Ball State University
7-20 (2-14MAC)
Toledo
19-10 (11-5MAC)
Calhoun Drops 30, Men's Hoops Falls at Toledo
February 28, 2015 | Men's Basketball
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Bo Calhoun turned in a career-best performance Saturday night, but a tough shooting night overall kept the Ball State men's basketball team at arm's length against one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference.
The Cardinals suffered a 70-59 loss at Toledo in their final road game of the regular season. The Rockets (19-10, 11-5 MAC) moved back into a tie atop the league standings.
Calhoun's previous career-high was 18 points three games ago against Kent State. He blew by that early in the second half Saturday and finished the night with 30 points on 13-for-17 shooting, including a 3-for-4 effort from beyond the arc.
"He played a great game," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "Now you're seeing why we've been letting him shoot 3's. He's more than capable of shooting them. He has really developed that part of his game. And then the way they were playing pick-and-rolls tonight opened up a lot of opportunities for him."
Unfortunately for the Cardinals (7-20, 2-14 MAC), the other shooting numbers weren't so hot. The rest of the team combined to shoot 10 for 46 from the floor and 4 for 25 from 3-point range. All told, Ball State shot 36.5 percent from the floor, and it just wasn't enough to keep pace with a Toledo team that has featured the top offense in MAC play.
"Our guards didn't have a good night shooting," Whitford said. "We needed to shoot the ball better than that, but Jeremiah (Davis) and Zavier (Turner) combined for 11 assists and five turnovers. They did a good job moving the ball for us.
"I felt like, especially early, we had some really good looks that just didn't go in," Whitford said. "That's part of the game of basketball. But we really competed. Without Matt Kamieniecki, we just don't have a lot of depth. But with that, I thought our guys competed and played a good game."
Kamieniecki missed the game with a back issue that has sidelined him for eight of the past 11 contests.
The Cardinals finished the game with 16 assists and 10 turnovers as a team. Their ability to take care of the ball kept them in the game and let them find some rhythm offensively, even if shots weren't falling.
Toledo threatened to run away with it, opening up a 17-point lead early in the second half at 48-31. But Ball State didn't go away. The Cardinals scored nine straight points, capped by a Turner 3-pointer that cut the lead back down to single digits.
Ball State eventually whittled the lead all the way down to five at 56-51 and had the ball with a chance to get even closer. But one of the Cardinals' few turnovers on the night cropped up at an inopportune time, and Toledo cashed it in on the other end. The Rockets never led by fewer than seven the rest of the way.
J.D. Weatherspoon led Toledo with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Justin Drummond scored 17 points and Nathan Boothe added 12.
For Calhoun, Saturday's performance was a continuation of the progression in his game this season. He has scored in double figures in six straight games and 10 of the past 12. During that 12-game stretch, he is leading the Cardinals with an average of 13.4 points per game.
"I'm so proud of him," Whitford said. "There's not a player I've coached over the years who has been more humble, more hard-working. He just brings a great approach every single day. He's earned it."
Ball State will now close the regular season with two home games next week. The Cardinals host Eastern Michigan on Tuesday and Northern Illinoi on Friday. Both games will tip at 7 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
