MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) K.J. Walton had 25 points as Ball St. narrowly defeated Illinois-Chicago Flames 68-66 on Saturday.

Ishmael El-Amin added 22 points for the Cardinals (1-2). Walton made 9 of 10 free throws to surpass 20 points in every game this season. El-Amin also had six rebounds.

Two free throws by El-Amin had Ball State Cardinals up 66-62 with 18 seconds left but Zion Griffin drained a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game 10 seconds late. El-Amin pushed it back to 68-65 sevens seconds to go and the Cardinals fouled Kirk Teyvion before he could attempt a tying 3 with three seconds left. Teyvion made the first free throw, missing the second and El-Amin corralled the ball as time ran out.

Brachen Hazen had 12 points and seven rebounds for Ball State.

Braelen Bridges had 13 points for the Flames (3-1). Michael Diggins added 13 points and Griffin had 12.

---

For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP-Top25

---

Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com

Copyright 2026 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.