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Ball State Cardinals men's basketball
College basketball program in Muncie, Indiana, US
College basketball program in Muncie, Indiana, US
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| current | 2025–26 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team |
| name | Ball State Cardinals men's basketball |
| logo | Ballstate cardinals wordmark 2015.png |
| logo_size | 250 |
| firstseason | 1920–21; |
| university | Ball State University |
| conference | Mid-American |
| location | Muncie, Indiana |
| coach | Michael Lewis |
| tenure | 4th |
| arena | Worthen Arena |
| capacity | 11,500 |
| nickname | Cardinals |
| studentsection | The Nest |
| h_body | BA0C2F |
| h_pattern_b | _thinsidesonwhite |
| h_shorts | BA0C2F |
| h_pattern_s | _blanksides2 |
| a_body | BA0C2F |
| a_pattern_b | _thinwhitesides |
| a_shorts | BA0C2F |
| a_pattern_s | _whitesides |
| NCAAsweetsixteen | 1990 |
| NCAAroundof32 | 1989, 1990 |
| NCAAtourneys | 1964*, 1981, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 2000 |
| NAIAsecondround | 1957 |
| conference_tournament | 1981, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 2000 |
| conference_season | 1981, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1998, 2000 |
| division_season | 1998, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2020 |
| below | '* at Division II level''''' |
Indiana State 47, Ball State 12 Ball State 86, Indiana State 69 Ball State, 5 (1953–1955) Butler 27, Ball State 13 Ball State 53, Butler 67 Ball State, 7 (1977–1982)
The Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team represents Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals first basketball season was 1920–21. The school's team currently competes in the Mid-American Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2000.
The Cardinals have had various levels of success throughout their 94 seasons of competition. Although there was little success in the program from its start until the 1970s, the next two decades would be the highlight of the program's performance. Ball State became a sporadic leader in the Mid-American Conference, winning a record seven MAC tournaments between 1981 and 2000. The Cardinals also accomplished a large feat during the 2001 Maui Invitational Tournament, when they upset #4 Kansas and #3 UCLA on consecutive days. In 2017, the Cardinals beat #8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion by a score of 80–77, breaking a sixteen-year drought against ranked teams.
Rivals
Ball State's rivals in men's basketball are against other in-state, out-of-conference programs Butler (since 1924), Evansville (since 1929), Indiana State (since 1922), and Valparaiso (since 1927). Prior to moving to the Division I Mid-American Conference in the 1971–72 season, Ball State shared conferences with its rivals, in the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference and later Indiana Collegiate Conference, both Division II.
All-Time Results by season
Main article: List of Ball State Cardinals men's basketball seasons
Postseason
NCAA Division I tournament
The Cardinals have appeared in seven NCAA Division I Tournaments. All of their tournament appearances have been automatic bids given to the Cardinals as a result of winning the MAC tournament. Their overall NCAA Tournament record is 3–7. Ball State's most successful year was 1990, when they reached the Sweet Sixteen but lost to eventual national champion UNLV, 69–67. It was the closest game UNLV played in that tournament - they won their five other games by an average margin of 23 points, including a 30-point win over Duke in the national championship game.
| 2000 | #11 | Round of 64 | #6 UCLA | L 57–65 |
|---|
National Invitation tournament
The Cardinals have appeared in four National Invitation Tournament tournaments. Their overall NIT record is 3–4. Their most successful year in the NIT was 2002, when the Cardinals gained all three of their NIT victories but lost to eventual national runner-up South Carolina.
| 2002 | Opening Round |
|---|---|
| First round | |
| Second Round | |
| Quarterfinals | South Florida |
| Saint Joseph's | |
| LSU | |
| South Carolina | W 98–92 |
| W 75–65 | |
| W 75–65 | |
| L 47–82 |
CollegeInsider.com tournament
The Cardinals have appeared in two CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournaments (CIT). Their combined record is 2–2.
| 2017 | First round | Fort Wayne | L 80–88 |
|---|
NCAA Division II tournament
The Cardinals have appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament one time. Their record is 0–2.
| 1964 | Regional semifinals |
|---|---|
| Regional 3rd-place game | Southern Illinois |
| Jackson State | L 81–88 |
| L 71–92 |
NAIA tournament
The Cardinals have appeared in the NAIA tournament one time. Their record is 1–1.
| 1957 | First round |
|---|---|
| Second Round | Troy State |
| Texas Southern | W 98–70 |
| L 72–97 |
1990 Sweet Sixteen team
After the departure of head coach Rick Majerus, Ball State responded under new coach Dick Hunsaker by having the best season in the school's history. This group of Cardinals became the first team in the Mid-American Conference history to win two consecutive MAC regular season conference championships as well as back-to-back conference tournament titles. The 1990 Ball State basketball team also became the first team in the MAC to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in its current format. The Cardinals lost in the Sweet 16 to the eventual national champions UNLV Runnin' Rebels, 69–67.
The team was led by many transfer players and two of Coach Hunsaker's key transfers, starting forwards Paris McCurdy and Curtis Kidd, were high school teammates.{{Cite news
The Cardinals finished the regular season at 26–7 before heading to the NCAA tournament. The Cardinals were a 12 seed and began the tournament at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. They upset the Oregon State Beavers in what was star point guard Gary Payton’s last game in college. Ball State then had to play the Louisville Cardinals next. They ended up defeating Louisville late in the game by a final score of 62–60. Meanwhile, in Muncie, fans stormed the village (the center of Ball State's off campus social scene) after the win. Ball State advanced to face the top-seeded UNLV Runnin' Rebels. Ball State shut down one of the best offenses in college basketball history and had a chance to win it in the final seconds: Down by two, the Cardinals made a deep pass to tie or take the lead but it was picked off.
Players
Retired numbers
Main article: List of NCAA men's basketball retired numbers
The Cardinals have retired two numbers in their history:
| Ball State Cardinals | border=0 | color=white}}" | No. | Ball State Cardinals | border=0 | color=white}}" | Player | Ball State Cardinals | border=0 | color=white}}" | Position | Ball State Cardinals | border=0 | color=white}}" | Career | Ball State Cardinals | border=0 | color=white}}" | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray McCallum | PG | 1979–1983 | url=https://ballstatesports.com/news/2018/12/10/mens-basketball-twenty-five-years-and-still-in-the-game-bonzi-celebrates-silver-anniversary | title=Twenty-Five Years and Still in the Game, Bonzi Celebrates Silver Anniversary | website=ballstatesports.com | access-date=2020-11-15}} | |||||||||||||
| Bonzi Wells | SF | 1994–1998 |
NBA players
Two Cardinals players have gone on to play professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA):
- Theron Smith
- Bonzi Wells
International players
- Jarrod Jones (born 1990), American-Hungarian basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Marcus Norris (born 1974), 2003–04 Israeli Basketball Premier League Defensive Player of the Year
- Terrence Watson (born 1987), American-Israeli basketball player for Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
References
References
- (November 30, 2012). "Rivals Ball State, Butler Meet Saturday in Indy". Ball State Athletics.
- "All-time series: Evansville". Ball State Sports.
- (December 4, 2014). "MBB Hosts Indiana State as Part of Saturday Twinbill". Ball State Sports.
- (November 13, 2009). "Men's Hoops Opens 2009-10 Season Tonight Against Valpo". Ball State Sports.
- Matthew, Tyson. (August 15, 2006). "How Sweet It Was: The Story of Ball States 1990 Sweet 16 Season". Ball State Library.
- Rhoden, William. (March 15, 1989). "BASKETBALL; Unfamiliar Spotlight for Ball State". [[The New York Times]].
- Berkowitz, Steve. (March 22, 1990). "COMMENTARY : A Cinderella Story for the Sweet 16: Ball State and Coach". [[Los Angeles Times]].
- Engel, Mac. (March 15, 2011). "The Greatest Dunk You Forgot: #UNLV vs. #BallState in '90 #NCAA Tournament". Sports Blog Star.
- (March 25, 2010). "20 Years Ago Ball State Helped Begin Mid-Major Revolution".
- "Twenty-Five Years and Still in the Game, Bonzi Celebrates Silver Anniversary".
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