Men's Basketball Home for a Tuesday Night Game vs UMass

Tuesday, February 24

Muncie, Ind.

7 PM

Ball State University

UMass

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Photo by: Samantha Blankenship / Ball State University

Men's Basketball Home for a Tuesday Night Game vs UMass

February 23, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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Ball State Men's Basketball
Game 28 vs. UMass	Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+ \| Listen
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The Ball State men's basketball team hosts UMass at Worthen Arena for the first time in series history for a 7 p.m., game on Tuesday night.

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, tickets and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.

Ball State (8-19, 3-11 Mid-American Conference) had an efficient night on 3-point shooting but fell 78-65 to Akron on Friday night.

UMass (15-13, 6-9 MAC) has dropped four games in a row including an 86-82 home loss to Buffalo on Saturday night.

Head coach Frank Martin is in his fourth season in charge of the Minutemen who were picked to finish fifth in the MAC preseason poll. UMass is in eighth place in the regular season standings entering Tuesday.

The Minutemen rank second in the MAC in both assists per game (17.6, No. 23 in NCAA Division I) and rebounding margin (+5.3, No. 43) while having the sixth-most productive scoring offense (80.9 points per game) in the league.

Graduate forward Leonardo Bettiol averages 17.8 points (sixth in the MAC) and 7.8 rebounds (third) per game along with league highs in field goal percentage (59.7) and free throw attempts (198).

Graduate guard Marcus Banks Jr., leads the league in 3-point shooting (39.6 percent), 3-point attempts (245, No. 7 in NCAA Division I) and 3-pointers made (97) while freshman guard Danny Carbuccia is the conference leader in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.19) and total assists (182).

Ball State's next game after Tuesday is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at Northern Illinois.

A WEEK OF BEGINNING AND ENDING: Ball State and UMass will play for the first time in series history in Muncie on Tuesday, and the Cardinals and Northern Illinois will play for the last time as Mid-American Conference foes on Saturday in DeKalb.

The Minutemen joined the MAC in advance of the 2025-26 season, and the Huskies are leaving the conference to join the Horizon League in time for the 2026-27 campaign.

DIALED IN FROM LONG RANGE: The Cardinals drained 13 3-pointers on Friday against Akron, which was the second-most Ball State has made this season behind 14 in a win over Le Moyne back on Nov. 30.

Eight of those triples were hit in the first half, and the 46.4 percent (13-28) mark from distance was the third-best in a game this season for the Cardinals.

HILL TO THE HOOP: Guard Davion Hill notched his first double-double at the NCAA Division I level with 18 points and 11 rebounds on Friday night against Akron.

Hill has now scored in double figures in six straight games and 11 of the last 12 and leads the team in average points overall (12.9 per game) and in MAC play (14.8).

BARNES GETTING GOING: Devon Barnes went 4-for-5 on 3-pointers on his way to 16 points against Akron a game after putting up a team-high 17 points last Tuesday night at Ohio, scoring 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 four consecutive games, upping his season average to 9.4 points per game. Barnes shoots 39.4 percent (26-66) from 3-point range and averages 10.5 points a game in conference play.

COPELAND CAN REBOUND: Freshman forward Preston Copeland posted nine points and five rebounds against Akron after contributing seven points and 10 rebounds last Tuesday at Ohio.

The game against the Bobcats 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.

MILESTONES MET: Senior guards Devon Barnes and Juwan Maxey hit career scoring milestones in their respective NCAA Division I careers on Feb. 14 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 on Friday night, draining multiple triples for the fourth time in five games.

The guard has hit multiple 3-pointers in eight games this season includine a three-game stretch with 3+ triples in each game at the Lafayette Classic in late November. The senior has now made at least one 3-pointer in six 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 (25.5).

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 four teams in NCAA Division I (George Washington, Tarleton State, Illinois 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).

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 (+2.0) and taking care of the ball (9.9 turnovers per game) against MAC foes.

Ball State kept control of the ball at Bowling Green on Feb. 3, 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 (70.3 points per game) and ranks second in fewest fouls committed per game (15.7) through the season's first 27 contests.