Cardinals Fly High Over RedHawks

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's basketball team took full advantage of a week off between games, as it claimed an 81-64 victory over Miami inside Worthen Arena on Tuesday. Miryne Thomas had a career night and tied for a game-high 26 points.

Ball State snapped a three-game skid and improved to 8-10 overall and 3-4 in the Mid-American Conference behind a complete team effort. Miami fell to 9-9 overall and 3-4 in conference play.

Thomas was a force on both offense and defense. He recorded a career high in points with 26 and added a game-high eight rebounds. He also produced a game-high two blocks, which tied his career best. Thomas has recorded double figures in four straight games. Payton Sparks notched his eighth-straight game in double figures and his third game with 20 or more points behind a 23-point effort, which tied a career high. Tyler Cochran chipped in with 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers. Cochran dished out a game-high five assists.

Ball State jumped out to an early 5-0 lead to start the game, but Miami responded and tied the game at 5-5. It was a two-point game, 17-15, with just under nine minutes left in the half. Everything started to click for the Cardinals and BSU ended the half on a 14-6 run. The run to end the half gave Ball State a 31-19 lead at the break.

The second half started out as a battle. The two squads continuously went back-and-forth, which saw Miami with an 11-10 advantage in the first five minutes of the second half, but Ball State still had the lead, 41-30. The teams continued to trade blows and Miami was able to pull within 10, 61-51, with 7:15 left in regulation. The Cardinals kept their composure and ended the game outscoring the RedHawks, 20-13, for an 81-64 victory.

For the first time since 2017, the Cardinals finished a game shooting over 60 percent from the field. Tonight, Ball State shot 62.5 percent from the field. BSU was dialed in from long range as well, as the team made 61.5 percent of its shots from 3-point range. Ball State shot a combined 86.7 percent from the free-throw line, which was the second-best mark this season. The great ball movement from the Cardinals led to a season-high 20 assists. Five different players for BSU collected two or more assists.

BSU held a 35-22 advantage on the glass, including a 31-15 edge on the defensive boards. The Cardinals dished out more assists, 20, compared to the RedHawks' 13. The transition game was outstanding for Ball State, which led to a 15-2 advantage in fast-break points.

The Cardinal defense was solid as well. BSU held Miami to just 39.7 from the field, which tied the second-lowest percentage by a Ball State opponent this season.

Dae Dae Grant tied for a game-high 26 points for the RedHawks. Mekhi Lairy tallied a double-digit performance with 10 points. Grant and Lairy tied for a team-high four assists. Precious Ayah brought down a team-high four rebounds.

The Cardinals have a quick turnaround as they return to action on Thursday for a matchup with the Huskies of Northern Illinois in Dekalb, Illinois. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.

From the Coach – Head Coach James Whitford
"Like I told the team in the locker room, I thought it was the best we played all year. I thought we really played a complete game. I'm really proud of our guys. There's still a lot that we can get better at of course, but I thought it was the best we played on both sides of the ball. It was great to see Miryne play well. Sometimes you play well because you shoot well, but he really played well. He had a couple great post feeds and had four assists. He really played smart defensively. He had a couple big blocks and a couple plays he helped out on defensive plays. Miami is a really good team. They are really talented."

From the Student-Athlete – Redshirt Junior #0 Miryne Thomas
"We keyed in on going hard on rebounds just hitting each other. We are a tough team, we're young, and we have guys that like being physical. We just said coming into the game that we're going to be the tougher team for forty minutes and it just reflected. My guys were trusting me and giving me the ball in my spots, and it was just up to me to execute and with the rest that I had off it's like I was ready. Our offense is more people moving the ball movement and today we were able to get both moving and today the ball just was flying around, and we were hitting the open guy. On our team the motto is, the go-to guy is the open guy, so we believe in Payton if he's open in the post, we're going to get it to him."

From the Student-Athlete – Freshman Center #5 Payton Sparks
"I just want to do anything to help the team so just charging and diving for loose balls just grabbing boards just trying to do anything to help the team. I just want everyone else to succeed before I do. Just when everyone's having fun and we're giving each other the ball it's a lot of fun playing with this team. It's just going to take us time to build on this and keep winning games. It's a long season and I trust this team. My teammates are always looking for me, but when I get the ball, I want to look for them also. If they're cutting, I want to pass them the ball. With them moving around I can get them the ball and it's just really fun basketball when we're all sharing the ball."

Follow the Cardinals
Twitter
Instagram

*For tickets call 1-888-BSU-TICKET or 765-285-1474, or click here.

Next Event

Team Stats

Miryne Thomas

Payton Sparks

Tyler Cochran

Luke Bumbalough

Players Mentioned

Tyler Cochran

Payton Sparks

Miryne Thomas

Players Mentioned

Tyler Cochran

Payton Sparks

Miryne Thomas