Mickey Pearson Jr., scored 21 points, including the 1,000th of his career, in Ball State’s 77-76 over Southern Miss on Saturday afternoon at Worthen Arena in a game presented by LifeStream Services.
The host Cardinals (11-12) trailed by as many as six points in the first half but closed with momentum on an Ethan Brittain-Watts buzzer-beating 3-pointer from deep on the right wing to close the gap to 37-35 at the break. Ball State scored 21 of the second half’s first 32 points to claim a 56-46 advantage at the 11:07 mark following a jumper from Jeremiah Hernandez.
Overall, the Cardinals went on a 24-11 run from the end of the first half through the first nine minutes of the second half that proved to be the turning points in the game.
Joey Hart made a free throw with two seconds to play to give the Cardinals a 77-73 lead and clinch the MAC-SBC Challenge win. Ball State is now 2-0 in the event in home games after defeating Old Dominion back on Nov. 11, 2023.
Pearson Jr. added five rebounds to go along with his season-best 21 points on 7 of 12 shooting from the field. The forward notched his 500th rebound at Ball State in the first half and 1,000th career point in the second half.
Payton Sparks had a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double and dished out four assists, while Brittain-Watts put up 10 points and four assists. Ben Hendriks (eight points, two rebounds), Juanse Gorosito (eight points) and Jeremiah Hernandez (six points, four rebounds) were also among the nine different Cardinals who scored in the game.
Ball State won the rebounding battle 40-31 and held a 22-4 advantage in second chance points. Both teams committed 11 turnovers, but the hosts had more points off them (13-7).
The Golden Eagles got 23 points and 13 rebounds out of Denijay Harris but were held in check from the perimeter offensively for the balance of the second half.
The Cardinals shot 44.6 percent (29-65) from the field including 38.1 percent (8-21) from distance and 73.3 percent (11-15) at the foul line. Southern Miss went 49.1 percent (27-55) on field goals, 35 percent (7-20) on 3-pointers and 65.2 percent (15-23) on free throws.
Ball State returns to Mid-American Conference play when it hosts Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
