Ball State Team Statistics
Field goal percentage - 47.9
3-point percentage - 30.0
Free-throw percentage - 80.0
Rebounds - 23
Assists - 11
Turnovers - 14
Northern Illinois shot 70 percent in the second half, ultimately pulling away from Ball State 75-63 to hand the Cardinals their ninth straight loss.
“When [the Huskies] shoot the ball the way they shot tonight, it makes [them] really hard to beat,” head coach James Whitford said. “We didn’t shoot the ball great tonight for us because we’re a pretty good shooting team.”
The Cardinals controlled the flow of the game early on, holding the lead for most of the first half.
Junior Jeremiah Davis initiated the offense early for the Cardinals. In his most efficient game to date, Davis scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half shooting 5-5 in the first 20 minutes.
The Huskies came back after the first media timeout and completed a four-point play to bring them within one at 13-12.
Ball State answered back with a 3-pointer from freshman Sean Sellers and a Franko House layup to take the lead 23-19. Sellers finished with nine points, while House added 10 points and seven boards.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Huskies closed the half on an 8-0 run to go into halftime with a 35-33 lead.
The Cardinals finished the half shooting 54.2 percent from the field and a 47.9 percentage overall.
The second half was not in the Cardinals' favor, as they committed three turnovers in the first two minutes to give the Huskies a seven-point lead.
Baskets by freshman Francis Kiapway and junior Bo Calhoun cut the lead to two with under 15 minutes remaining.
With senior Matt Kamieniecki being out, Calhoun tied Davis for a team-high 13 points.
Following a 3-pointer by junior Rocco Belcaster to put the Cardinals up 48-46, the Huskies responded with an 18-5 run to take a commanding lead with nine minutes left.
“What’s been a big issue for us is giving up big runs,” Whitford said.
With three minutes to go, Davis scored his first basket of the second half to trim the Cardinals' deficit to 67-63.
However, a 3-pointer from Northern Illinois' Trevon Baker gave the Huskies a 10-point advantage to secure the win.
The Huskies shot 53.8 percent from behind the arc, compared to the Cardinals' 30 percent.
“I thought our guys played pretty well, I thought Northern Illinois' players played pretty well," Whitford said. “But it was our inability to get stops down the stretch that cost us the game."
The Cardinals return to action at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, taking on Bowling Green at Worthen Arena.
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