Ball State University Athletics
Saturday, February 7
Monroe, La.
3 PM ET / 2 PM CT
Ball State University
at
Louisiana Monroe
Photo by: Sam Findley/Ball State Athletics
Men's Basketball Playing at Louisiana Monroe Saturday Afternoon in MAC-SBC Challenge
February 06, 2026 | Men's Basketball
The Ball State men's basketball team takes a break from Mid-American Conference play for a MAC-Sun Belt Challenge contest at Louisiana Monroe on Saturday afternoon.
The 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT) game will be broadcast on ESPN+, while Mick Tidrow handles 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 (7-15, 3-7 Mid-American Conference) fell 77-52 at Bowling Green on Tuesday night in the second of three straight road games for the Cardinals.
Louisiana Monroe (4-20, 1-11 Sun Belt) picked up its first conference win of the season on Wednesday night with an 85-79 decision at Old Dominion. The Warhawks fell 102-82 at Northern Illinois in the first round of the MAC-SBC Challenge on Nov. 3 in DeKalb.
Phil Cunningham is in his first season as head coach at ULM after being an assistant for the Warhawks during the 2024-25 campaign.
Louisiana Monroe commits the seventh-fewest fouls per game in NCAA Division I (14.0). The Warhawks are 11th in the Sun Belt in scoring offense (72.0 points per game) and 14th in scoring defense (82.5 points per game).
Sophomore guard Krystian Lewis is fourth in the SBC with 17.0 points per game while making the second-most free throws (132, No. 16 in Division I). Senior Lavell Brodnex averages 13.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game while posting seven double-doubles so far this season.
Ball State is next set to return home and host Buffalo on Wednesday night.
CAJUN STATE CLASH: Ball State's game at Louisiana Monroe will be its second of the season against a team from the Cajun State after beating the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana back on Nov. 3, 2025 at Worthen Arena in the season opener.
The Cardinals will look for a sweep in the two-game MAC-Sun Belt Challenge for the first time, as the program is 3-0 in home games and 0-2 on the road in the series that started with the 2023-24 season.
Ball State is looking to become the first team in the series history with Louisiana Monroe to win on the road, as both teams are 2-0 at home so far for a 2-2 split.
LOT OF LEADING SCORERS: Only two teams in NCAA Division I (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), Joey Hart (two), Elmore James IV (two), Juwan Maxey (two), Preston Copeland (one), and Kayden Fish (one) have all led the Cardinals in scoring in at least one game this season.
BEARDEN BRINGING THE ENERGY: Jai Anthoni Bearden needed only six minutes and one shot attempt from the field to get to a career high seven points last Saturday at Toledo.
The redshirt freshman hit a 3-pointer and made each of his four free throws on the afternoon.
MILESTONE WATCH: Senior guards Devon Barnes and Juwan Maxey are approaching career scoring milestones in their respective NCAA Division I careers.
Barnes is 26 points away from reaching 1,000, while Maxey needs 20 to hit the 500-point mark.
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 BIG OFF THE BENCH: 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 ranks second on the team in average points both overall (12.3 per game) and in MAC play (14.2) while shooting 49.5 percent from the field against conference opponents.
ZEIGLER GETTING STRONGER: Junior Armoni Zeigler led the Cardinals in points, rebounds and assists in consecutive games leading up to the Jan. 24 battle vs NIU before tying for a game-high with 18 points and tying a career high with four 3-pointers against the Huskies.
Zeigler averages 16.6 points and 5.2 rebounds a game in MAC play compared to 10.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in the non-conference season. The guard is tenth in the league in scoring and eighth in free throw percentage (82.3) in conference action.
The Amityville, N.Y., native scored a career high 30 points on Jan. 13 at Akron and was the first Cardinal since Jarron Coleman with 30+ points in a game (33 on March 11, 2021 vs Toledo). It was only the fourth 30-point game for a Ball State player in the last nine seasons.
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 (+2.9) and taking care of the ball (9.2 turnovers per game) against MAC foes. The Cardinals also give away the fewest turnovers per game in the league overall for the full season (10.6).
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.
TV CHANGES GAME DAY: Ball State's home game against Akron originally scheduled for Feb. 21 has been picked up by CBS Sports Network and will now be played at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20 at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals topped Ohio 76-71 on Jan. 16 in another Friday night conference contest aired on CBSSN in Muncie.
DOUBLE DIGIT STEALS: Ball State collected 10 steals on Jan. 10 at UMass, making it the fifth 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 Evansville and South Dakota State in December. This is the first time since the 2019-20 season that the Cardinals have had four non-conference games with 10+ steals. Ball State has collected 56 more steals than its opponents this season (154-98).
CARDINALS CLAMPING DOWN ON DEFENSE: Ball State ranks second in the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense (70.2 points per game) and fewest fouls committed per game (15.5) and fifth in steals per game (7.6) through the season's first 22 contests.
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The 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT) game will be broadcast on ESPN+, while Mick Tidrow handles 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 (7-15, 3-7 Mid-American Conference) fell 77-52 at Bowling Green on Tuesday night in the second of three straight road games for the Cardinals.
Louisiana Monroe (4-20, 1-11 Sun Belt) picked up its first conference win of the season on Wednesday night with an 85-79 decision at Old Dominion. The Warhawks fell 102-82 at Northern Illinois in the first round of the MAC-SBC Challenge on Nov. 3 in DeKalb.
Phil Cunningham is in his first season as head coach at ULM after being an assistant for the Warhawks during the 2024-25 campaign.
Louisiana Monroe commits the seventh-fewest fouls per game in NCAA Division I (14.0). The Warhawks are 11th in the Sun Belt in scoring offense (72.0 points per game) and 14th in scoring defense (82.5 points per game).
Sophomore guard Krystian Lewis is fourth in the SBC with 17.0 points per game while making the second-most free throws (132, No. 16 in Division I). Senior Lavell Brodnex averages 13.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game while posting seven double-doubles so far this season.
Ball State is next set to return home and host Buffalo on Wednesday night.
CAJUN STATE CLASH: Ball State's game at Louisiana Monroe will be its second of the season against a team from the Cajun State after beating the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana back on Nov. 3, 2025 at Worthen Arena in the season opener.
The Cardinals will look for a sweep in the two-game MAC-Sun Belt Challenge for the first time, as the program is 3-0 in home games and 0-2 on the road in the series that started with the 2023-24 season.
Ball State is looking to become the first team in the series history with Louisiana Monroe to win on the road, as both teams are 2-0 at home so far for a 2-2 split.
LOT OF LEADING SCORERS: Only two teams in NCAA Division I (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), Joey Hart (two), Elmore James IV (two), Juwan Maxey (two), Preston Copeland (one), and Kayden Fish (one) have all led the Cardinals in scoring in at least one game this season.
BEARDEN BRINGING THE ENERGY: Jai Anthoni Bearden needed only six minutes and one shot attempt from the field to get to a career high seven points last Saturday at Toledo.
The redshirt freshman hit a 3-pointer and made each of his four free throws on the afternoon.
MILESTONE WATCH: Senior guards Devon Barnes and Juwan Maxey are approaching career scoring milestones in their respective NCAA Division I careers.
Barnes is 26 points away from reaching 1,000, while Maxey needs 20 to hit the 500-point mark.
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 BIG OFF THE BENCH: 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 ranks second on the team in average points both overall (12.3 per game) and in MAC play (14.2) while shooting 49.5 percent from the field against conference opponents.
ZEIGLER GETTING STRONGER: Junior Armoni Zeigler led the Cardinals in points, rebounds and assists in consecutive games leading up to the Jan. 24 battle vs NIU before tying for a game-high with 18 points and tying a career high with four 3-pointers against the Huskies.
Zeigler averages 16.6 points and 5.2 rebounds a game in MAC play compared to 10.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in the non-conference season. The guard is tenth in the league in scoring and eighth in free throw percentage (82.3) in conference action.
The Amityville, N.Y., native scored a career high 30 points on Jan. 13 at Akron and was the first Cardinal since Jarron Coleman with 30+ points in a game (33 on March 11, 2021 vs Toledo). It was only the fourth 30-point game for a Ball State player in the last nine seasons.
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 (+2.9) and taking care of the ball (9.2 turnovers per game) against MAC foes. The Cardinals also give away the fewest turnovers per game in the league overall for the full season (10.6).
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.
TV CHANGES GAME DAY: Ball State's home game against Akron originally scheduled for Feb. 21 has been picked up by CBS Sports Network and will now be played at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20 at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals topped Ohio 76-71 on Jan. 16 in another Friday night conference contest aired on CBSSN in Muncie.
DOUBLE DIGIT STEALS: Ball State collected 10 steals on Jan. 10 at UMass, making it the fifth 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 Evansville and South Dakota State in December. This is the first time since the 2019-20 season that the Cardinals have had four non-conference games with 10+ steals. Ball State has collected 56 more steals than its opponents this season (154-98).
CARDINALS CLAMPING DOWN ON DEFENSE: Ball State ranks second in the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense (70.2 points per game) and fewest fouls committed per game (15.5) and fifth in steals per game (7.6) through the season's first 22 contests.
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