Cardinals flirt with assist mark
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State Cardinals put on a display of unselfishness and ball movement Tuesday en route to a 92-52 win over IU Kokomo at Worthen Arena.
Senior guard Ryan Weber scored a game-high 24 points as the Cardinals opened up a six-game homestand. Freshman forward Tahjai Teague posted his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the route.
The Cardinals (4-3) recorded . . .
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State Cardinals put on a display of unselfishness and ball movement Tuesday en route to a 92-52 win over IU Kokomo at Worthen Arena.
Senior guard Ryan Weber scored a game-high 24 points as the Cardinals opened up a six-game homestand. Freshman forward Tahjai Teague posted his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the route.
The Cardinals (4-3) recorded . . .
. . . assists on 30 of their 35 baskets, highlighted by a career-best 14-assist effort from sophomore point guard Tayler Persons. It was just the seventh game with 30 or more assists in program history. On top of that, the team committed a season-low 10 turnovers.
"We talked a lot about making sure we not only won the game but that we also used the game from start to finish as an opportunity to get better and work on the things we have to work on," Ball State coach James Whitford said. "I thought our guys played the game the right way."
Persons, who entered the night leading the Cardinals with 17.3 points per game, took only three shots and scored six points. He spent most of the night setting up his teammates.
Ball State got open looks and knocked them down. The Cardinals shot 53 percent from the floor and made 16 3-pointers, two shy of the school record.
Junior guard Francis Kiapway, who busted out of a shooting slump with three treys Sunday at Valpo, doubled that number Tuesday. He made 6 of 10 attempts from behind the arc to score 18 points.
"Every shooter goes through it from time to time," Whitford said. "It was good to see Francis and Ryan come around. Truth be told, I never really worried about that very much. I was very confident the shooting would come back."
Ball State took a double-digit lead 11 minutes into the game and maintained it the rest of the way. Three-pointers from Kiapway and Moses (at the buzzer) in the final minute of the first half pushed the Cardinals' advantage to 43-26 at the break.
Kiapway, Weber and Teague combined to score the first 17 points of the second half, as Ball State stretched its lead to 60-26. A free throw from IU Kokomo's Durante Lee finally put an end to a 23-0 run over a span of 3:16 stretching back to the first half.
Ball State expanded its lead to as many as 46 behind the scoring of Teague and Weber, who combined for 27 second-half points.
Moses grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for a Ball State team that held a 46-29 advantage on the glass.
Beau Dedmond led IU Kokomo (2-7) with nine points, while Max Escamilla had a team-high five rebounds.
Ball State will continue its homestand Saturday when IUPUI visits for a 2 p.m. tipoff.
(Courtesy of BSU Athletics)
"We talked a lot about making sure we not only won the game but that we also used the game from start to finish as an opportunity to get better and work on the things we have to work on," Ball State coach James Whitford said. "I thought our guys played the game the right way."
Persons, who entered the night leading the Cardinals with 17.3 points per game, took only three shots and scored six points. He spent most of the night setting up his teammates.
Ball State got open looks and knocked them down. The Cardinals shot 53 percent from the floor and made 16 3-pointers, two shy of the school record.
Junior guard Francis Kiapway, who busted out of a shooting slump with three treys Sunday at Valpo, doubled that number Tuesday. He made 6 of 10 attempts from behind the arc to score 18 points.
"Every shooter goes through it from time to time," Whitford said. "It was good to see Francis and Ryan come around. Truth be told, I never really worried about that very much. I was very confident the shooting would come back."
Ball State took a double-digit lead 11 minutes into the game and maintained it the rest of the way. Three-pointers from Kiapway and Moses (at the buzzer) in the final minute of the first half pushed the Cardinals' advantage to 43-26 at the break.
Kiapway, Weber and Teague combined to score the first 17 points of the second half, as Ball State stretched its lead to 60-26. A free throw from IU Kokomo's Durante Lee finally put an end to a 23-0 run over a span of 3:16 stretching back to the first half.
Ball State expanded its lead to as many as 46 behind the scoring of Teague and Weber, who combined for 27 second-half points.
Moses grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for a Ball State team that held a 46-29 advantage on the glass.
Beau Dedmond led IU Kokomo (2-7) with nine points, while Max Escamilla had a team-high five rebounds.
Ball State will continue its homestand Saturday when IUPUI visits for a 2 p.m. tipoff.
(Courtesy of BSU Athletics)
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