Ball State basketball is not exactly a traditional power. The Cardinals have not won the MAC or made the NCAA tournament since 2000. They haven’t beaten a ranked team in 16 years. They’ve never beaten Notre Dame.
Ball State basketball stuns top-10 Notre Dame on last second shot
The Cardinals beat their in-state rivals on a last-second shot.
Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Well, two of those things just changed on Tuesday.
Ball State knocked off No. 9 Notre Dame, 80-77, in a thriller capped by this shot from Tayler Persons with under one second left:
Pop a bottle, Bonzi Wells. You have something to celebrate tonight.
Ball State has been trending in the right direction the last two years under Jimmy Whitford, winning 21 games each of the last two seasons. That progress looked like it could hit a snag this season when the Cardinals started 4-4, with losses to Dayton and Bucknell and blowouts against Oklahoma and Oregon.
A win against the Irish erases those bad vibes on contact.
Persons led the way with 24 points, while Tahjai Teague (13 points) and Sean Sellers (11 points) also helped carry the offense in the win.
This is a bad loss for Notre Dame. Bonzie Colson went off for 26 points, but it wasn’t enough. The Irish now fall to 7-2 on the season following their championship run at the Maui Invitational. Notre Dame also lost to No. 3 Michigan State last week.
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