Ball State University
18-13,11-7MAC
Northern Illinois
18-13,11-7MAC
Cardinals Claim Division Title, MAC Tournament Bye in Runaway at NIU
March 06, 2020 | Men's Basketball
Win earns No. 3 seed for BSU in next week’s league tournament in Cleveland
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A chance for a MAC West Division championship. An opportunity to punch a ticket straight to Cleveland with a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament. It was a simple formula: The Cardinals just had to win.
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And a resounding win it was. On the strength of one of its more efficient shooting performances and a stifling defensive effort, Ball State blew it open in the second half for a 75-54 victory at the NIU Convocation Center.
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The Cardinals (18-13, 11-7 MAC) matched the Huskies (18-13, 11-7 MAC) atop the West standings, earning a division title for the third time in five years. By virtue of sweeping the season series, BSU jumped over NIU for the No. 3 seed in next week's conference tournament. The Huskies will be the No. 4.
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"We had a lot on the line, backs to the wall, and we came out and played one of our best games of the year when it matter most," Ball State head coach James Whitford said.
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Chirp Chirp!
— #MACtion (@MACSports) March 7, 2020
Looking forward to seeing you in Cleveland @BallStateMBB!
The Cardinals have just locked up the No. 3 seed in the upcoming MAC Men's Basketball Tournament! #MACtion pic.twitter.com/LMb9Qybd5W
Tahjai Teague led the way with 18 points and 11 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season, but this was a highly balanced team. Miryne Thomas scored a BSU career-high 14 points off the bench, while Kyle Mallers and Ishmael El-Amin added 12 each.
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El-Amin, Mallers and Teague all had sequences during the game in which they hit back-to-back 3's. Teague's pair helped put the game out of reach in the second half.
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The gutsiest performance came from redshirt freshman Kani Acree who left in the first half with what looked like a devastating knee injury only to return in the second half and score eight points. He also finished with five rebounds.
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This kid is tough. Ace shakes off that nasty spill from the first half to get back in the game. Then he finishes off this big 3-point play.#ChirpChirp | #WeFly | #BSUvsNIU pic.twitter.com/WQ84LLwlNc
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) March 7, 2020
"Kani really showed a lot of toughness, and our bench is really playing well," Whitford said. "I thought he was great, I thought Josh was great, I thought Miryne was great. Our bench really gave us a huge spark in this game."
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The Cardinals were in control throughout the first half but saw Northern Illinois trim their 18-point lead to four early in the second half. Then Mallers converted an old-fashioned 3-point play and followed it with a 3 from the left wing.Â
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Acree then scored the next eight BSU points, including a pair of his own 3-point plays, and the lead was back to 14. Teague followed shortly with his back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 20, and Ball State rolled from there.
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Kyle with his third 3 of the night, and the lead is back to double digits.#ChirpChirp | #WeFly | #BSUvsNIU pic.twitter.com/Jc2ZhJnlyC
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) March 7, 2020
The Cardinals finished the night shooting 51 percent, while Northern Illinois connected on only 28 percent. Eugene German, the MAC's top scorer, led the Huskies with 17 points but made only 5-of-21 from the floor.
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"He's a great player, so he's not easy to stop," Whitford said. "He didn't have a great shooting night, but we had a lot to do with that."
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Ball State won four of its final five regular season games to finish in a three-way tie with NIU and Buffalo for the No. 3 spot in the overall league standings. Based on tiebreakers, the Cardinals (3-1 in games among those tied teams) grabbed the No. 3 seed, while the No. 4 went to NIU and the No. 5 to Buffalo.
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Ball State is slated for the MAC Tournament's last quarterfinal game Thursday, March 12 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (formerly Quicken Loans Arena) in Cleveland. The Cardinals tip off at approximately 9 p.m. against the winner of Monday's first-round game between No. 6 seed Kent State and No. 11 seed Eastern Michigan.
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"We had a lot on the line, backs to the wall, and we came out and played one of our best games of the year when it mattered most."
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) March 7, 2020
Coach Whit on the division-clinching, bye-earning win at NIU pic.twitter.com/23ulC2W5X6
"We were clicking on all cylinders."@kmallers14 on the win, the bench effort and the bye. pic.twitter.com/0ATdxCLryb
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) March 7, 2020
"I just wanted to make sure we were able to get that bye."@leroyohboy on the big effort tonight at Northern Illinois. pic.twitter.com/6ta1C3o83L
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) March 7, 2020
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