2020–21 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team

American college basketball season

2020–21 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball

Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	10–13 (8–9 MAC)
Head coach	James Whitford (8th season)
Associate head coach	Jason Grunkemeyer
Assistant coaches	Ben Botts Matt Crenshaw
Home arena	Worthen Arena
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Toledo	15	–	4	.789	21	–	9	.700
Buffalo	12	–	5	.706	16	–	9	.640
Akron	12	–	6	.667	15	–	8	.652
Kent State	12	–	6	.667	15	–	8	.652
Ohio †	9	–	5	.643	17	–	8	.680
Bowling Green	10	–	8	.556	14	–	12	.538
Miami (OH)	9	–	8	.529	12	–	11	.522
Ball State	8	–	9	.471	10	–	13	.435
Western Michigan	4	–	12	.250	5	–	16	.238
Eastern Michigan	3	–	11	.214	6	–	12	.333
Central Michigan	3	–	13	.188	7	–	16	.304
Northern Illinois	2	–	12	.143	3	–	16	.158

† 2021 MAC tournament winner

The 2020–21 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team represented Ball State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cardinals, led by eighth-year head coach James Whitford, played their home games at Worthen Arena as members of the Mid-American Conference. Starting this season, the MAC announced the removal of divisions.^[1]

Previous season

The Cardinals finished the 2019–20 season 18–13, 11–7, to finish in a tie for first place in the MAC West division. They were scheduled to play Kent State in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament, but the remainder of the tournament was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

Roster

2020–21 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Miryne Thomas	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Jr	Maryland Eastern Shore	Cleveland, Ohio
G	1	K.J. Walton	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Sr	Missouri	Indianapolis, Indiana
G	2	Luke Bumbalough	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	New Castle High School	New Castle, Indiana
G	3	Teemu Suokas	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Helsinki Basketball Academy	Helsinki, Finland
G	4	Josh Bryan	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	UIndy	Muncie, Indiana
G	5	Ishmael El-Amin	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Hopkins High School	Minneapolis, Minnesota
G	11	Jarron Coleman	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	RS So	Cathedral High School	Indianapolis, Indiana
F	12	Brachen Hazen	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Sr	Arkansas	Columbia City, Indiana
G	13	Kani Acree	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	RS So	Carbondale Community High School	Carbondale, Illinois
F	15	Zach Gunn	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Jr	Hamilton Southeastern High School	Fishers, Indiana
G/F	23	Reggie Jones	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Sr	Tulsa	Marion, Indiana
G	24	Jalen Windham	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Creighton	Indianapolis, Indiana
G	25	Chris Robinson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	IU–Northwest	Indianapolis, Indiana
C	34	Ben Hendriks	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Orangeville Prep	Mississauga, Ontario
C	44	Blake Huggins	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	RS Jr	Obion County Central High School	Union City, Tennessee

Head coach

James Whitford (Wisconsin)

Assistant coach(es)

Jason Grunkemeyer (Miami (OH))
Ben Botts (Purdue Fort Wayne)
Matt Crenshaw (IUPUI)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 29, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Northern Kentucky	L 73–74	0–1	BB&T Arena Highland Heights, KY
December 2, 2020* 7:00 pm, BTN		at Michigan	L 65–84	0–2	Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI
December 5, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		UIC	W 68–66	1–2	Worthen Arena (96) Muncie, IN
December 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Northern Illinois	W 79–70 ^OT	2–2 (1–0)	Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
December 12, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Illinois State	W 82–66	3–2	Worthen Arena (107) Muncie, IN
December 19, 2020* 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Indiana State	L 57–67	3–3	Hulman Center (100) Terre Haute, IN
December 22, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Western Michigan	W 76–68	4–3 (2–0)	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
January 2, 2021 3:00 pm, CBSSN		Ohio	L 68–78	4–4 (2–1)	Worthen Arena (75) Muncie, IN
January 5, 2021		Western Michigan	Postponed		Worthen Arena Muncie, IN
January 9, 2021 5:00 pm		at Buffalo	L 69–86	4–5 (2–2)	Alumni Arena Amherst, NY
January 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Bowling Green	W 88–64	5–5 (3–2)	Stroh Center Bowling Green, OH
January 16, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Northern Illinois	W 78–58	6–5 (4–2)	Worthen Arena (132) Muncie, IN
January 19, 2021 7:00 pm		at Miami (OH)	L 71–81	6–6 (4–3)	Millett Hall Oxford, OH
January 23, 2021 1:30 pm		at Ohio	L 77–85	6–7 (4–4)	Convocation Center Athens, OH
January 26, 2021 7:00 pm		Kent State	Postponed		Worthen Arena Muncie, IN
January 30, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Akron	L 42–74	6–8 (4–5)	James A. Rhodes Arena (25) Akron, OH
February 2, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Buffalo	L 58–78	6–9 (4–6)	Worthen Arena (235) Muncie, IN
February 6, 2021 12:00 pm, CBSSN		Toledo	W 81–67	7–9 (5–6)	Worthen Arena (195) Muncie, IN
February 9, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3		at Central Michigan	Postponed		McGuirk Arena Mount Pleasant, MI
February 13, 2021 1:00 pm		at Eastern Michigan	Postponed		Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
February 16, 2021 7:00 pm		Bowling Green	L 62–75	7–10 (5–7)	Worthen Arena Muncie, IN
February 19, 2021 7:00 pm, CBSSN		Akron	L 79–88	7–11 (5–8)	Worthen Arena (90) Muncie, IN
February 21, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Western Michigan	Postponed		Worthen Arena Muncie, IN
February 24, 2021 2:00 pm		Kent State	W 90–71	8–11 (6–8)	Worthen Arena (109) Muncie, IN
February 27, 2021 1:00 pm		Central Michigan	W 97–91	9–11 (7–8)	Worthen Arena (150) Muncie, IN
March 2, 2021 7:00 pm		at Eastern Michigan	W 100–65	10–11 (8–8)	Convocation Center (92) Ypsilanti, MI
March 5, 2021 7:00 pm, CBSSN		at Toledo	L 70–89	10–12 (8–9)	Savage Arena Toledo, OH
MAC tournament
March 11, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN+	(8)	vs. (1) Toledo Quarterfinals	L 89–91 ^OT	10–13	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source^[3]

References

^ "Mid-American Conference cancels postseason tournaments for eight sports, changes basketball format". CBSSports.com. May 12, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
^ "2020 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament canceled over coronavirus outbreak". Fox News. March 8, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Ball State University Athletics. Retrieved December 29, 2020.

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