Saturday, December 19
Terre Haute, IN
1 p.m.
Ball State University
3-3,1-0MAC
57
at
67
Indiana State
2-2,0-0MVC
1
2
F
Ball St.
23
34
57
Indiana St.
38
29
67
Comeback Falls Just Short At Indiana State
December 19, 2020 | Men's Basketball
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - In its final non-conference tuneup, the Ball State men's basketball team rallied from 17 down but ran out of time in a 67-57 loss at Indiana State on Saturday afternoon.Â
Ishmael El-Amin led the Cardinals with team highs of 18 points and three assists and K.J. Walton added 13 points. Indiana State's Jake LaRavia scored 27 for Indiana State, which had lost three straight in the series with the Cardinals.
CARDINAL COMEBACK: Ball State had 13 turnovers and shot 4-for-10 at the foul line in the first half, allowing Indiana State to build a 38-23 halftime lead. ISU's lead reached as much as 17 before the Cardinals battled back, twice cutting the defiicit to two. A 3-pointer by Miryne Thomas with 13:45 left made it a 42-40 game but Indiana State answered with the next five points. A driving lay-up by Walton with 4:08 left cut the ISU lead to 59-57 but the home team scored the final eight points of the game.
STRAIGHT FROM THE COACH: "Credit Indiana State. You could tell they were ready to play, and I thought they really took us out of a lot of things early in the first half and we didn't handle it well. I thought our turnovers early were the difference in the game. I thought we played well enough in the second half to win. We had stretches in the first half that broke us, but I thought our guys at the half were resilient. We tried to solve the problems we were having, but there was no panic or blaming. We handled that as a together team, and I thought that was a good sign. We jumped out of the second half and cut it down quickly. We started putting together some stops, but the biggest thing for us was we stopped turning the ball over."
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: Considering that Saturday's game was the final non-conference game of the shortened season, Whitford was asked to give a 30,000-foot view of his team so far. The goal is to keep improving and to be in a strong position heading into the postseason, and the eighth-year coach thinks Ball State has the tools to get there.Â
"We have a coachable team. I like our team," Whitford said. "But we did not play well today. They really pressured us, and it bothered us more than I would have anticipated. It's a high character team, a very coachable team, and because of that we're going to keep getting better. There are things we have to get better at, no question."
Jalen Windham had his best game as Cardinal, scoring 10 points in 25 minutes off the bench. The Cardinals made all six of their free throws in the second half but finished 5-for-20 as a team from 3-point range. The game featured 41 turnovers.Â
UP NEXT: Ball State has a quick turnaround leading into a very important game. The Cardinals play at Western Michigan Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. for a chance for pole position in the early MAC standings. A win Tuesday puts BSU at 2-0 with two road wins before the end of December. Ball State's first two games after the new year are at home.Â
"Tuesday is a big game for us, no question about it," Whitford said. "Conference play this year is a bigger deal than it has been in the past. It's a big opportunity for us to get a second road win before Christmas."
Ishmael El-Amin led the Cardinals with team highs of 18 points and three assists and K.J. Walton added 13 points. Indiana State's Jake LaRavia scored 27 for Indiana State, which had lost three straight in the series with the Cardinals.
CARDINAL COMEBACK: Ball State had 13 turnovers and shot 4-for-10 at the foul line in the first half, allowing Indiana State to build a 38-23 halftime lead. ISU's lead reached as much as 17 before the Cardinals battled back, twice cutting the defiicit to two. A 3-pointer by Miryne Thomas with 13:45 left made it a 42-40 game but Indiana State answered with the next five points. A driving lay-up by Walton with 4:08 left cut the ISU lead to 59-57 but the home team scored the final eight points of the game.
STRAIGHT FROM THE COACH: "Credit Indiana State. You could tell they were ready to play, and I thought they really took us out of a lot of things early in the first half and we didn't handle it well. I thought our turnovers early were the difference in the game. I thought we played well enough in the second half to win. We had stretches in the first half that broke us, but I thought our guys at the half were resilient. We tried to solve the problems we were having, but there was no panic or blaming. We handled that as a together team, and I thought that was a good sign. We jumped out of the second half and cut it down quickly. We started putting together some stops, but the biggest thing for us was we stopped turning the ball over."
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: Considering that Saturday's game was the final non-conference game of the shortened season, Whitford was asked to give a 30,000-foot view of his team so far. The goal is to keep improving and to be in a strong position heading into the postseason, and the eighth-year coach thinks Ball State has the tools to get there.Â
"We have a coachable team. I like our team," Whitford said. "But we did not play well today. They really pressured us, and it bothered us more than I would have anticipated. It's a high character team, a very coachable team, and because of that we're going to keep getting better. There are things we have to get better at, no question."
Jalen Windham had his best game as Cardinal, scoring 10 points in 25 minutes off the bench. The Cardinals made all six of their free throws in the second half but finished 5-for-20 as a team from 3-point range. The game featured 41 turnovers.Â
UP NEXT: Ball State has a quick turnaround leading into a very important game. The Cardinals play at Western Michigan Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. for a chance for pole position in the early MAC standings. A win Tuesday puts BSU at 2-0 with two road wins before the end of December. Ball State's first two games after the new year are at home.Â
"Tuesday is a big game for us, no question about it," Whitford said. "Conference play this year is a bigger deal than it has been in the past. It's a big opportunity for us to get a second road win before Christmas."
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Team Stats
BSU
ISU
FG%
.362
.382
3FG%
.250
.222
FT%
.625
.750
RB
37
40
TO
20
19
STL
9
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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