Halftime Report
Only one more half stands between Ohio and the win they were favored to collect coming into this evening. They have jumped out to a quick 45-35 lead against Ball State.
Ohio entered the match having won five straight and they’re just one half away from another. Will they make it six, or will Ball State step up and spoil it? We’ll know soon.
Who’s Playing
Ball State Cardinals @ Ohio Bobcats
Current Records: Ball State 8-7, Ohio 9-6
How To Watch
What to Know
Ball State is 1-9 against Ohio since January of 2019 but they’ll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. Both will face off in a Mid American battle at 7:00 p.m. ET at Convocation Center. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Last Saturday, everything went Ball State’s way against Bowling Green as Ball State made off with a 91-69 win.
Ball State’s success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Mickey Pearson Jr. led the charge by going 5 for 9 en route to 16 points plus six rebounds and two blocks. Another player making a difference was Payton Sparks, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Ball State was working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. That’s the most assists they’ve posted since back in November of 2023.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Ohio). They blew past N. Illinois, posting a 108-70 victory. The win was familiar territory for the Bobcats who have now won five matchups in a row.
Among those leading the charge was AJ Clayton, who went 9 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 31 points plus two blocks. What’s more, he also posted a 83.3% field goal percentage, which is the highest he’s posted since back in November of 2023. Jackson Paveletzke was another key player, going 9 for 10 en route to 19 points plus five assists.
Ball State has been performing well recently as they’ve won five of their last six contests, which provided a massive bump to their 8-7 record this season. As for Ohio, their victory was their 14th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-6.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Ball State hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 76.3 points per game. However, it’s not like Ohio struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 80.8. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Ball State is hoping to beat the odds on Tuesday, as the experts think they’re headed for a loss. Anyone thinking of taking them against the spread should keep this in mind: the team hasn’t covered the last five times they’ve played Ohio.
Odds
Ohio is a big 10.5-point favorite against Ball State, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Bobcats as a 11.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 154.5 points.
See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.
Series History
Ohio has won 9 out of their last 10 games against Ball State.
- Feb 06, 2024 – Ohio 84 vs. Ball State 79
- Mar 09, 2023 – Ohio 90 vs. Ball State 70
- Jan 10, 2023 – Ohio 76 vs. Ball State 71
- Mar 10, 2022 – Ohio 77 vs. Ball State 67
- Feb 01, 2022 – Ohio 87 vs. Ball State 63
- Jan 23, 2021 – Ohio 85 vs. Ball State 77
- Jan 02, 2021 – Ohio 78 vs. Ball State 68
- Feb 01, 2020 – Ball State 65 vs. Ohio 54
- Jan 26, 2019 – Ohio 78 vs. Ball State 74
- Jan 12, 2019 – Ohio 70 vs. Ball State 52
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