Men's Hoops Goes Cold in Loss at Eastern Michigan

YPSILANTI, MICH. -- The Ball State men's basketball team suffered through its worst shooting game in five years Saturday en route to a 58-41 loss at Eastern Michigan.

The Cardinals (14-9, 5-5 MAC) connected on 26.7 percent of their shots and watched Eastern Michigan (13-10, 4-6 MAC) pull away with a decisive run in the second half.

The Eagles snapped a five-game losing streak in the series with Ball State and avenged a loss to the Cardinals in this year's Mid-American Conference opener.

Ball State Head Coach James Whitford:
"I thought they did a very good job of pressuring the high post, and when we did get the ball in there, we were not able to make plays this time the way we did last time … I thought we had some end-of-clock bad shots, but outside of those, I thought we had good shots. It was one of those games where you just felt like when it rained, it poured."

Inside the Numbers
• The 41 points were the fewest Ball State scored in game since a 38-point output in a 2010 contest at Central Michigan.

• The Cardinals shot just 26.7 percent from the floor, including 20 percent after halftime, against the EMU 2-3 zone. It was their lowest percentage in a game since 2013. BSU knocked down just 4 of 21 from 3-point range.

• Eastern Michigan entered the day leading the league in field goal percentage defense, blocks and steals. The Eagles likely added to their lead in all three, finishing the game with 13 blocks and eight steals.

• Trey Moses led Ball State with 17 points and nine rebounds. He now has 54 points and 34 boards over the past three games. Moses scored 14 of his points on 5-of-9 shooting in the first half but was held to three points on 1-of-5 shooting in the second.

• Kyle Mallers added 10 points for his 14th double-figure game of the season.

• Tahjai Teague entered the day with 47 points over the past two games but was held scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting.

• Eastern Michigan's Elijah Minnie led all players with 22 points, while James Thompson IV added 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. The Eagles shot 52.3 percent for the game.

How It Happened
• Ball State trailed by only one at halftime, but Eastern Michigan outscored the Cardinals 31-15 after the break.

• The decisive stretch was a 12-minute span in which Ball State managed only one field goal. During that period, Eastern Michigan stretched a 36-32 lead to 56-36.

• The Cardinals fought back from six points down late in the first half to grab a 26-25 lead. But a bucket from Minnie put Eastern Michigan back on top at the break, and the Eagles never trailed again.

Up Next
• Ball State will return home for five of its next six games, including two next week. The Cardinals will host Bowling Green at 7 p.m. Tuesday for the fourth annual #ChirpChirp Social Media Night.

• Kent State will visit Worthen Arena for a 9 p.m. tip Friday in a nationally televised game on ESPNU. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday but was moved for TV.

Next Event

Team Stats

Trey Moses

Kyle Mallers

Tayler Persons

Zach Gunn

Players Mentioned

Kyle Mallers

Trey Moses

Tahjai Teague

Players Mentioned

Kyle Mallers

Trey Moses

Tahjai Teague