Cardinals Cruise to 79-43 Win at Northern Illinois after Big Early Second Half Run

Saturday, February 28

DeKalb, Ill.

4 PM ET / 3 PM CT

Ball State University

10-19,5-11MAC

Northern Illinois

9-19,4-12MAC

Ball St.

NIU

Photo by: Northern Illinois Athletics

Cardinals Cruise to 79-43 Win at Northern Illinois after Big Early Second Half Run

February 28, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

DeKALB, Ill. – The Ball State men's basketball team scored the first 21 points of the second half and built the lead from there on its way to a 79-43 win at Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.

The Cardinals went into the halftime break up 36-29 after leading by as many as 15 points in the opening period. Ball State didn't allow a score from the Huskies for about the first seven minutes of the second half to go on the 21-0 scoring run.

Armoni Zeigler posted 10 points during the stretch as one of five Cardinals to contributed points to the rally, which was capped off by a Mason Jones 3-pointer that gave the visitors a 57-29 lead with 13:19 to play. Ball State (10-19, 5-11 Mid-American Conference) continued to increase the advantage to as many as 40 points to cruise to a season sweep of the Huskies (9-19, 4-12 MAC).

Davion Hill paced a balanced attack from the Cardinals with 17 points, six rebounds, two steals and a season high seven assists. Zeigler followed with 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals while Kayden Fish and Elmore James IV scored 12 points each, and Devon Barnes tallied 11 points and three assists.

Juwan Maxey contributed five points and three rebounds, and Jones (three points, four rebounds two assists), Preston Copeland (two points, six rebounds), Jai Anthoni Bearden (two points) and Easton Foster (two points) were also in the scoring column for the Cardinals. Alex Farley secured two rebounds in two minutes.

The 21-0 scoring streak was the longest of the season for Ball State against an NCAA Division I opponent (15-0 at Central Michigan on Jan. 20) and the second-best of the season overall behind a 33-0 run to start the game against Earlham on Dec. 29.

The hosts were held without a scorer in double figures, as Daemar Kelly led the Huskies with nine points on the day. This was the last game between the two schools in MAC play as Northern Illinois joins the Horizon League in advance of next season.

The visitors won the rebounding battle 39-27 and committed five fewer turnovers (12-7) on their way to advantages in points in the paint (34-8), second chance points (10-3) and points off of turnovers (15-11).

Ball State shot 50 percent (30-60) from the field including 44 percent (11-25) from distance and 80 percent (8-10) at the foul line. Northern Illinois went 25.6 percent (11-43) on field goals, 23.5 percent (4-17) on 3-pointers and 73.9 percent (17-23) on free throws. The 25.6 field goal percentage defense mark for the Cardinals was the second-best of the season (19.1 percent vs Earlham).

Next up for Ball State is a Tuesday night game at Western Michigan. The Cardinals are in 10^th place in the conference standings behind Buffalo, Central Michigan and UMass who have six wins each with an opportunity in the final week to get a spot in the eight-team MAC Tournament.