Ball State University
12-11, 6-5MAC
Kent State
18-7, 9-2MAC
Men's Basketball Falls At MAC Leader Kent State
February 11, 2010 | Men's Basketball
KENT, Ohio - The Ball State men's basketball team suffered a 76-42 loss at Mid-American Conference leading Kent State Wednesday night at the M.A.C. Center. The loss drops the Cardinals to 12-11 overall on the year and 6-5 in MAC play while Kent State improves to 18-7 with its eight straight victory as it leads the MAC with a 9-2 record.
"Kent State is an excellent ballclub," head coach Billy Taylor said. "It was only a 10-point game at half and I thought we could fight back and make it a game. As we started to make mistakes in the second half, things compounded and we really showed our youth and didn't have the mentality to be successful here tonight."
Ball State finishes MAC crossover play with a 4-2 record, marking just the third time in program history BSU has posted a winning mark against the East Division since divisional play started in the 1997-98 season. The Cardinals' four wins against the MAC East Division are the most for any MAC West Division team this season.
Both teams opened the game cold as the Cardinals held just a 2-0 lead at the first media timeout. The teams combined to shoot just 1-of-11 in the opening four minutes of the game. Kent State started to get going as the Golden Flashes scored eight straight points to take a 10-3 lead. KSU hit back-to-back three-pointers from Chris Singletary and Anthony Simpson to claim the early advantage.
The Cardinals started to chip away at the deficit before Kent State took a 17-7 lead with just six minutes left in the first half. Ball State found its shooting stroke as senior guard Brawley Chisholm (Bronx, N.Y./Western Texas College) and sophomore guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) hit consecutive three-pointers.
Ball State narrowed the gap to 24-21 as freshman guard Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) nailed a three-pointer. Kent State responded as it scored the final seven points of the half to take a 31-21 lead into the locker room.
The Cardinals finished the first half shooting just 29.6 percent (8-of-27) from the field but did connect on 66.7 percent (4-of-6) from three-point land. Davis led the Cardinals with six points while Scaife chipped in five first half points. Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) paced the Cardinals on the glass as he grabbed seven first half rebounds.
Kent State shot 33.3 percent (10-of-30) from the field and 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from long range. Randal Holt paced the KSU attack off the bench as he scored 10 points and dished out three assists while Simpson chipped in seven points off the bench.
Kent State came out of the locker room and broke the game open with a 16-4 run as it took a 47-25 lead just under seven minutes into the second half. The run was ignited by Singletary's five points while Sherman Rodriguez added five points, including a three-pointer to start the run. KSU closed out the game as it out-scored Ball State 45-21 in the second half.
Ball State finished the game shooting 28.8 percent (15-of-52) from the field and just 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from three-point land. The Cardinals were led by Davis and Scaife who both finished with eight points in the loss. Senior forward Terrence Watson (Detroit, Mich./Univ. of Mississippi) added eight points and six rebounds while Jones chipped in six points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Kent State ended the night shooting 43.3 percent (26-of-60) from the field and 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from long range. Simpson paced three KSU players in double figures with 11 points while Singletary finished with 11 as well. Justin Greene posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
The Cardinals return to MAC West Division play Saturday afternoon as they travel to DeKalb, Ill., for a meeting with the Northern Illinois Huskies. Game time is set for 3 p.m. (CT).
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