by Ball State men’s basketball drove about 90 minutes to Fort Wayne, Indiana, Monday as the Cardinals and Purdue Fort Wayne competed in an exhibition match ahead of the 2025-26 season.
A team featuring 10 new players and only five returners, this was the first chance for the Ball State basketball program and Cardinal fans to see what this squad is about. However, the game did not go Ball State’s way, as the Red and White fell to the Mastodons 84-70, a roster voted the No. 5 preseason team in the Horizon League.
Here are three notes from the scrimmage.
A rough start for the Cardinals
It didn’t take long for the Mastodons to lead the contest. In fact, there was only one tie throughout the entire game, and the Cardinals never led once. Though the first few points were back-and-forth, Purdue Fort Wayne took off on offense. The White and Gold led 16-6 following an 11-0 scoring run in the first few minutes.
At the 11:36 mark of the game, they led the Black and Red 23-10. The Cardinals looked out of rhythm and were outrebounded 10 to five in the first eight minutes and 24 seconds of play. They also began the game 3-for-8 from the field while Purdue Fort Wayne was 7-for-10.
Yet, the poor play didn’t end there as Ball State struggled to get anything going throughout the rest of the first half.
Ball State finished the period 12-for-31 (38.7 percent) from the floor while the Mastodons were 18-for-31 (58.1 percent). Both teams had five turnovers in the half, and both had five players find the bottom of the net.
Ball State showed some fight late in the second half
Though the Cardinals never found a rhythm in the opening half, there were some positive moments in the second half. After going down 65-48 at the 11:53 mark, the Red and Black battled back to make it a seven-point deficit at 70-63.
This was mainly due to Ball State’s ability to hit some quick shots as graduate student forward Cam Denson was the first Cardinal to cross the 10-point mark in the game during this stretch. However, the Red and Black could not sustain the rapid offense as the Mastodons jumped to a 76-65 lead just moments later.
Ball State finished the scrimmage with 33 rebounds — 13 on offense and 20 on defense — and had 31 bench points.
Senior guard Mikale Stevenson led Purdue Fort Wayne with a game-high 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting. As a team, the Mastodons shot 35-for-61 (57.4 percent) and were 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) from deep.
Though the White and Gold found success with shooting the basketball, it was a different story for Ball State. The Cardinals went 24-for-66 (36.4 percent) from the field and were 8-for-30 (27.7 percent) outside the 3-point line.
Some new Cardinals found success
Though the Cardinals dropped the scrimmage, there were some things that stood out amongst the roster. Senior guard Devin Barnes scored a team-high 18 points while adding three rebounds and a steal to his stat line.
He was followed by senior guard Elmore James IV with 12 points, while Denson rounded out the Red and Black’s double-digit scorers with 10. One bright side the Cardinals showed was their ability to get to the foul line. They finished the game going 14-for-19 from the charity stripe, with Barnes leading the team as he went 3-for-6.
James led the Black and Red with seven rebounds, while redshirt sophomore guard Davion Hill recorded four assists.
Ball State will begin the regular season Monday, Nov. 3, in Worthen Arena as Louisiana makes a stop in Muncie. The game is a part of the Mid-American Conference vs Sun Belt Conference Challenge and will begin at 7 p.m.
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
