Ball State University
12-6 (3-2MAC)
Kent State
13-5 (4-1MAC)
Men's Basketball Falls to Kent State, 76-68
January 19, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Doug Zaleski
BallStateSports.com
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Kent State got the ball into forward Jimmy Hall deep in the post twice in the first 90 seconds Tuesday, and the 6-foot-8 junior converted both plays into baskets at the rim.
Easy buckets were too commonplace for the Golden Flashes, especially in the early going.
Ball State rallied in the latter stages of the game, but Kent State never trailed on the way to a 76-68 men's basketball victory at Worthen Arena.
Kent State's long, rangy, athletic and quick attributes at many positions presented a serious challenge for Ball State.
The Golden Flashes dominated the boards 21-9 in the first half while claiming a 37-30 lead, and their guards were able to penetrate in the paint and either score or dish off.
Cardinals coach James Whitford cringed when he considered what the video of the game was going to show him.
"We were timid on the glass in the first half, and I'm already getting myself sick thinking about watching film because I know it's going to make me upset," he said. "They dominated us – dominated us on the glass.
"We had nine rebounds at halftime to their 21. You don't have a prayer of winning if that's the case."
He turned out to be right. Unlike Saturday when the Cardinals overcame a 16-point deficit in the second half to beat Miami, they could not get over the hump Tuesday after a second-half rally.
"We've got to stop digging ourselves into holes like we have the past couple games," Cardinals forward Ryan Weber said. "We can't come out slow like that in the first half and expect to be successful.
"It's our defensive intensity."
Kent State's bigs – namely Hall, Khaliq Spicer and Chris Ortiz – made life difficult for Ball State's inside players.
Spicer blocked five shots, Ortiz had two and Hall added one. They also combined for 24 rebounds as Ortiz led with a dozen.
"It was pretty tough doing moves that I normally can get off; it was just hard to get off against them," Ball State 6-9 freshman center Trey Moses said. "It was all about toughness."
Whitford said the size of Kent State (13-5, 4-1 MAC East) had a big impact on what Ball State (12-6, 3-2 MAC West) was able to accomplish.
He said the Golden Flashes' frontcourt was similar to that of a high major team.
"They blocked our shots eight times, and there were a number of times we got the ball inside and couldn't get (a shot) up," Whitford noted. "(Spicer) is a high major defensive big guy. We want to become that kind of team with that length."
The Cardinals rallied in the second half to get within 61-60 with 3:52 remaining. But the Flashes shot out to a seven-point lead less than two minutes later to get some breathing room.
"I would have said it was anyone's game at that point, (but) we couldn't get stops," Whitford said of being within a point. "They shot 51 percent from the field, 43 percent from 3, had 25 free-throw attempts (making 20) and made 11 turnovers. That's an unbelievable offensive night for a basketball team.
"(Defending) has been our strength, and we couldn't get the job done."
Ball State also had a problem keeping Kent State guards Kellon Thomas and Xavier Pollard out of the lane, where they dished for assists (seven combined) and scored 20 and 22 points, respectively.
Thomas made 11-of-12 free throws.
Ball State played better inside in the second half. Bo Calhoun finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. He, Franko House and Moses combined for a total of 26 points and 20 rebounds as Ball State lost the battle on the boards 36-28.
The Cardinals also shot 40.7 percent from the field and were outscored 20-9 at the free-throw line.
Weber had a team-high 16 points, Tyler added 11 and House had a career-best seven assists.
Ball State will play its next two games on the road, starting at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Eastern Michigan.
