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Northern Kentucky (3-1, 2-1 D1) at Ball State (3-1, 2-1 D1) – 7:00 PM EST (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to a place you wouldn’t expect – while tonight does include Round 1 of the Battle of the Boulevard (Belmont/Lipscomb), tonight’s feature actually involves the Northern Kentucky Norse and the Ball State Cardinals. NKU had a bit of a rocky start to the Darrin Horn with a loss at Missouri, but the Norse have rebounded with wins at Coastal Carolina and their home opener against Coppin State. Four players lead a balanced attack and average double figures in points for NKU – they are led by Tyler Sharpe (16.3 PPG), Dantez Walton (12.5 PPG), Karl Harris (12.5 PPG) and Trevon Faulkner (11.5 PPG).
Ball State also has an eerily similar resume to NKU – both have a non-D1 win and both teams are 1-1 on the road thus far. The Cardinals lost to Evansville but did rebound with a win at Illinois-Chicago. Now, Ball State begins a five-game homestand that will also bring teams like Loyola-Chicago down to Muncie. Tahaji Teague leads the Cards with 17.8 points a game and 7.8 rebounds a game.