FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- After squeaking by Jacksonville State Friday and falling to Weber State Saturday, Ball State could only finish the BP Top of the World Classic in third place.
The team was looking for more than a third-place finish, though. The Cardinals were simply searching for one game of solid play.
Sunday, they found it.
Ball State defeated Nebraska after an intense second half of play, 73-65 and secured a third-place finish.
"There is zero disappointment. I am very proud of our kids,' he said. "Our guys gave great effort for 40 minutes," Buckley said.
Ball State headed into the half trailing the Huskers 25-31 as the team was shooting 25 percent from the field.
"There were things we had to correct," Buckley said. "Our guys made great adjustments at the half. Nobody got their head down,"
"Even though some minutes changed and some assignments changed everybody pulled together. They listened to Chris (Williams) and Theron (Smith). And when things weren't going well for those two guys, they just focused on defense."
Williams finished as the games leading scorer for the third-straight game. Against Jacksonville State on Friday, the senior tallied 33 points. On Saturday, against Weber State he knocked in 23 points. In the Cards final game Sunday, the senior knocked in 27 points.
"He really just got away from us in the second half," Nebraska head coach Barry Collier said. "It was just a situation of Ball State taking advantage of some opportunities."
The final two games of the Top of the World Classic had not concluded prior to deadline. Providing no player scored more than 45 points in the final two games, Williams now holds the record for most points scored in the Top of the World Classic at 83. Trenton Hussell held the record at 74.
Buckley made some changes when it came to positions for the final game.
Mark Farris and Michael Bennett both started the game in replacement of Matt McCollom and Robert Owens who had started the first two games of the tournament.
Not only did McCollom not start, he didn't even play in the first half. However, he did play in the second half and nailed a three-point shot that started a come-from-behind-run for the Cardinals that eventually enabled Ball State to secure the win.
Following Williams offensively against Nebraska was Smith who finished with 13 points and Cameron Echols who tallied 12 points for the contest.
"Echols really did a nice job hitting some baseline jump shots over our defense," he said. "His shots helped them to draw close to us and eventually pull away."
Buckley said the third game win will help him rest easier.
"Obviously the trip back is going to be a little bit shorter," Buckley said with a smile after Sunday's game. "We thought we were going to find out a lot of things while we were here and we have," Buckley said. "We haven't arrived yet, and we haven't fallen off the map yet."
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