COLUMBIA S.C - After the first half of play between Ball State and South Carolina in the third round of the National Invitation Tournament, a fan could be heard in the crowd, simply saying in conversation, "We are going to New York."
In the Frank McGuire Arena, there was little doubt in anyone's mind that his line of thinking was correct. South Carolina pummeled Ball State, 82-47.
After possibly one of the worst offensive first-half performances of the season, Ball State fell to South Carolina.
By the 13-minute mark in the first half, USC had amassed a 21-4 lead. Ball State had committed seven turnovers in that time.
Ball State shot 5-27 in the first half and USC shot 20-37 from the field. Ball State trailed 48-12 going into the locker room at the half.
"We aren't making any excuses, South Carolina is an excellent basketball team," head coach Tim Buckley said. "They took it to us from the opening tip and we weren't able to recover."
In the first half Ball State's most productive player offensively was Lonnie Jones, as the seven footer shot 2-4 from the field. With such a large deficit after the first half, there was nearly nothing Ball State could do to fight back.
Even with some aggressive offensive play from both Petie Jackson and Theron Smith in the early minutes of the second half, Ball State was unable to overcome South Carolina's lead.
Buckley said at halftime the Cardinals knew there was a lot of basketball left and he did not think his team was out of it until midway through the second half.
"I am really proud with the way they came back in the second half," Buckley said.
Ball State had one of its best three-point shooting nights of the year against Louisiana State University on Tuesday. Against South Carolina Thursday, the Cards' first three-point shot came with 10:05 remaining in the contest as Smith hit a shot from the left side. Smith finished shooting 4-13 from the field.
"I just felt like he didn't have his balance and that he needed to take it up strong because South Carolina brought the shot blockers," Buckley said. "They did a really good job of pressuring our shooters, but I thought there were a couple that could have gone down."
The Cardinals end the season with a 23-12 record, the largest number of wins since the 1992-93 season. South Carolina will advance to Madison Square Garden in New York to play Syracuse in the NIT Final Four.
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