Tuesday, January 15
Bowling Green, Ohio
7:00 PM ET
Ball State University
10-7
78
at
79
Bowling Green
12-5
1
2
F
Ball St.
42
36
78
Bowling Green
43
36
79
Photo by: Tim Cowie Photography
Cardinals Lose Curious Game as Bowling Green Wins Eighth Straight
January 15, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Ball State falls despite success in paint, in transition, on defense
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The numbers just didn't seem to add up in this one.
Ball State controlled the paint, found success in transition, shot nearly 50 percent from the floor and held Bowling Green to 34 percent.
Yet at the end of the game, the scoreboard read: Bowling Green 79, Ball State 78.
The Falcons (12-5, 4-0 MAC) lived at the free throw line, where they were 29-for-33, and shot 40 percent from the 3-point line (8-for-20), remarkable for a team that had such a poor shooting night overall. They won their eighth straight and improved to 9-0 at home.
Tayler Persons scored a game-high 28 points and pulled down nine rebounds for Ball State (10-7, 1-3 MAC), while Tahjai Teague battled through foul trouble to score 19. K.J. Walton had 12, and Zach Gunn added 11.
"Our effort was right tonight," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "We competed. We didn't always play our best; we didn't always have everyone clicking ... We approached tonight the right way; we just didn't win."
Bowling Green's Justin Turner, the MAC's leading scorer in conference play, had 17 points in the first half but was scoreless in the second until his 3-pointer with 3:30 to play put the Falcons ahead 69-64.
Bowling Green would extend its lead to 76-68 with just 1:15 left, but Ball State didn't go away.
A pair of Persons' free throws and a 3-pointer from Gunn pulled the BSU within three with 39 seconds to go. The Cardinals then forced a 5 second violation on the inbounds pass, and Gunn got another look for the tie but couldn't convert.
Ball State was again down three after a Persons jumper with 7 seconds to play. The Cardinals hoped for a tie up on the Bowling Green inbounds, but confusion over the arrow left it on the Falcons' side, and BSU was forced to foul. BG's Dylan Frye split two free throws to make the lead four, and then Persons tossed in a 3 at the buzzer.
Ball State outscored Bowling Green 40-18 in the paint and 21-8 on fastbreak points, but Bowling Green cashed in 15 offensive rebounds for 19 points. The nation's top rebounding team outrebounded Ball State 42-35, although the Cardinals had more boards over the final 25 minutes of the game.
Turner got off to a hot start for Bowling Green and Ball State missed some shots early, as the Falcons jumped out to a quick nine-point lead. But the Cardinals bounced back to take the lead late in the half and went to the locker room down 43-42.
"I thought the first three minutes were really misleading," Whitford said. "Justin Turner is really good, and he made four individual plays off the dribble and hit some tough jump shots. I didn't feel like we weren't playing. They survived on jump shots, which they hit in some stretches and other stretches they didn't."
The second half was nip-and-tuck, although Bowling Green managed to stave off the Cardinals and hold onto the lead down the stretch. The Falcons started the half 1-for-18 from the floor but managed to stay in the game by getting to the foul line.
Tuesday's game was the first in a stretch that will see Ball State play five out of seven on the road. The Cardinals will travel next to Central Michigan for a 4:30 p.m. tipoff Saturday on ESPN3 before returning home to host Miami on Jan. 22.
Ball State controlled the paint, found success in transition, shot nearly 50 percent from the floor and held Bowling Green to 34 percent.
Yet at the end of the game, the scoreboard read: Bowling Green 79, Ball State 78.
The Falcons (12-5, 4-0 MAC) lived at the free throw line, where they were 29-for-33, and shot 40 percent from the 3-point line (8-for-20), remarkable for a team that had such a poor shooting night overall. They won their eighth straight and improved to 9-0 at home.
Tayler Persons scored a game-high 28 points and pulled down nine rebounds for Ball State (10-7, 1-3 MAC), while Tahjai Teague battled through foul trouble to score 19. K.J. Walton had 12, and Zach Gunn added 11.
"Our effort was right tonight," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "We competed. We didn't always play our best; we didn't always have everyone clicking ... We approached tonight the right way; we just didn't win."
Bowling Green's Justin Turner, the MAC's leading scorer in conference play, had 17 points in the first half but was scoreless in the second until his 3-pointer with 3:30 to play put the Falcons ahead 69-64.
Bowling Green would extend its lead to 76-68 with just 1:15 left, but Ball State didn't go away.
A pair of Persons' free throws and a 3-pointer from Gunn pulled the BSU within three with 39 seconds to go. The Cardinals then forced a 5 second violation on the inbounds pass, and Gunn got another look for the tie but couldn't convert.
Ball State was again down three after a Persons jumper with 7 seconds to play. The Cardinals hoped for a tie up on the Bowling Green inbounds, but confusion over the arrow left it on the Falcons' side, and BSU was forced to foul. BG's Dylan Frye split two free throws to make the lead four, and then Persons tossed in a 3 at the buzzer.
Ball State outscored Bowling Green 40-18 in the paint and 21-8 on fastbreak points, but Bowling Green cashed in 15 offensive rebounds for 19 points. The nation's top rebounding team outrebounded Ball State 42-35, although the Cardinals had more boards over the final 25 minutes of the game.
Turner got off to a hot start for Bowling Green and Ball State missed some shots early, as the Falcons jumped out to a quick nine-point lead. But the Cardinals bounced back to take the lead late in the half and went to the locker room down 43-42.
"I thought the first three minutes were really misleading," Whitford said. "Justin Turner is really good, and he made four individual plays off the dribble and hit some tough jump shots. I didn't feel like we weren't playing. They survived on jump shots, which they hit in some stretches and other stretches they didn't."
The second half was nip-and-tuck, although Bowling Green managed to stave off the Cardinals and hold onto the lead down the stretch. The Falcons started the half 1-for-18 from the floor but managed to stay in the game by getting to the foul line.
Tuesday's game was the first in a stretch that will see Ball State play five out of seven on the road. The Cardinals will travel next to Central Michigan for a 4:30 p.m. tipoff Saturday on ESPN3 before returning home to host Miami on Jan. 22.
Team Stats
BSU
BGSU
FG%
.482
.339
3FG%
.313
.400
FT%
.760
.879
RB
35
42
TO
16
14
STL
8
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
28
FGM
10
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
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