Men's Basketball Hosting Akron Friday Night at Worthen

Friday, February 20

Muncie, Ind.

6:30 PM

Ball State University

Akron

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Photo by: Sam Findley/Ball State Athletics

Men's Basketball Hosting Akron Friday Night at Worthen

February 19, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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Ball State Men's Basketball
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The Ball State men's basketball team returns home to host Akron on Friday night at 6:30 p.m.

Dave Ryan and BJ Taylor will be on the CBS Sports Network broadcast, 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, tickets and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.

Ball State (8-18, 3-10 Mid-American Conference) rallied with a 9-0 scoring run to start the second half on Tuesday night at Ohio but fell 69-57.

Akron (21-5, 12-1 MAC) won 90-73 at Western Michigan on Tuesday and 99-92 at home against UMass last Friday for a two-game winning streak. The Zips stand at second place in the conference standings entering Friday night's contest at Worthen Arena.

Head coach John Groce is in his ninth season leading Akron, who was picked to win the conference regular season and tournament championships in the MAC preseason poll.

The Zips lead the league and rank among the nation's top teams in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.78, No. 11 in NCAA Division I), assists per game (19.1, No. 7), free throw shooting (77.3 percent, No. 22) and 3-pointers made per game (10.9, No. 14) while also pacing the MAC in field goal percentage defense (42.6). Akron is second in conference and eighth nationally in scoring offense at 89.9 points per game.

Senior guard Tavari Johnson leads the league in scoring with 20.3 points per game while averaging the fourth-most assists per contest (5.2) in the MAC. Fellow senior Amani Lyles averages 14.6 points (13^th in the MAC) and 7.3 rebounds (fifth) on the season.

Ball State remains home to play UMass in the first matchup at Worthen Arena with the Minutemen since they joined the conference ahead of the 2025-26 season.

CLOSE CLASHES WITH THE ZIPS: The last six games between the Cardinals and Zips have resulted in no more than a 10-point margin of victory, including three games that were within five points.

Akron took the last two matchups at Worthen Arena by five (87-82 on Feb. 25, 2025) and four points (80-76 on Jan. 9, 2024) after a 70-63 Ball State win on Jan. 6, 2023.

BARNES GETTING GOING: Devon Barnes scored a team-high 17 points on Tuesday night at Ohio, putting up 15 of those in the second half on 6-for-7 shooting from the field including 3-for-3 from distance.

The guard out of Hinesville, Ga., has went for double figures in three consecutive games, upping his season average to 9.2 points per game. Barnes shoots 36.1 percent (22-61) from 3-point range and averages 10.1 points a game in conference play.

COPELAND CAN REBOUND: Freshman forward Preston Copeland contributed seven points and 10 rebounds on Tuesday at Ohio, tallying five of those points and seven boards in the second half.

The game was the second for Copeland this season with double figures in rebounds following a 16-board performance in a win vs Le Moyne on Nov. 30.

TV CHANGES GAME DAY: Friday night's game against Akron was originally scheduled for the following day but was picked up by CBS Sports Network. The contest will be the second of the season at Worthen Arena on the network.

The Cardinals topped Ohio 76-71 on Jan. 16 in another Friday night conference contest aired on CBSSN in Muncie.

MILESTONES MET: Senior guards Devon Barnes and Juwan Maxey hit career scoring milestones in their respective NCAA Division I careers on Saturday against Kent State.

Barnes joined the 1,000-point club on a free throw late in the first half, and Maxey made a layup early in the second half to hit the 500-point mark.

MAXEY MAKING SHOTS: Juwan Maxey made two 3-pointers and scored eight points on Saturday against Kent State, draining multiple triples in three consecutive games for his second such stretch of the season.

The guard made two in the Feb. 7 win at Louisiana Monroe and three last Wednesday vs Buffalo. Maxey had three straight games with 3+ triples at the Lafayette Classic in late November. The senior has now made at least one 3-pointer in five straight games.

BENCH GETTING BUCKETS: Led by Kayden Fish's 17 points at Louisiana Monroe, the Ball State bench scored more than half the team's points with 38 in the win against the Warhawks.

Davion Hill added 14, and Juwan Maxey chipped in seven for the team averaging the fourth-most bench points per game in the MAC (25.7).

SUCCESS OVER THE SUN BELT: Ball State's win at Louisiana Monroe on Feb. 7 clinched the Cardinals' first sweep of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge, which is in its third season.

A 75-64 win over Louisiana in the season opener was the first leg in the two-game event. Ball State is now 3-0 at home and 1-2 on the road in the Challenge and was one of only three MAC teams to win on Saturday against Sun Belt opponents.

The Cardinals became the first team in the series history with the Warhawks to win on the road, as both teams entered the contest 2-0 at home for a 2-2 split.

LOT OF LEADING SCORERS: Only three teams in NCAA Division I (George Washington, Tarleton State and VCU) feature more different leading scorers in games this season than Ball State's eight.

Armoni Zeigler (eight), Davion Hill (five), Devon Barnes (three), Kayden Fish (two), Joey Hart (two), Elmore James IV (two), Juwan Maxey (two), and Preston Copeland (one) have all led the Cardinals in scoring in at least one game this season.

WINNING WITH DEFENSE: Ball State's 58-53 win against Northern Illinois on Jan. 24 was the first time the Cardinals have won a game scoring fewer than 60 points since Dec. 21, 2022 against Georgia Southern (58-54).

The last time the program had won a conference game without reaching the 60-point mark was Feb. 16, 2019 vs Akron (57-56).

HILL TO THE HOOP: Guard Davion Hill scored or assisted on the final 11 points in Ball State's win against Northern Illinois on Jan. 24, finishing the game with team bests in points (18), rebounds (eight) and assists (three).

The strong finish came a game after the Williamsport, Pa., native drove to the lane and finished through contact for the game-winning and-one in Ball State's 68-67 win at Central Michigan on Jan. 21.

Hill now leads the team in average points overall (12.7 per game) and in MAC play (14.5) for the Cardinals.

TURNOVER TALK: Ball State committed only eight turnovers in the Jan. 24 triumph vs Northern Illinois a game after limiting giveaways to a season-low five in the win at Central Michigan.

Seven giveaways was the previous season-low on four separate occasions before the game with the Chippewas, and Ball State is the top conference team in turnover margin (+2.5) and taking care of the ball (9.6 turnovers per game) against MAC foes. The Cardinals also give away the second-fewest turnovers per game in the league overall for the full season (10.7).

Ball State kept control of the ball at Bowling Green, giving up only 10 turnovers to a team that averaged more than 16 turnovers forced per game entering the contest for the sixth-most in NCAA Division I. The Cardinals have had 13 games so far this season with 10 or fewer giveaways.

CARDINALS CLAMPING DOWN ON DEFENSE: Ball State leads the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense (70.0 points per game) and ranks second in fewest fouls committed per game (15.7) and third in steals per game (7.7) through the season's first 26 contests.