Tuesday, January 22
Muncie, Ind.
7:00 PM ET
Ball State University
65
vs
71
Miami
1
2
F
Miami (OH)
40
31
71
Ball St.
33
32
65
Photo by: Kyle Crawford
Highly Rated MAC Proving Tough Night in, Night out for BSU Men’s Hoops
January 22, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Cardinals return to Worthen Arena and suffer 71-65 loss to Miami
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State men's basketball team knew Mid-American Conference play was going to be challenging.
After all, outside the traditional power conferences, the NCAA's NET rankings have the MAC second only to the American Athletic Conference. That's No. 8 overall out of 32 Division I leagues.
Still, the Cardinals hoped to be in a better position a third of the way through the conference schedule. And fresh off a win at Central Michigan, they hoped to improve their fortunes at Worthen Arena.
Ball State (11-8 overall) dropped to 2-4 in MAC play Tuesday with its third straight home loss, this one a 71-65 setback to Miami. The Cardinals were 14-2 at home a year ago and unbeaten this year until the current stretch.
Down right now but still with a long way to go, Ball State will look to bounce back Saturday on the road, where it has performed better. BSU visits Ohio, looking to avenge a loss in the first meeting between the teams.
"To be completely honest, we're not where we planned to be, not where we want to be," senior point guard Tayler Persons said. "But that's life, that's basketball. We have a lot of games left, a lot of opportunities … Conference play is tough. We have a really good league."
Ball State head coach James Whitford didn't fault the effort in Tuesday's loss. Rather, he reflected on the inability to get shots to fall against a physical and athletic Miami squad.
The Cardinals, who entered the night seventh in the country in field goal percentage, shot just below 41 percent and made only 1-of-11 from beyond the arc. Miami (10-9, 2-4 MAC) turned the tables on them, shooting 51 percent from the floor, bolstered by a 60 percent performance in the first half. The RedHawks hit 9-of-24 from deep.
Everything else seemed to be in the Cardinals' favor -- a 36-27 rebounding advantage, forcing more turnovers and scoring off of them, winning the battle in the paint.
But it was not enough to overcome the shooting numbers. The Cardinals lost for the first time this season when outrebounding an opponent.
"I thought our guys played hard," Whitford said. "I thought we really competed. I thought we were going to will our way back into the game. We really struggled to make shots. Credit to them, defensively. Obviously, a disappointing loss for us."
Ball State rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take a couple brief leads, but the Cardinals couldn't hold off the RedHawks down the stretch.
The game was tied at 57 after a 3-point play from Trey Moses with 4:28 left, but Dalonte Brown answered with a 3-pointer on the other end. The RedHawks never trailed again. Ball State had the ball down three with under 30 seconds to play, but Persons couldn't convert in the paint, and the Cardinals were forced to foul.
K.J. Walton led Ball State with 16 points, while Tahjai Teague scored 15. Moses and Persons finished with 11 points each.
Bam Bowman led Miami with 16 points, while Darrian Ringo, who keyed the RedHawks' defensive effort, scored 15.
Ball State will now go on the road for the next two. Saturday's game at Ohio is set for a 2 p.m. tipoff on ESPN3.
After all, outside the traditional power conferences, the NCAA's NET rankings have the MAC second only to the American Athletic Conference. That's No. 8 overall out of 32 Division I leagues.
Still, the Cardinals hoped to be in a better position a third of the way through the conference schedule. And fresh off a win at Central Michigan, they hoped to improve their fortunes at Worthen Arena.
Ball State (11-8 overall) dropped to 2-4 in MAC play Tuesday with its third straight home loss, this one a 71-65 setback to Miami. The Cardinals were 14-2 at home a year ago and unbeaten this year until the current stretch.
Down right now but still with a long way to go, Ball State will look to bounce back Saturday on the road, where it has performed better. BSU visits Ohio, looking to avenge a loss in the first meeting between the teams.
"To be completely honest, we're not where we planned to be, not where we want to be," senior point guard Tayler Persons said. "But that's life, that's basketball. We have a lot of games left, a lot of opportunities … Conference play is tough. We have a really good league."
Ball State head coach James Whitford didn't fault the effort in Tuesday's loss. Rather, he reflected on the inability to get shots to fall against a physical and athletic Miami squad.
The Cardinals, who entered the night seventh in the country in field goal percentage, shot just below 41 percent and made only 1-of-11 from beyond the arc. Miami (10-9, 2-4 MAC) turned the tables on them, shooting 51 percent from the floor, bolstered by a 60 percent performance in the first half. The RedHawks hit 9-of-24 from deep.
Everything else seemed to be in the Cardinals' favor -- a 36-27 rebounding advantage, forcing more turnovers and scoring off of them, winning the battle in the paint.
But it was not enough to overcome the shooting numbers. The Cardinals lost for the first time this season when outrebounding an opponent.
"I thought our guys played hard," Whitford said. "I thought we really competed. I thought we were going to will our way back into the game. We really struggled to make shots. Credit to them, defensively. Obviously, a disappointing loss for us."
Tahjai making it happen again on the defensive end! Then he Feeds K.J. for the slam, as the Cards cut it to two!#ChirpChirp | #WeFly | #BSUvsMIAMI pic.twitter.com/JvzVw3GcVY
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) January 23, 2019
Ball State rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take a couple brief leads, but the Cardinals couldn't hold off the RedHawks down the stretch.
The game was tied at 57 after a 3-point play from Trey Moses with 4:28 left, but Dalonte Brown answered with a 3-pointer on the other end. The RedHawks never trailed again. Ball State had the ball down three with under 30 seconds to play, but Persons couldn't convert in the paint, and the Cardinals were forced to foul.
K.J. Walton led Ball State with 16 points, while Tahjai Teague scored 15. Moses and Persons finished with 11 points each.
Bam Bowman led Miami with 16 points, while Darrian Ringo, who keyed the RedHawks' defensive effort, scored 15.
Ball State will now go on the road for the next two. Saturday's game at Ohio is set for a 2 p.m. tipoff on ESPN3.
"I thought our guys played hard. I thought we really competed. I thought we were going to will our way back into the game. But we really struggled to make shots, credit to them."
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) January 23, 2019
Coach Whitford on tonight's performance against Miami. pic.twitter.com/ig7iDkRzpL
"It's not where we planned to be, not where we want to be ... We got a lot of games left, a lot of opportunities ... Conference play is tough. We have a really good league."
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) January 23, 2019
Tayler Persons after tonight's @MACSports loss to Miami. pic.twitter.com/inF0J06PFb
Team Stats
Miami
Ball St.
FG%
.511
.407
3FG%
.375
.091
FT%
.737
.800
RB
27
36
TO
17
13
STL
7
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballMen's Basketball // Armoni Zeigler
Wednesday, September 10
Men's Basketball // Armoni Zeigler - Heart of the Cardinal Podcast
Tuesday, September 09
Men's Basketball // Jai Anthoni Bearden
Wednesday, August 20
Men's Basketball // Jai Anthoni Bearden - Heart of the Cardinal Podcast
Wednesday, August 20