 10) last season in its final campaign in the A10.

The Minutemen lead the league in 3-point defense (27.7 percent, No. 9 in NCAA Division I), rebounding margin (+7.0) and rebounds per game (38.9) while ranking second in the MAC and No. 30 nationally in assists per game (18.1).

Graduate forward Leonardo Bettiol (16.1 points per game) and graduate guard Marcus Banks Jr. (15.8) have the eighth and ninth-best scoring averages in the MAC. Bettiol leads the league in field goal percentage (60.3) and ranks sixth with 7.4 rebounds per game, while Banks is second in the conference in 3-pointers made (46) and third in 3-point shooting (36.5 percent). Freshman guard Danny Carbuccia has tallied the most assists in MAC and 24^th-most nationally with 92.

The Cardinals' next game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday night game at Akron.

WELCOME TO THE MAC: Ball State plays league newcomer UMass on Saturday for the first of two games in the first season in the league for the Minutemen.

UMass makes the return trip to Worthen Arena for a game 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.

EFFICIENT ELMORE: Senior guard Elmore James IV has scored in double figures in four straight games including 13 points on Tuesday night against Eastern Michigan.

Ball State's most experienced Mid-American Conference veteran has stepped up his production in MAC play as he is averaging 14.7 points per game on 46.9 percent (15-32) shooting from the field and has made each of his eight free throw attempts.

FINE FROM THE LINE: Ball State hit north of 80 percent of its free throw attempts for a second straight game, going 13-for-15 (86.7 percent) from the line on Tuesday night vs Eastern Michigan a game after making 82.6 percent (19-23) of its free throw attempts last Saturday at Buffalo.

The most recent time the Cardinals shot that well from the foul line was March 4, 2025 against Central Michigan with a 91.7 percent (11-12) mark. Ball State's last game shooting over 80 percent from the line on at least 20 attempts before the game with Buffalo was Feb. 11, 2025 in an overtime win against Eastern Michigan (89.3 percent, 25-for-28).

MAC-SBC MATCHUP ANNOUNCED: Ball State will face Louisiana Monroe on Saturday, Feb. 7 in the second leg of the MAC-Sun Belt Conference.

The Cardinals faced the other Sun Belt team from the Bayou State in the season opener, as they beat the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns 75-64 on Nov. 3 in Muncie.

HISTORIC NIGHT: Ball State held an opponent to 30 points or fewer for the first time in almost 80 years in the 93-30 win over Earlham on Dec. 29.

The last time the Cardinals limited a team to that low of a scoring output was in a Jan. 14, 1946 win at Wabash (37-30). Ball State's most recent home game preventing a team from surpassing the 30-point threshold was on Jan. 20, 1945 in a 47-24 decision against Anderson.

Earlham's eight points in the first half were the fewest by any team, in any classification, against an NCAA Division I opponent this season. Kennesaw State and Hofstra held opponents to 10 points in the opening period of games earlier this season.
8 – Earlham at Ball State, 12/29/25
10 – SUNY-Old Westbury at Hofstra, 12/10/25
10 – Paine at Kennesaw State, 11/3/25

The 30 total points allowed are tied for the fourth-fewest by any team, in any classification, against a Division I opponent this season.
23 – Rosemont at Navy, 12/21/25 (Half: 35-12; Final: 70-23)
23 – SUNY-Old Westbury at Hofstra, 12/10/25 (Half: 47-10; Final: 92-23)
29 – Maryland-Eastern Shore at Georgia, 11/5/25 (Half: 43-17; Final: 94-29)
30 – Earlham at Ball State, 12/29/25 (Half: 48-8; Final: 93-30)
30 – College of Biblical Studies at UTSA, 11/5/25 (Half: 56-18; Final: 97-30)
30 – Paine at Kennesaw State, 11/3/25 (Half: 60-10; Final: 105-30)

MORE FROM MONDAY: Ball State's 63-point margin of victory over the Quakers was the highest since a 70-point decision on Nov. 7, 2022 against Earlham as well (109-39).

YOUNG GUYS WITH CAREER HIGHS: A trio of underclassmen set career highs in the Dec. 29 win against Earlham.

Freshman Preston Copeland went for 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field, while sophomore Kody Clancy posted collegiate bests in points (11) and assists (five). Freshman forward
Easton Foster tallied six points and four rebounds in a career-high 12 minutes of playing time.

BENCH SCORING IN BUNCHES: Ball State's bench scored a season-high 48 points against the RedHawks, surpassing the 40-point mark in bench scoring for the second time this season (44 vs Le Moyne). The Cardinals' bench did this a third time when it produced 44 points on Dec. 29 vs Earlham.

James IV (20 points) scored nearly half of those against Miami followed by Kayden Fish (10), Armoni Zeigler (7), Juwan Maxey (7) and Jai Anthoni Bearden (4).

DOUBLE DIGIT STEALS: Ball State collected 10 steals on Dec. 9 against South Dakota State, making it the fourth 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 and on Dec. 3 at Evansville. This is the first time since the 2019-20 season that the Cardinals have had four non-conference games with 10+ steals.

CARDINALS CLAMPING DOWN ON DEFENSE: Ball State is first in the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense (69.2 points per game), second in fewest fouls committed per game (15.5) and third in steals per game (7.8) through the season's first 15 contests.

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.