Ball State University
Purdue
Men's Hoops Falls To No. 4 Purdue At The Wooden Tradition
December 19, 2009 | Men's Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Ball State men's basketball team battled the fourth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers tough Saturday afternoon but the Cardinals dropped a 69-49 decision in the 10th annual John R. Wooden Tradition at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Cardinals fell behind in the first half but out-scored the Boilermakers by a 34-31 margin in the second half.
"I am proud of our guys for battling today against a very good Purdue team ranked fourth in the country," head coach Billy Taylor said. "We showed a lot of heart and resiliency, especially in the second half. Our guys could have hung their heads early but they battled to the very end and gave great effort against a great team."
Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) paced the Cardinals' attack that saw BSU score 26 points in the paint, 20 of which came in the second half. Jones finished the game with a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds as he was eight-of-13 from the field. Senior forward Terrence Watson (Detroit, Mich./Univ. of Mississippi) added 12 points as he was three-of-six from the field and six-of-nine from the free throw line as nine of his points came in the second half.
Purdue (10-0) came out of the gate quickly as it scored the first five points of the half, including a three-pointer from Robbie Hummel. The Cardinals weathered the early storm and narrowed the gap to 6-4 as junior forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) and freshman guard Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Central) hit back-to-back baskets.
The Cardinals (3-5) got into early foul trouble as six of the first seven fouls were called against BSU, including two on Perry. The Boilermakers opened to a 20-8 lead courtesy of a 9-2 run that forced the Cardinals into a timeout.
Purdue broke open the first half with a 14-0 run to take a 37-13 lead with just over two minutes left in the half. E'Twaun Moore scored five points in the spurt while Hummel added eight points as the Boilermakers took advantage of the Cardinals foul trouble. Ball State was called for 14 first half fouls, including three fouls on sophomore guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) and freshman John Green (Osceola, Ind./Naval Academy Prep).
Ball State finished the first half shooting 31.8 percent (seven-of-22) from the field while Purdue connected on 48.3 percent (14-of-29) from the field and went to the free throw line 12 times, connecting on eight. The Cardinals were led by Jones' six points as he was three-of-six from the field while Hummel led the Boilermakers with 13 points in the opening frame.
Ball State came out of the break and battled back-and-forth holding a 9-8 advantage in the first four minutes of the second half. Purdue posted an 8-0 run to take a 54-24 lead, but the Cardinals scored five straight as Scaife nailed BSU's first three-pointer of the night to narrow the gap to 54-29.
The Cardinals continued to battle as they posted an 11-2 run to narrow the deficit to 59-40 with just over seven minutes left in the half. Ball State did most of its damage in the post as Watson scored four points, Perry added three points and Jones chipped in two points as the Cardinals scored nine straight in the paint.
Ball State finished the half shooting 55 percent (11-of-20) from the field to conclude the night shooting 42.9 percent (18-of-42). The Cardinals' aggressive play in the second half saw BSU head to the free throw line 19 times in the half and hold a 21-16 advantage on the glass in the second frame. Scaife added 10 points in the loss while Perry chipped in seven points on three-of-four shooting.
Purdue finished the game shooting 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the field but the Cardinals' defense held the Boilermakers to just 17.4 percent (four-of-23) shooting from three-point land. Purdue was held to just 33.3 percent (11-of-33) shooting in the second half as the Cardinals out-scored the Boilermakers 34-31.
Hummel paced the Boilermakers as he scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds. He connected on five-of-13 from the field but was a perfect eight-of-eight from the free throw line as Purdue hit 15-of-20 (75%) in the game. Forward JaJuan Johnson added 16 points and eight rebounds and Moore finished with 12 points for Purdue.
Saturday's game was the Cardinals' first ever appearance in the Wooden Tradition. The contest also marked the highest ranked opponent the Cardinals have faced since Ball State met No. 1/2 Connecticut December 28, 2003.
The Cardinals return to action Monday night as they host North Carolina Central at 7 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
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"I am proud of our guys for battling today against a very good Purdue team ranked fourth in the country," head coach Billy Taylor said. "We showed a lot of heart and resiliency, especially in the second half. Our guys could have hung their heads early but they battled to the very end and gave great effort against a great team."
