1985–86 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team

1985–86 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball
1985–86 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball
MAC tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	21–10 (11–7 MAC)
Head coach	Al Brown;
MVP	Dan Palombizio
Home arena	Irving Gymnasium
	Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

The 1985–86 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team represented Ball State University as a member of the Mid-American Conference during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cardinals were led by head coach Al Brown and played their home games at Irving Gymnasium in Muncie, Indiana. After finishing in third place during the MAC regular season, Ball State won the MAC tournament to receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As No. 14 seed in the Southeast region, the Cardinals were beaten by No. 3 seed Memphis State in the opening round, 95–63. The team finished with a record of 21–10 (11–7 MAC).

1985–86 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Miami (OH)	16	–	2	.889	24	–	7	.774
Ohio	14	–	4	.778	22	–	8	.733
Ball State †	11	–	7	.611	21	–	10	.677
Northern Illinois	10	–	8	.556	15	–	12	.556
Toledo	8	–	10	.444	12	–	17	.414
Western Michigan	7	–	11	.389	12	–	16	.429
Central Michigan	7	–	11	.389	11	–	17	.393
Kent State	7	–	11	.389	11	–	16	.407
Eastern Michigan	5	–	13	.278	9	–	18	.333
Bowling Green	5	–	13	.278	7	–	20	.259

† 1986 MAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1985–86 Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year
F	5	Dan Palombizio (C)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Sr
		Larry Reed (C)	—	—	Sr
		Chris Shelton (C)	—	—	Sr

Head coach

Al Brown

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Dec 3, 1985*		Oakland	W 82–69	1–0	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Dec 7, 1985*		Butler	W 64–61	2–0	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Dec 11, 1985*		at Indiana State	W 57–56	3–0	Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana
Dec 14, 1985*		at Valparaiso	W 84–63	4–0	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Dec 18, 1985*		Delaware State	W 91–69	5–0	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Dec 19, 1985*		Mississippi Valley State	W 73–63	6–0	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Dec 21, 1985*		Western Illinois	W 82–75	7–0	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Dec 27, 1985*		at No. 12 UNLV	L 71–88	7–1	Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada
Dec 28, 1985*		vs. TCU	L 64–81	7–2	Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada
MAC regular season
Jan 2, 1986		Eastern Michigan	W 70–59	8–2 (1–0)	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Jan 4, 1986		at Toledo	L 68–70	8–3 (1–1)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Jan 8, 1986		Northern Illinois	W 84–74	9–3 (2–1)	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Jan 11, 1986		at Kent State	W 70–61	10–3 (3–1)	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center Kent, Ohio
Jan 15, 1986		at Ohio	W 77–73	11–3 (4–1)	Convocation Center Athens, Ohio
Jan 18, 1986		Miami (OH)	L 59–73	11–4 (4–2)	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Jan 22, 1986		at Western Michigan	L 64–67	11–5 (4–3)	University Arena Kalamazoo, Michigan
Jan 25, 1986		Central Michigan	W 58–56	12–5 (5–3)	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Jan 29, 1986		at Bowling Green State	W 76–71	13–5 (6–3)	Anderson Arena Bowling Green, Ohio
Feb 1, 1986*		Toledo	W 67–57	14–5 (7–3)	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Feb 5, 1986		at Northern Illinois	L 58–66	14–6 (7–4)	Chick Evans Fieldhouse DeKalb, Illinois
Feb 8, 1986		Kent State	L 65–70	14–7 (7–5)	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Feb 12, 1986		Ohio	L 61–64	14–8 (7–6)	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Feb 15, 1986		at Miami (OH)	L 77–103	14–9 (7–7)	Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio
Feb 19, 1986		Western Michigan	W 82–63	15–9 (8–7)	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Feb 22, 1986		at Central Michigan	W 71–68	16–9 (9–7)	Rose Arena Mount Pleasant, Michigan
Feb 28, 1986		Bowling Green State	W 85–78	17–9 (10–7)	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Mar 1, 1986		at Eastern Michigan	W 81–80	18–9 (11–7)	Bowen Field House Ypsilanti, Michigan
MAC tournament
Mar 6, 1986*		vs. Western Michigan Quarterfinals	W 87–76	19–9	Rockford MetroCentre Rockford, Illinois
Mar 7, 1986*		vs. Ohio Semifinals	W 93–69	20–9	Rockford MetroCentre Rockford, Illinois
Mar 8, 1986*		vs. Miami (OH) Championship game	W 87–79	21–9	Rockford MetroCentre Rockford, Illinois
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1986*	(14 SE)	vs. (3 SE) No. 12 Memphis State First Round	L 63–95	21–10	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source^[1].

References

^ "Record Book" (PDF). Ball State University Athletics. Retrieved April 30, 2022.

[1] "Record Book" (PDF). Ball State University Athletics. Retrieved April 30, 2022.

[1]