Tuesday, February 26
Muncie, Ind.
7:00 PM ET
Ball State University
14-14
72
vs
80
Toledo
22-6
1
2
F
Toledo
41
39
80
Ball St.
36
36
72
Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services
Cardinals Fall to MAC West Leader Toledo, 80-72
February 26, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Tahjai Teague tops 1,000 career points to give BSU four players in that club
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State men's basketball team turned in one of its best offensive performances in recent weeks but struggled to defend Toledo in an 80-72 loss Tuesday night at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals (14-14, 5-10 MAC) held their previous four opponents to fewer than 70 points, but the MAC West Division-leading Rockets had no plans to follow that script.
Toledo (22-6, 10-5 MAC) came out hot, blistering the nets at a rate of better than 60 percent for much of the first half, and led wire-to-wire to snap a five-game Ball State winning streak in the series. Like the Rockets on Tuesday, the Cardinals never trailed in any of the previous four meetings, including a 79-64 victory in this year's league opener at Toledo.
"I thought Toledo played very well," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "They're very hard to guard, and they did some things tonight that put us tough situations. We were more effective on offense. We scored the ball better. The thing we weren't able to do tonight was defend."
Ball State whittled a double-digit deficit to one at 48-47 after Tahjai Teague found Ishmael El-Amin for a 3-point play in transition with 13:28 to play. But Toledo responded with a 17-4 run to take its biggest lead of the night at 65-51.
The Cardinals chipped away to claw within five in the final minutes. They nearly pulled within three at the 1:06 mark, but Kyle Mallers' 3-pointer was waved off for an illegal screen. From there, Toledo iced the game away at the foul line.
Teague scored 11 points to surpass the 1,000-point mark for his career. He joined teammates Tayler Persons, Trey Moses and Austin Nehls to give the Cardinals four members of the 1,000-point club. Only Nevada has more active 1,000 point scorers with seven, and all of them are transfers.
Persons led Ball State with 20 points, and Ishmael El-Amin scored 10 on 4-of-5 shooting in his second game back from a wrist injury. Zach Gunn returned after missing five games with a bad ankle and hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Marreon Jackson scored 19 to lead Toledo, and Jaelan Sanford had 18. The Rockets outrebounded the Cardinals 34-23 and held a 14-5 advantage in second-chance points.
Ball State will play its next two games on the road, starting with Saturday's 4:30 p.m. matchup at Western Michigan.
The Cardinals (14-14, 5-10 MAC) held their previous four opponents to fewer than 70 points, but the MAC West Division-leading Rockets had no plans to follow that script.
Toledo (22-6, 10-5 MAC) came out hot, blistering the nets at a rate of better than 60 percent for much of the first half, and led wire-to-wire to snap a five-game Ball State winning streak in the series. Like the Rockets on Tuesday, the Cardinals never trailed in any of the previous four meetings, including a 79-64 victory in this year's league opener at Toledo.
"I thought Toledo played very well," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "They're very hard to guard, and they did some things tonight that put us tough situations. We were more effective on offense. We scored the ball better. The thing we weren't able to do tonight was defend."
Ball State whittled a double-digit deficit to one at 48-47 after Tahjai Teague found Ishmael El-Amin for a 3-point play in transition with 13:28 to play. But Toledo responded with a 17-4 run to take its biggest lead of the night at 65-51.
The Cardinals chipped away to claw within five in the final minutes. They nearly pulled within three at the 1:06 mark, but Kyle Mallers' 3-pointer was waved off for an illegal screen. From there, Toledo iced the game away at the foul line.
Teague scored 11 points to surpass the 1,000-point mark for his career. He joined teammates Tayler Persons, Trey Moses and Austin Nehls to give the Cardinals four members of the 1,000-point club. Only Nevada has more active 1,000 point scorers with seven, and all of them are transfers.
Persons led Ball State with 20 points, and Ishmael El-Amin scored 10 on 4-of-5 shooting in his second game back from a wrist injury. Zach Gunn returned after missing five games with a bad ankle and hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Marreon Jackson scored 19 to lead Toledo, and Jaelan Sanford had 18. The Rockets outrebounded the Cardinals 34-23 and held a 14-5 advantage in second-chance points.
Ball State will play its next two games on the road, starting with Saturday's 4:30 p.m. matchup at Western Michigan.
Coach Whitford talks about the difficulty of guarding Toledo in tonight's loss to the Rockets. pic.twitter.com/qOKWmFS9xz
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) February 27, 2019
Congratulations to Tahjai Teague on reaching 1??0??0??0?? points for his career! @leroyohboy becomes to 33rd all-time member of the Cardinals' 1,000-Point Club.#ChirpChirp | #WeFly | #1KCards pic.twitter.com/EFKggQZYMI
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) February 27, 2019
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Team Stats
UT
BSU
FG%
.491
.521
3FG%
.409
.429
FT%
.682
.696
RB
34
23
TO
17
21
STL
11
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
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