Cardinals on target in win over Bradley

MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State Cardinals put five scorers in double figures Tuesday on the way to an 80-63 victory over Bradley at Worthen Arena.

A hot-shooting Cardinals team had its best shooting night of the young season at 58 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range. BSU never trailed.

Sophomore center Trey Moses . . .

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. . . led the team with a career-high 17 points and came within one rebound of a second straight double-double.  Tayler Persons scored 15 points, while Sean Sellers had 14, Ryan Weber 13 and Tahjai Teague 11.

It was a strong bounce-back performance for Ball State (5-4), which was disappointed with its second-half performance in Saturday's loss to IUPUI.

"It feels good," Ball State coach James Whitford said. "We haven't really left a game feeling like we've played well in a while. It was a good feeling in the locker room. I thought we played the game the right way and defended well. It feels good to have one where we kind of had control the whole game."

Sellers scored 11 of his points and knocked down three of his four 3-pointers in the first half to help Ball State build a 34-23 lead at the break. The Cardinals held Bradley to 8 for 22 shooting over the opening 20 minutes.

The Braves (4-5) picked up their offense in the second half, but so did Ball State. The Cardinals made 15 of 25 shots (60 percent) after halftime, with Moses and Weber each scoring 11. 

Moses, who entered the night with the second-best field goal percentage in the Mid-American Conference, finished 5 of 9 from the floor and 7 of 8 from the free throw line. He is averaging a double-double over the past six games.

"He's really better in every category (than last year)," Whitford said. "He's a better low-post scorer; he's more experienced; he's more athletic. He's really developing well, and you forget he just turned 19. He's still just scratching the surface of who he can be. I thought he, Tahjai and Franko were all terrific tonight."

Bradley pulled within seven (49-42) with 11:34 remaining, but the Cardinals responded with a 10-1 run to take a 59-43 lead with 8:35 left. Ball State built its largest cushion at 71-51 just under the 5-minute mark after back-to-back 3-point baskets from Weber.

The Cardinals looked like a much looser team Tuesday, playing with a high energy level.

"Our enthusiasm, camaraderie and chemistry were better today, and that's a good lesson for us," Whitford said. "But it's a long season. It can't be one game and then it goes away. We have to stay committed to that part of the game."

Darrell Brown, Luuk van Bree and Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye led Bradley with nine points each. The Braves finished the night shooting 43 percent.

Ball State will continue its six-game homestand Saturday when it hosts Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m. 

(Courtesy of BSU Athletics)