Wednesday, November 13
Chicago, Ill.
7:00 PM CT (8:00 PM ET)
Ball State University
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UIC
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Ball St.
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UIC
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Photo by: Ball State Athletics
BSU Men’s Hoops Pulls Away for Wire-to-Wire Win at UIC
November 13, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Cardinals rack up 17 assists to just five turnovers in road victory
CHICAGO -- It may be a little early to call it a trend, but over the past two games Ball State has been a second-half team.
The Cardinals outscored Evansville by 18 points after the break over the weekend, eventually falling just short against an Aces team that just took down No. 1 Kentucky.
And back on the road Wednesday night, BSU (2-1) pulled away from UIC (1-2) in the second half en route to a 67-48 victory at Credit Union 1 Arena.
Tahjai Teague led the way with 18 points and nine rebounds, carrying the scoring load when the Cardinals were struggling to score in the first half. Ishmael El-Amin finished with 14 points and six assists, while Josh Thompson added five assists without a turnover.
"Tahjai was great on both ends of the floor," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "Early on when we were having a tough time making shots, he got us going inside. As their defense started to overreact to him inside, he kicked it out. He really made great decisions."
Offensively, the Cardinals registered 17 assists and just five turnovers as a team.
Defensively, Ball State held UIC leading scorer Godwin Boahen to 1-of-17 shooting from the floor, including misses on his first 16 attempts. BSU harassed him with the trio of Thompson, K.J. Walton and Luke Bumbalough.
By the time Boahen hit his first field goal with a little more than two minutes to play, Ball State had built a 24-point lead.
"You can't guard a guy like that with one guy," Whitford said, "but I thought we did a great job of keeping our defense tight."
It was not a pretty first half, but Ball State took a 28-19 lead into the break after an opening 20 minutes in which the Cardinals shot just 36 percent from the floor but held UIC to just 19 percent. Teague scored nine straight BSU points to spark the team.
The Cardinals made only one 3-pointer in the first half, and that one was banked in by El-Amin. They made 6-of-14 from beyond the arc in the second half while pulling away for a wire-to-wire win.
Walton gave Ball State a third double-figure scorer with 12 points. He and Teague both came up one rebound shy of a double-double. Kyle Mallers finished with eight points, while Bumbalough and Jarron Coleman both added six.
Brachen Hazen did not score but collected seven rebounds and three blocked shots. The Cardinals swatted away eight shots as a team.
Ball State is back in action Sunday against Indiana State at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. on ESPN3.
The Cardinals outscored Evansville by 18 points after the break over the weekend, eventually falling just short against an Aces team that just took down No. 1 Kentucky.
And back on the road Wednesday night, BSU (2-1) pulled away from UIC (1-2) in the second half en route to a 67-48 victory at Credit Union 1 Arena.
Tahjai Teague led the way with 18 points and nine rebounds, carrying the scoring load when the Cardinals were struggling to score in the first half. Ishmael El-Amin finished with 14 points and six assists, while Josh Thompson added five assists without a turnover.
"Tahjai was great on both ends of the floor," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "Early on when we were having a tough time making shots, he got us going inside. As their defense started to overreact to him inside, he kicked it out. He really made great decisions."
Offensively, the Cardinals registered 17 assists and just five turnovers as a team.
Ish dropping dimes out here.
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) November 14, 2019
That's 5 assists for him and 18 points for Tahj after this throwdown. pic.twitter.com/38mQ2tACWC
Defensively, Ball State held UIC leading scorer Godwin Boahen to 1-of-17 shooting from the floor, including misses on his first 16 attempts. BSU harassed him with the trio of Thompson, K.J. Walton and Luke Bumbalough.
By the time Boahen hit his first field goal with a little more than two minutes to play, Ball State had built a 24-point lead.
"You can't guard a guy like that with one guy," Whitford said, "but I thought we did a great job of keeping our defense tight."
It was not a pretty first half, but Ball State took a 28-19 lead into the break after an opening 20 minutes in which the Cardinals shot just 36 percent from the floor but held UIC to just 19 percent. Teague scored nine straight BSU points to spark the team.
Tahj swats it away on one end ... gets it back from Ish on the other for the transition lay-in.
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) November 14, 2019
Starting to find a little rhythm here in Chicago.#ChirpChirp | #WeFly | #BSUvsUIC pic.twitter.com/yhXYzo77Tm
The Cardinals made only one 3-pointer in the first half, and that one was banked in by El-Amin. They made 6-of-14 from beyond the arc in the second half while pulling away for a wire-to-wire win.
Walton gave Ball State a third double-figure scorer with 12 points. He and Teague both came up one rebound shy of a double-double. Kyle Mallers finished with eight points, while Bumbalough and Jarron Coleman both added six.
Brachen Hazen did not score but collected seven rebounds and three blocked shots. The Cardinals swatted away eight shots as a team.
Ball State is back in action Sunday against Indiana State at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. on ESPN3.
Coach Whit breaks down a strong all-around performance from Tahjai Teague and a team defensive effort to shut down UIC's top scorer in tonight's win. pic.twitter.com/QxvrADIfag
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) November 14, 2019
Team Stats
BSU
UIC
FG%
.397
.315
3FG%
.259
.211
FT%
.500
.714
RB
45
39
TO
5
13
STL
5
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
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