N. Illinois Huskies vs. Ball State Cardinals: How to watch online, live stream info, start time, TV channel

How to watch Northern Illinois vs. Ball State basketball game

By Scout Staff

Jan 25, 2025 at 8:40 am ET • 2 min read

Who's Playing

Ball State Cardinals @ N. Illinois Huskies

Current Records: Ball State 9-9, N. Illinois 4-14

How To Watch

When: Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. ET
Where: Convocation Center -- DeKalb, Illinois
TV: ESPN Plus
Follow: CBS Sports App
Online Streaming: Catch select College Basketball matches on Fubo (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
Ticket Cost: $17.85

What to Know

Ball State is 9-1 against N. Illinois since February of 2020, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. Both will face off in a Mid American battle at 4:30 p.m. ET at Convocation Center. Coming in fresh off a victory as the underdog, the Cardinals will stroll into this one as the favorite.

Ball State is headed into the contest having just posted their closest win since November 25, 2024 on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged Central Michigan out 82-80. The victory came about thanks to a strong surge starting at the 16:22 mark of the second half, when the Cardinals were facing a 50-37 deficit.

Ball State relied on the efforts of Payton Sparks, who went 5 for 7 en route to 14 points plus eight rebounds and three blocks, and Mickey Pearson Jr., who went 5 for 7 en route to 16 points plus five rebounds and two steals. The dominant performance also gave Pearson Jr. a new career-high in field goal percentage (71.4%).

Meanwhile, N. Illinois' recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their sixth straight defeat. They fell just short of Western Michigan by a score of 72-70. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Huskies have suffered against the Broncos since February 12, 2019.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Quentin Jones, who went 7 for 10 en route to 17 points plus seven assists and five rebounds. He had some trouble finding his footing against Central Michigan on Saturday, so this was a step in the right direction. Another player making a difference was James Dent Jr., who went 7 for 13 en route to 18 points plus two steals and two blocks.

The win got Ball State back to even at 9-9. As for N. Illinois, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-14.

Ball State was able to grind out a solid victory over N. Illinois in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, winning 70-63. Will Ball State repeat their success, or does N. Illinois have a better game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.