Ball State University
2-0
Indiana State
1-3
Scaife Leads Men's Hoops Over Indiana State, 75-60
November 17, 2010 | Men's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Behind a career-high 24 points from sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central), the Ball State men's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 75-60 victory over Indiana State Wednesday evening at Worthen Arena.
Scaife scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half, including a stretch of 17 straight points in a span of 5:08. He went 7-for-10 from the field in the second half with one three-pointer, while adding a perfect 7-for-7 effort from the line. He was 0-for-4 from the field and just 2-for-2 from the line in the first half.
"It took us some time tonight to find our rhythm on the floor and Indiana State came out of the gate and played with a lot of energy," head coach Billy Taylor said. "Obviously, we got our offense going in a big way because Jauwan just caught fire in the second half. We took control of the game with 12-4 run to close the first half and an 11-0 run in the second half to build our lead. Our defense was strong once again and we were very active in the second half when we made our runs."
Junior forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) notched his second straight double-double of the season and the 12th of his career in the victory. Jones scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, while also posting two steals and two assists.
Junior guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) continued his strong start as well as he scored 15 points while dishing out a career-high nine assists and committing just two turnovers. Davis has now tallied 17 assists in the first two games while only committing five turnovers.
Indiana State (1-3) opened the game quickly as the Sycamores ran out to a 9-4 lead. The Cardinals settled in the narrowed the gap to 18-17 with just under five minutes left in the first half. Freshman guard Jesse Berry (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) sparked the run with three straight points at the free throw line and junior Pierre Sneed (Chicago, Ill./Simeon) pulled BSU within one with a jumper on the wing.
The Sycamores responded with seven unanswered points to take a 25-17 lead with 3:58 left in the half. Isiah Martin keyed the spurt for ISU as he scored five straight points off the bench while Carl Richards scored on an offensive rebound to take an eight-point lead.
Ball State responded with a 12-4 run to close the first half to head into the locker room tied at 29-29. Berry scored five points in the run, including the Cardinals' lone three-pointer in the half and freshman forward Matt Kamieniecki (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) knotted the game with an offensive put-back with six seconds left in the half.
The Cardinals connected on 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from the field in the first half and just 1-of-5 (20%) from long range. Berry led the Cardinals with eight first half points. Indiana State hit 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from the field and 33.3 percent (3-of-9) from long range as Richard led the way with nine points.
Ball State came out of the halftime break and took its first lead of the night as Jones scored in the paint on the Cardinals' first possession to take a 31-29 lead. The teams went back-and-forth for the first five minutes of the second frame with Indiana State holding a 37-36 lead at the 14:52 mark.
Scaife took over the contest from that point on as he single-handedly posted an 11-0 run over 1:53 to put the Cardinals in front 47-37. He nailed four straight from the field and hit three free throws to give BSU the double digit lead. He continued his torrid pace as he scored 17 straight for the Cardinals, capped by a jumper with 9:38 remaining in the game with Ball State leading 53-43.
Indiana State made one final push as it trimmed the lead to 53-48, but the Cardinals never flinched as they responded with a 10-2 run to extend the lead to 63-50 with just over three minutes left in the game. Scaife and Davis nailed three-pointers during the stretch ignite the Cardinals. Ball State sealed the victory as the free throw line as it hit 10 straight from the line in the final 1:29 of the game as Davis and Jones hit four apiece and Scaife capped his scoring with two more free throws.
Ball State finished the game shooting 50 percent (24-of-48) from the field and 40 percent (4-of-10) from long range. The Cardinals' defense stepped up and forced Indiana State into 26 turnovers and turned those miscues into 33 points. Indiana State was held to 42.3 percent (22-of-52) shooting in the loss and just 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from long range.
Berry finished the night with eight points in 26 minutes off of the bench for the Cardinals. Senior forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) added seven points and five rebounds as he was 3-of-4 from the floor. Richards led Indiana State as he posted a double-double with a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. Dwayne Lathan added 12 points and Jake Kelly was held to 10 points on just 2-of-8 shooting from the field.
Ball State hits the road for the first time in the 2010-11 season Saturday afternoon as the Cardinals travel to Hinkle Fieldhouse to battle No. 16 Butler at 2 p.m.
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