Defensive Performance Leads Men’s Hoops to 83-64 Win over IUPUI

Saturday, December 2

Muncie, Ind.

2:00 PM ET

Ball State University

4-4

IUPUI

2-4

IUPUI

Ball State

Photo by: Timothy Sofranko

Defensive Performance Leads Men’s Hoops to 83-64 Win over IUPUI

December 02, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score PDF Box Score Post-Game Press Conference

Kyle Mallers posts first career double-double, Cardinals place five in double figures

MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State men's basketball team shot better than 50 percent and placed five scorers in double figures for the third straight game Saturday.

But what stood out most in an 83-64 victory over IUPUI was the way the Cardinals (4-4) played on the other end of the floor.

Ball State held the Jaguars to 38 percent shooting – 29 percent in a dominating first half – and forced 18 turnovers on the way to a third straight win.

"I thought it was our best defensive performance of the year, certainly the first half and really the first eight or nine minutes of the second half," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "We've scored the ball plenty of times this year, and we did again tonight. The difference between tonight's game and some of the other ones was our defense was better."

A pair of sophomore forwards led the way, as Kyle Mallers recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-best 11 rebounds and Tahjai Teague scored a game-high 14 points.

Junior big man Trey Moses – finding a rhythm after a preseason injury limited his minutes – went a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor on his way to 12 points. Sean Sellers and Tayler Persons added 11 points each.

Ball State took control of this one early, outscoring IUPUI 25-8 over a nine-minute stretch of the first half and cruising to a 41-23 lead at the break.

The Cardinals then came out hot in the second half, hitting their first four 3-point attempts and stretching the margin to as many as 28 points at 58-30 with 14:26 to play. IUPUI (2-4) rallied to cut the lead to 15 but could get no closer.

Ball State's defense was especially effective on the interior. The Cardinals held IUPUI's frontcourt duo of Aaron Brennan and Evan Hall to a combined 5-for-19 shooting.

"Having Trey back helps us a lot because it makes us bigger," Whitford said. "We played him and Tahjai together for the first time tonight. I thought us having more size in there, being tougher to score on around the basket, was a big difference."

Offensively, Persons and fellow point guard Ishmael El-Amin combined for nine assists and just three turnovers. The Cardinals registered a season-high 19 assists as a team.

Ball State shot 53.8 percent from the floor and finished 10 of 28 from 3-point range, cooling off down the stretch after making nine of its first 19 from deep.

The Cardinals will return to action Tuesday with a trip to No. 5 Notre Dame for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The game will air on ACC Network Extra (ESPN3).