Ball State University Athletics
Mills' Career-High Leads Cards Over Buffalo
February 07, 2006 | Men's Basketball
"I knew Skip was going to play like that at the run through today," Ball State coach Tim Buckley said. "He had that laser look in his eyes. I'm very proud of him. I thought he really showed that leadership we're looking for from him."
MAC Freshman of the Year candidate Maurice Acker joined Mills in double figures with 15 points and also handed out a game-high six assists. On the defensive end, Acker held Buffalo's Calvin Cage to nine points. Cage entered the game as the conference's fourth-leading scorer at 17.7 points per game.
In the first meeting between the two teams last month, Acker recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists.
"Acker had another good game," Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "He was very decisive, and he controlled the tempo. I think he does a great job of making the people around him better."
Acker had five of his assists in the first half as the Cardinals built a 31-25 halftime lead. Three of the assists came on Mills baskets.
Mills, the MAC's third-leading scorer, poured in 18 of his points on 7-of-10 shooting in the opening half. He finished the game 10-of-16 with five three-pointers. Entering the game, Mills had made just two of his last 21 three-point attempts.
"I've been struggling, but you have to keep shooting," Mills said. "You can't lose confidence in your shot. In the first half, I was in a zone, and it felt like no one could guard me."
Ball State built its lead to double digits at 38-28 on a D'Andre Peyton jumper with 14:22 to play. Peyton finished with nine points, and the Cardinals spent much of the second half with a lead at or near double figures.
Buffalo trimmed Ball State's lead to 44-40 on two Yassin Idbihi free throws at the 8:42 mark. Idbihi led Buffalo with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cardinals responded to Idbihi's free throws with a 7-0 run to push the lead back to 11 points. From there, Buffalo could not close the gap tighter than six points.
With the win, Ball State improves to 8-12 (4-8 MAC) while Buffalo drops to 15-8 (5-7 MAC). The Cardinals travel to Miami for a 2 p.m. tip Sunday.
