Tuesday, January 30
Muncie, IN
7:00 p.m.
Ball State University
11-10,3-6MAC
72
vs
81
Bowling Green
15-6,6-3MAC
1
2
F
Bowling Green
33
48
81
Ball St.
31
41
72
Photo by: Heather Parker
Men's Basketball Can't Complete Comeback Against Bowling Green
January 30, 2024 | Men's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's basketball team struggled to stop Bowling Green's Marcus Hill as the Falcons claimed an 81-72 road win on Tuesday night at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals (11-10, 3-6 Mid-American Conference) trailed 33-31 at halftime and 68-58 with 5:13 to play, but a 6-0 Ball State scoring run courtesy of a Trent Middleton Jr. layup and four free throws by Basheer Jihad cut the deficit to four points with three minutes to play. The visiting Falcons (15-6, 6-3 MAC) subsequently hit three free throws after a controversial foul call and a 3-pointer to extend their advantage back to double digits.
Bowling Green began the second half on a 9-3 rally to get its edge to eight points, but the hosts responded and eventually cut the advantage down to one following a Mickey Pearson Jr. layup with 10 minutes to play that made the score 53-52. The Falcons scored nine straight points from there and never relinquished the lead in the second half.
Jihad went for a team-high 22 points and eight rebounds, while Pearson Jr. (15 points, seven rebounds, three assists), Middleton Jr. (14 points) and Davion Bailey (11 points) went for double figures scoring for the Cardinals.
Hill, a junior out of Rockford, Ill., who came into the night averaging a MAC-best 20.9 points per game, finished around the basket multiple times to the tune of 28 points on 13 of 18 shooting. Jason Spurgin (17 points, seven rebounds) and Rashaun Agee (14 points, 10 rebounds) also produced for Bowling Green.
Ball State hit 46.2 percent (24-52) of its field goal attempts including 42.9 percent (6-14) on 3-pointers plus 81.8 percent (18-22) from the free throw line. Bowling Green went 51.8 percent (29-56) from the field with 50.0 percent (8-16) from distance and 75.0 percent (15-20) at the charity stripe.
The Falcons controlled the rebounding battle 33-26 and had one less turnover (13-12) than the Cardinals while winning the points in the paint (40-30) and second chance points (16-6) categories.
Ball State is scheduled to return to the road and play at Western Michigan at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The Cardinals (11-10, 3-6 Mid-American Conference) trailed 33-31 at halftime and 68-58 with 5:13 to play, but a 6-0 Ball State scoring run courtesy of a Trent Middleton Jr. layup and four free throws by Basheer Jihad cut the deficit to four points with three minutes to play. The visiting Falcons (15-6, 6-3 MAC) subsequently hit three free throws after a controversial foul call and a 3-pointer to extend their advantage back to double digits.
Bowling Green began the second half on a 9-3 rally to get its edge to eight points, but the hosts responded and eventually cut the advantage down to one following a Mickey Pearson Jr. layup with 10 minutes to play that made the score 53-52. The Falcons scored nine straight points from there and never relinquished the lead in the second half.
Jihad went for a team-high 22 points and eight rebounds, while Pearson Jr. (15 points, seven rebounds, three assists), Middleton Jr. (14 points) and Davion Bailey (11 points) went for double figures scoring for the Cardinals.
Hill, a junior out of Rockford, Ill., who came into the night averaging a MAC-best 20.9 points per game, finished around the basket multiple times to the tune of 28 points on 13 of 18 shooting. Jason Spurgin (17 points, seven rebounds) and Rashaun Agee (14 points, 10 rebounds) also produced for Bowling Green.
Ball State hit 46.2 percent (24-52) of its field goal attempts including 42.9 percent (6-14) on 3-pointers plus 81.8 percent (18-22) from the free throw line. Bowling Green went 51.8 percent (29-56) from the field with 50.0 percent (8-16) from distance and 75.0 percent (15-20) at the charity stripe.
The Falcons controlled the rebounding battle 33-26 and had one less turnover (13-12) than the Cardinals while winning the points in the paint (40-30) and second chance points (16-6) categories.
Ball State is scheduled to return to the road and play at Western Michigan at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
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Team Stats
BGSU
BSU
FG%
.518
.462
3FG%
.500
.429
FT%
.750
.818
RB
33
26
TO
12
13
STL
8
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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