Saturday, February 29
Toledo, Ohio
2:00 PM ET
Ball State University
16-13,9-7MAC
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Toledo
15-14,7-9MAC
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Ball St.
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Photo by: Ball State Athletics
Foul-Plagued Cardinals Fall to Resurgent Rockets, 69-63
February 29, 2020 | Men's Basketball
Redshirt freshman point guard Jarron Coleman scores 18 to lead BSU
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Veteran Toledo big man Luke Knapke is tough enough to cover in any circumstance. For a Ball State team saddled with foul trouble inside, the task became too much Saturday at Savage Arena.
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Knapke scored 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting and Toledo outscored the Cardinals by 10 at the foul line. The preseason MAC West Division favorite Rockets, who struggled early in the conference schedule, won 69-63 for their fourth victory in the past five games.
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Ball State's leading scorer and top post defender Tahjai Teague saw only 18 minutes of action. He picked up his third foul at the 8:16 mark of the first half and his fourth early in the second before finally playing the bulk of the final 10 minutes uninterrupted. Teague and starting four-man Kyle Mallers both eventually fouled out.
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Still, behind a team-high 18 points from redshirt freshman point guard Jarron Coleman, Ball State (16-13, 9-7 MAC) drew within a single possession twice in the final minute. But Toledo (15-14, 7-9 MAC) was able to seal the win at the free throw line.
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It was a wild day around the MAC with the two last-place teams (Miami and Western Michigan) beating two of the top three teams in the standings (Bowling Green and Northern Illinois).
Because NIU and Buffalo also lost Saturday, Ball State remains in the same position it entered the day -- one game back of the Huskies in the MAC West Division and tied with the Bulls for the No. 4 spot in the overall league standings. The Cardinals still control their own destiny in terms of a West Division championship and a top-four seed and bye in the conference tournament.
"There's no shame in our locker room," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "We fought. Toledo's a good team, and it's not an easy place to play. We had to deal with some adversity, the combination of extreme foul trouble and we didn't have a good shooting night. But our guys competed their tail off to the end."
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Ball State held a 33-25 lead late in the first half, but a last-second 3-pointer from Toledo's Marreon Jackson and then a 7-0 spurt to start the second half put the Rockets on top. Toledo steadily maintained the lead, though never running away from the Cardinals.
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Ball State rallied to cut an eight-point lead to three in the closing minute but could not get any closer. The Cardinals, who shot 45 percent from beyond the arc over their previous two games, made only 6-of-29 from deep in this one.
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"Early in the game, I thought our decision-making was a little wild," Whitford said. "I thought as the game went on we had enough good looks, but we didn't have a good shooting night."
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Ishmael El-Amin scored 10 points for Ball State. Mallers, who had a hot hand early, finished with nine points and eight rebounds. The Cardinals also got a good bench effort for the second straight game, led by Brachen Hazen with eight points and Kani Acree with seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.
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Marreon Jackson, the MAC's second-leading scorer, added 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Toledo. The Rockets snapped a three-game BSU winning streak in Savage Arena and evened the season series between the teams.
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Ball State will return home to Muncie for its final home game of the regular season Tuesday. The Cardinals will celebrate Senior Night prior to a 7 p.m. tipoff against Central Michigan at Worthen Arena.Â
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Knapke scored 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting and Toledo outscored the Cardinals by 10 at the foul line. The preseason MAC West Division favorite Rockets, who struggled early in the conference schedule, won 69-63 for their fourth victory in the past five games.
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Ball State's leading scorer and top post defender Tahjai Teague saw only 18 minutes of action. He picked up his third foul at the 8:16 mark of the first half and his fourth early in the second before finally playing the bulk of the final 10 minutes uninterrupted. Teague and starting four-man Kyle Mallers both eventually fouled out.
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Still, behind a team-high 18 points from redshirt freshman point guard Jarron Coleman, Ball State (16-13, 9-7 MAC) drew within a single possession twice in the final minute. But Toledo (15-14, 7-9 MAC) was able to seal the win at the free throw line.
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It was a wild day around the MAC with the two last-place teams (Miami and Western Michigan) beating two of the top three teams in the standings (Bowling Green and Northern Illinois).
Because NIU and Buffalo also lost Saturday, Ball State remains in the same position it entered the day -- one game back of the Huskies in the MAC West Division and tied with the Bulls for the No. 4 spot in the overall league standings. The Cardinals still control their own destiny in terms of a West Division championship and a top-four seed and bye in the conference tournament.
"There's no shame in our locker room," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "We fought. Toledo's a good team, and it's not an easy place to play. We had to deal with some adversity, the combination of extreme foul trouble and we didn't have a good shooting night. But our guys competed their tail off to the end."
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Ball State held a 33-25 lead late in the first half, but a last-second 3-pointer from Toledo's Marreon Jackson and then a 7-0 spurt to start the second half put the Rockets on top. Toledo steadily maintained the lead, though never running away from the Cardinals.
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Miryne. Thomas. ??#ChirpChirp | #WeFly | #BSUvsTOL pic.twitter.com/vofxVXMgKz
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) February 29, 2020
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Ball State rallied to cut an eight-point lead to three in the closing minute but could not get any closer. The Cardinals, who shot 45 percent from beyond the arc over their previous two games, made only 6-of-29 from deep in this one.
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"Early in the game, I thought our decision-making was a little wild," Whitford said. "I thought as the game went on we had enough good looks, but we didn't have a good shooting night."
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Ishmael El-Amin scored 10 points for Ball State. Mallers, who had a hot hand early, finished with nine points and eight rebounds. The Cardinals also got a good bench effort for the second straight game, led by Brachen Hazen with eight points and Kani Acree with seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.
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Marreon Jackson, the MAC's second-leading scorer, added 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Toledo. The Rockets snapped a three-game BSU winning streak in Savage Arena and evened the season series between the teams.
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Ball State will return home to Muncie for its final home game of the regular season Tuesday. The Cardinals will celebrate Senior Night prior to a 7 p.m. tipoff against Central Michigan at Worthen Arena.Â
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Montana finds Ish for the FLUSH!#ChirpChirp | #WeFly | #BSUvsTOL pic.twitter.com/6wIWkt17O0
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) February 29, 2020
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Team Stats
BSU
UT
FG%
.375
.431
3FG%
.200
.353
FT%
.643
.704
RB
37
41
TO
11
12
STL
5
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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