MUNCIE, Ind. – Indiana State overcame a 15-point second-half deficit with a gritty defensive effort and clutch play off the bench by
Chance Puryear and
Duce Paschal, while
Karmani Gregory added his second consecutive 20-point performance in the 69-66 win over Ball State inside Worthen Arena.
The Sycamores (1-1) trailed 51-36 with 14:54 left in the second half as Ball State's (0-2) Mason Jones pulled down the offensive rebound and put the ball back in the basket to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the night.
Gregory sparked the Sycamore comeback following a
Kade Speckman steal as the Indiana State guard drove in for the layup on the next possession. Puryear followed with a steal and layup of his own, before
Meechie White drilled a three-pointer from just to the right of the top of the key to make it a 53-43 game with 12:45 to play. The comeback continued on a
Jackson Cooper steal and pass ahead to Puryear for the breakaway layup to cut the deficit down to single digits.
The score stayed a double-digit lead as Ball State 60-50 lead with 9:25 to play following an Aaron Fine layup, before the Sycamores took control of the contest. Paschal converted a pair of free throws, before recording a steal and layup to cut the deficit down to 60-54. Puryear and Gregory followed a minute later with back-to-back three-pointers to make it a 62-60 game with 5:32 to play in the contest.
Paschal again made it to the free throw line, this time following an offensive rebound and drawing the foul, and the sophomore guard sank both attempts to tie the game up at 62-62.
Maguire Mitchell followed on the next possession with a driving layup to the basket to give the Sycamores the lead at the 3:55 mark. It was Indiana State's first lead in the contest since the 1:40 mark in the first half.
The Sycamores turned it over to Cooper late and the forward delivered in the clutch with a tip-in layup with 1:32 remaining to make it a 66-63 game. Following a pair of Ball State free throws, Cooper again came through on the offensive glass with another tip-in layup with just under 10 seconds left in the contest to stake Indiana State to the 68-65 lead.
The teams swapped free throws late with Gregory converting from the line with just under three seconds remaining and the Ball State desperation heave went long as the Sycamores secured their fifth consecutive win over the Cardinals.
Indiana State built a double-digit first-half lead with 10:26 on the clock as Speckman sprinted past the BSU defense and went in for the dunk off the pass from
EJ McQuillan to put the game at 22-12. The Sycamores continued to press their advantage early as Paschal drove in for a layup and Mitchell converted a pair from the free throw line to keep the score at 26-17 with 7:21 to play.
Ball State took advantage of the Sycamores struggling from the floor the rest of the half led by Sean Blake's 13 points and Javion Guy-King's 12 points off the bench on their way to going on a 20-4 run. The Cardinals led 37-30 with five seconds remaining, before White converted a pair of free throws just before the break to send the teams into the half with Indiana State trailing 37-32.
Karmani Gregory finished with his second consecutive 20-point game, shooting 5-of-13 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the free throw line, while adding three assists.
Jackson Cooper added 12 points and seven rebounds with nine points and six boards coming in the second half comeback.
Chance Puryear scored all eight of his points in the second half, while
Duce Paschal added eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the victory.
News & Notes
- Karmani Gregory recorded his second consecutive 20-point performance as the redshirt senior scored 20 points on 5-of-13 shooting, while adding 8-of-10 from the free throw line.
- It marked the first time a Sycamore recorded back-to-back 20 point games in his first two games at Indiana State since Samage Teel accomplished the feat to start the 2024-25 season. Teel scored 21 points against FAU (Nov. 4, 2024), and 20 points against Eureka (Nov. 7, 2024).
- Duce Paschal's 11 rebounds marked the first time a Sycamore has recorded double-digit rebounds in the 2026-27 season and the first double-digit rebounding effort by an Indiana State player since Ian Scott recorded 11 rebounds against Belmont on February 21, 2026.
- Jackson Cooper converted the first two three-pointers of his collegiate career in Friday night's game at Ball State. The senior forward had only attempted one three-pointer in collegiate competition prior to Friday night over his career at Oregon Tech.
- Jackson Cooper's first three-pointer came with 18:24 left in the first half for Indiana State's first points of the game. His second came with 18:42 remaining in the second half for the Sycamores' first points of the second half.
- Kade Speckman's dunk with 10:26 remaining in the first half was Indiana State's first dunk of the 2026-27 season.
- Freshman Ian Thomas made his Indiana State debut on the court in the final seconds of the first half as a late defensive replacement.
- The Sycamores shot 40.0% (22-55) from the floor, 47.1% (8-17), and 73.9% (17-23) from the free throw line in the contest, marking their second consecutive game shooting 40.0% from the floor.
- The Sycamores led the way in bench scoring in the contest with Chance Puryear (8), Duce Paschal (8), Kade Speckman (2), and Meechie White (7) all scoring after checking in.
- Chance Puryear (+15) and Duce Paschal (+13) were the Sycamores' leaders in plus/minus on the court with the duo helping lead the way in Indiana State's comeback from the second-half double-digit deficit.
- The Sycamores and Cardinals tied with 36 rebounds apiece in the contest with both teams recording exactly 11 offensive rebounds and 25 defensive boards.
- Indiana State improves to 79-63 all-time against Ball State after winning their fifth consecutive game in the series.
Postgame Interviews
Up Next
Indiana State returns home to the Hulman Center on Wednesday, November 11, as the Sycamores host Milwaukee. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and will be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
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