This will be our year, took a long time to come "This Will Be Our Year" - The Zombies
Ball State Cardinals
76 – 80
FINAL Conference
Akron Zips
Mid-American Conference · Worthen Arena · January 10, 2024
Betting Lines
Spread AKR -7.5 Home covered
O/U 138.5 Over
Money BALL +275 / AKR -300
Model Predictions
Spread Total BALL win
Actual AKR +4 156 Lost
Massey AKR -8.9 (+4.9) — —
Massey Totals — 134.9 (+21.1) —
Bradley-Terry — — 18% ✓
Weighted B-T — — 9% ✓
Baseline Plus ML AKR -7.4 (+3.4) 136.3 (+19.7) 19% ✓
Efficiency Plus ML ★ AKR -8.7 (+4.7) 136.8 (+19.2) 20% ✓
Baseline Tuned ML AKR -8.3 (+4.3) 138.7 (+17.3) 19% ✓
Baseline ML AKR -7.9 (+3.9) 140.4 (+15.6) 20% ✓

Predictions use only rating snapshots dated before tip-off. Parenthesised values are the signed error vs. the actual result. Model performance →

Last 5 Meetings

Feb 20, 2026 AKR 78 – 65 BALL
Jan 14, 2026 AKR 87 – 77 BALL
Feb 26, 2025 AKR 87 – 82 BALL
Feb 5, 2025 AKR 81 – 73 BALL
Mar 1, 2023 AKR 87 – 83 BALL

Team Comparison

Record & Ratings BALL AKR
Overall 15-16 24-11
Conference 7-11 13-5
Home 9-7 13-1
Away 6-8 7-6
Neutral 0-1 4-4
Last 5 1-4 4-1
Streak L1 L1
Avg Pts For 72.0 72.0
Avg Pts Against 72.7 67.1
Massey -7.0 (#291) 6.0 (#90)
Bradley-Terry -1.12 (#274) 1.16 (#82)
W. Bradley-Terry -1.59 (#285) 1.63 (#80)
RPI 0.431 (#295) 0.569 (#73)
Shooting & Four Factors BALL AKR
FG% 44.1% 46.9%
3PT% 36.3% 35.3%
REB / G 33.2 34.5
OREB / G 9.2 9.4
AST / TO 0.86 1.03
Four Factors — Offense
eFG% 51.2% 54.3%
TOV% 20.0% 19.7%
ORB% 28.7% 30.9%
FT Rate 29.7% 25.8%
Four Factors — Defense
Opp eFG% 53.3% 49.9%
Opp TOV% 15.6% 17.6%
DRB% 73.8% 73.1%
Opp FT Rate 20.5% 18.8%

Game Analysis

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