Ball State University
2-1
Butler
2-1
Men's Basketball Falls At No. 16 Butler
November 20, 2010 | Men's Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Ball State men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2010-11 season Saturday afternoon as the Cardinals dropped an 88-55 decision to No. 16 Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse in front of a crowd of 7,038.
"Today was tough for us as we were playing some really good basketball leading up to this game," head coach Billy Taylor said. "We knew we were going to get a great test from a fantastic Butler team that was very hungry coming off a loss. I wish we would have played better in all facets of the game today. We have to find a way to have a lot more resiliency when the pressure is on us as we allowed three runs this afternoon that we have to be able to avoid to be successful."
Butler (2-1) connected on 47.5 percent (29-of-61) from the field and hit 73.3 percent (22-of-30) from the free throw line in the victory. The Cardinals conversely connected on 32.7 percent (17-of-52) from the field, including just 25.9 percent (7-of-27) in the first half. Senior forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) led the Cardinals with 13 points, despite playing just 19 minutes due to foul trouble.
The Cardinals (2-1) came out of the gate and went toe-to-toe with the Bulldogs in the first five minutes as they held an 11-9 lead. Junior guard Pierre Sneed (Chicago, Ill./Simeon) paced the early attack with four points while sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) nailed a three-pointer in the early going.
Butler responded and scored 10 straight points to take a 19-11 lead as Shawn Vanzant and Zach Hahn hit back-to-back three-pointers. The Cardinals suffered through foul trouble for most of the first half as Perry only played three minutes and junior forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) played just nine minutes as both were saddled with two fouls.
Ball State entered the halftime locker room trailing 38-20 as the Bulldogs closed the half on a 9-1 run. The Cardinals hit just seven field goals in the first half and only attempted two three-pointers while Butler hit 44.4 percent (12-of-27) from the field and connected for three three-pointers. Matt Howard led Butler with 12 points in the first half as he was 8-of-10 from the free throw line.
The Cardinals came out of the halftime break and kept battling as they narrowed the gap to 55-38 on a pair of Scaife free throws with just over 12 minutes remaining. Butler pulled away as it scored 14 straight points on its way to a 33-point victory.
Jones scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss as he played just 21 minutes and was 2-of-10 from the floor. Scaife chipped in eight points while freshman Jesse Berry (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) added eight points off the bench. Butler was led by Shelvin Mack who scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Howard finished the game with a double-double as he notched 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Ball State continues its six-game road swing as it travels to Anchorage, Alaska for the 2010 Great Alaska Shootout. The Cardinals will face Big East member St. John's Wednesday at 9:45 p.m. (AT) in the first game of three to be played in Alaska.
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