Ball State University
3-2
Southern Utah
1-4
Men's Hoops Rises Over Southern Utah, 73-54
November 26, 2010 | Men's Basketball
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Ball State men's basketball team stormed out to a 16-point halftime advantage Friday afternoon before downing Southern Utah 74-54 in its second game of the 2010 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena. The Cardinals advance to the fourth place game Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. and will face host Alaska-Anchorage.
"Our guys came out and played well this afternoon," head coach Billy Taylor said. "It was a tough loss for our team the other night against St. John's, but I liked our resiliency to bounce back in a positive way. Defensively, we did a nice job of limiting their points in the paint and on the offensive end we were able to get out in transition as Randy (Davis) did a great job this afternoon pushing the pace."
Junior guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) led four Cardinals in double figures as he posted his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 11 assists. Davis connected on 4-of-5 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, while dishing out nine first half assists. He has tallied 20 assists in the first two games of the Great Alaska Shootout with the record for three games in the tournament set at 30 assists.
Junior forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) notched a strong performance in the post as he scored a game-high 19 points in just 24 minutes of action. Jones connected on 9-of-11 from the field while also grabbing four rebounds, dishing out two assists and recording two steals.
Ball State (3-2) came out of the gate quickly for the second straight game as it scored the first 11 points of the game. Jones was the early catalyst as he scored seven of the Cardinals' first 11 points to force the Thunderbirds into an early timeout.
Southern Utah (1-4) answered back to the slow start and posted a 14-6 run to narrow the BSU lead to 17-14. The Cardinals broke the game open though down the stretch of the first half as it posted a 21-6 run to end the half with a 38-22 lead. The Cardinals used the three-point shot to bust the game open as they nailed four straight long range shots as freshman Jesse Berry (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) nailed two three-pointers in the run. Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) tallied one three-pointer and scored seven points in the spurt.
Ball State connected on 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the field in the first half and hit 57.1 percent (4-of-7) from three-point land. Jones led all first half scorers with 13 points in the opening frame as he was 6-of-8 from the field. Scaife chipped in nine points while Berry added eight points. Southern Utah was held to 39.1 percent (9-of-23) shooting from the field and just 14.3 percent (1-of-7) from long range in the first half.
The Cardinals came out in the second half and quickly ended any doubt of the contest as it posted a 16-5 run to take a 59-31 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game. Jones once again was the catalyst as he scored six straight points for force the Thunderbirds into another timeout. The Cardinals extended their lead to a game-high 29 points at 64-35 before rounding out the victory with a 19-point advantage.
Ball State finished the game shooting 57.1 percent (28-of-49) from the field and 46.2 percent 96-of-13) from long range. The Cardinals' defense forced Southern Utah into 19 turnovers and turned those miscues into 24 points. Southern Utah was held to just 43.2 percent (19-of-44) shooting from the field and only 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from long range.
Scaife finished the game with 15 points as he was 5-of-10 from the field, including two three-pointers. He tallied two steals as the Cardinals posted 11 steals as a team Berry added 12 points as he was 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-4 from long range.
Southern Utah was led by Ray Jones who scored 16 points and dished out four assists. Jones hit 5-of-11 from the field and was 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Matt Massey added 14 points for the Thunderbirds as he was 6-of-9 from the free throw line as Southern Utah attempted 23 free throws in the loss.
Ball State wraps up the Great Alaska Shootout Saturday afternoon as 2 p.m. as it faces host Alaska-Anchorage in the fourth place game.
####
