Game statistics
Franko House: 23 points
Tayler Persons: 21 points
Ball State field goal percentage: 51.7%
Ball State three-point percentage: 56.5%
Ball State men's basketball started regular season play against Saint Louis University making 5 of their first 6 shots from beyond the arc in an 85-64 victory.
“We had a lot of unselfish play tonight,” head coach James Whitford said. “There were plays where a guy could have taken a good shot but they passed one more over for the better shot.”
Ball State had seven different players connect from 3-point land and the team had 21 assists.
Senior forward Franko House went 4-4 from beyond the arc, making more threes in game one than he did all of last season.
“Franko has invested an incredible amount of time working on his shot,” Whitford said. “When you have a game like this, well it isn’t magical, it is a culmination of a great amount of work over a long period of time.”
Ball State rotated in nine different players, and Whitford relied on the experience of his team to play different lineups.
“We played big sometimes and we played small sometimes,” Whitford said. “Everyone that played gave us a lift we needed to win.”
Saint Louis made just 21 of its 59 field goal attempts, but scored 26 points in the paint.
The Billikens went to the free throw line 28 times, only connecting on 18 of those opportunities.
“They drove the ball to the rim to successfully,” Whitford said. “They got the line a lot because they kept taking the ball to the rim.”
Whitford said they felt they were the better team coming in, but the Cardinals had to execute.
“We play a good sound game and shot the ball well,” Whitford said. “We kept our defense intact and gave up very little in transition and that really stood out for us.”
Ball State's next game will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 against Indiana State in Worthen Arena.
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