Thursday, December 20
Muncie, Ind.
7:00 PM ET
Ball State University
98
vs
71
Howard
1
2
F
Howard
40
31
71
Ball St.
52
46
98
Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services
Hot Shooting Guides Ball State to 98-71 Victory over Howard
December 20, 2018 | Men's Basketball
Cardinals bury 14 treys, place five in double figures in return home
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State men's basketball team shot an impressive 58.6 percent from the field and made a season-high 14 3-pointers Thursday, running away from Howard to secure a 98-71 victory at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals improved to 8-4 on the year and upped their perfect home record to 4-0. The Bison, which lead the MEAC in scoring, were held 12 points below their average while falling to 6-6 for the season.
Tayler Persons led all scorers with 20 points on the night and was one of five Cardinals in double figures. Tahjai Teague finished just one rebound shy of his second straight double-double, as he dropped in 17 points to go with nine rebounds. In the first start of his career, Ishmael El-Amin scored 15 points on a 5-of-8 clip from the field in place of an injured K.J. Walton.
Three different Cardinals finished the game with four assists, as the team combined for 19 of them in the game.
"We played well tonight, especially on offense," Ball State coach James Whitford said. "I thought we really shared the ball. We were very efficient on offense. We started out a little slow defensively, but I thought we got better as the game went along."
It had been more than three weeks since the Cardinals played a home game, and El-Amin quickly gave the Worthen Arena crowd something to get excited about with back-to-back 3's to open the game. Persons then sank multiple buckets, including a pair of 3's, as Ball State used the early barrage of shots from distance to jump out to an 18-6 lead. Howard responded with a 12-3 run and eventually claimed a four-point advantage of its own.
The Cardinals answered by attacking the basket and drawing fouls, as a series of makes from the charity stripe fueled an 18-4 run to give BSU a 10-point lead. A 3 from Zach Gunn capped the stretch, and Ball State carried a 52-40 advantage into the halftime break.
Out of the locker room, Tahjai Teague quickly scored six consecutive points before throwing a full-court outlet pass to Persons for a wide-open layup, which prompted a Howard timeout. A 3 from Persons a few plays later pushed the lead to 20. Then a 16-1 stretch left no doubt, as the Cardinals went on to lead by as many as 33 points.
Gunn and Kyle Mallers both added 12 points for Ball State, with Mallers knocking down four 3-pointers.
Ball State won nearly every statistical category, including field goal percentage, where it outshot Howard 58.6 percent to 36.2. The Cardinals outrebounded the Bison 39-35 and scored 32 points in the paint to Howard's 10. BSU led for 38:01 of the 40 minutes.
Howard's R.J. Cole, who entered averaging better than 20 points per game, scored only 11 on 3-for-12 shooting, though he did hand out eight assists. Charles Williams and Raymond Bethea led the Bison with 14 points each.
Ball State will now enjoy its holiday break before returning to Worthen Arena on Saturday, Dec. 29 for a matchup with Delaware State. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
The Cardinals improved to 8-4 on the year and upped their perfect home record to 4-0. The Bison, which lead the MEAC in scoring, were held 12 points below their average while falling to 6-6 for the season.
Tayler Persons led all scorers with 20 points on the night and was one of five Cardinals in double figures. Tahjai Teague finished just one rebound shy of his second straight double-double, as he dropped in 17 points to go with nine rebounds. In the first start of his career, Ishmael El-Amin scored 15 points on a 5-of-8 clip from the field in place of an injured K.J. Walton.
Three different Cardinals finished the game with four assists, as the team combined for 19 of them in the game.
"We played well tonight, especially on offense," Ball State coach James Whitford said. "I thought we really shared the ball. We were very efficient on offense. We started out a little slow defensively, but I thought we got better as the game went along."
It had been more than three weeks since the Cardinals played a home game, and El-Amin quickly gave the Worthen Arena crowd something to get excited about with back-to-back 3's to open the game. Persons then sank multiple buckets, including a pair of 3's, as Ball State used the early barrage of shots from distance to jump out to an 18-6 lead. Howard responded with a 12-3 run and eventually claimed a four-point advantage of its own.
The Cardinals answered by attacking the basket and drawing fouls, as a series of makes from the charity stripe fueled an 18-4 run to give BSU a 10-point lead. A 3 from Zach Gunn capped the stretch, and Ball State carried a 52-40 advantage into the halftime break.
Zach Gunn hits a 3? from downtown Muncie to give the Cardinals a 10-point cushion late in the 1st half, 42-32. ????#WeFly | #ChirpChirp pic.twitter.com/vEnSxAc9iK
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) December 21, 2018
Out of the locker room, Tahjai Teague quickly scored six consecutive points before throwing a full-court outlet pass to Persons for a wide-open layup, which prompted a Howard timeout. A 3 from Persons a few plays later pushed the lead to 20. Then a 16-1 stretch left no doubt, as the Cardinals went on to lead by as many as 33 points.
Gunn and Kyle Mallers both added 12 points for Ball State, with Mallers knocking down four 3-pointers.
Gunn ?? Teague ?? pic.twitter.com/aIZVMOFESL
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) December 21, 2018
Ball State won nearly every statistical category, including field goal percentage, where it outshot Howard 58.6 percent to 36.2. The Cardinals outrebounded the Bison 39-35 and scored 32 points in the paint to Howard's 10. BSU led for 38:01 of the 40 minutes.
Howard's R.J. Cole, who entered averaging better than 20 points per game, scored only 11 on 3-for-12 shooting, though he did hand out eight assists. Charles Williams and Raymond Bethea led the Bison with 14 points each.
Ball State will now enjoy its holiday break before returning to Worthen Arena on Saturday, Dec. 29 for a matchup with Delaware State. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
"We played well tonight, especially on offense. I thought we really shared the ball."
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) December 21, 2018
Coach Whitford on the team's 98-point output against Howard.#ChirpChirp pic.twitter.com/EE7pXSsdNx
"Roles aren't really that important to me ... as long as I help my team win."@TheNextElAmin on drawing his first starting assignment and scoring 15 points in the win over Howard.#ChirpChirp pic.twitter.com/UC13ng5iZb
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) December 21, 2018
"I felt like our crowd really showed up and was loud for us and helped us out."@TaylerPersons8 on the environment in tonight's win over Howard. #ChirpChirp pic.twitter.com/N2c1kaPMt4
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) December 21, 2018
Team Stats
Howard
Ball St.
FG%
.362
.586
3FG%
.367
.483
FT%
.769
.800
RB
35
39
TO
5
8
STL
4
1
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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/ Men's BasketballG
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