Saturday MAC scoreboard
Buffalo - 83, Toledo - 67
Akron - 80, Central Michigan - 67
Eastern Michigan - 69, Western Michigan - 51
Kent State - 87, Ohio - 72
Miami (Ohio) - 65, Northern Illinois - 60
The Cardinals' last three games have told very similar, yet very different stories.
Against Western Michigan Feb. 8, 29 points from the Broncos' Brandon Johnson proved to be the difference in the final minutes of the game. Against Northern Illinois Tuesday, after the Huskies jumped back into the game, a late three from junior guard Ishmael El-Amin held off the comeback and secured a Ball State win.
In Saturday's matchup against Bowling Green (19-7, 10-3 MAC), it was a mix of both of the Cardinals' past two games. Being down by as many as 20 late in the second half, Ball State stormed back to pull within three points of the Falcons. However, Ball State Men's Basketball's (14-11, 7-5 MAC) defensive struggles throughout the game and a season-high 33 points from Bowling Green's Justin Turner would be too much, as the Falcons pulled away for a 77-71 win.
"Two stories of the game to me were Justin Turner, he's a great player, and we just didn't have an answer for him, and that we just gave up too many second-chance points," head coach James Whitford said. "We had too many moments where we were slow to the ball. We were shellshocked in moments of the game, and in those moments, we gave up too many points. The game wasn't lost in the final three minutes. It was lost in those moments where we were shellshocked out there. "
After losing their programs second all-time scorer, Dylan Frye, due to personal reasons, there was doubt the Falcons were going to remain a consistent force in the Mid-American Conference. Turner's performance showed Bowling Green can still hold its consistency at the top of the MAC, seeing the redshirt junior falling one point shy of his career high and picking up six rebounds and six assists along the way.
For Ball State, while it continues to look for consistency in team toughness and intensity, Whitford said there was no lack of effort in trying to limit Turner. The Cardinals just couldn't find a way to stop him.
"We tried a few different things," Whitford said. "We tried jumping his pick-and-rolls, plugging his pick-and-rolls, switch a couple pick-and-rolls. We tried everything except trapping him the entire time. We tried a lot of different things on him, and it wasn't a lack of effort. We were really trying."
Along with Turner's efforts, the Cardinals struggled to keep up on the boards on both ends of the court. Bowling Green outrebounded Ball State 44-36, picking up 13 rebounds on the offensive end. The Falcons also picked up 15 second-chance points to the Cardinals' six.
While Bowling Green had the lead for 63 percent of the game, Ball State managed to turn it on in the final minutes to pull within one possession. This is the third straight game in which the Cardinals have had a race to the finish. In the overall season, when games have come down to the wire, decided by 10 points or less, Ball State is 4-8.
"We just got to do a better job of staying intense during the game and staying in it," El-Amin said. "We need to make sure we're not taking ourselves out of it. We had a slow start to the second half, and we can't have that. We had to dig ourselves out of a hole, which we did, but we can't have that."
That consistent intensity has been a focus for the team, specifically on defense. After nearly matching the Falcons on the boards and holding the lead for the majority of the first half, the Cardinals slumped on defense in the second half. Bowling Green had twice as many offensive rebounds in the second half than Ball State and capitalized on second-chance opportunities.
"In the second half, we didn't have the same intensity as we did on defense as we usually do," redshirt freshman guard Jarron Coleman said. "We weren't finishing possessions like we do, and we just got to do better in competing on the glass."
In the finish, the Cardinals were led by redshirt senior forward Tahjai Teague, who had 21 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four blocks. Coleman followed with 17 points and nine rebounds, and El-Amin rounded out in double figures with 16 points.
In their final stretch, the Cardinals will continue to battle some of the top teams in the MAC, taking on Buffalo on the road Tuesday before taking on Eastern Michigan at home next Saturday. In its final week, Ball State will face both Central Michigan and Northern Illinois.
Whitford said the basketball season is a grind for every team in the country. In order to get his to stick out amongst everyone, he believes his squad needs to focus on its defense to find success.
"We have to play through our defense," Whitford said. "If you ask us what's going to make us the best we can be, we're elite defensively. I think that's always what I'll look at to see whether or not where we're supposed to be."
Contact Jack Williams with comments at jgwilliams@bsu.edu or on Twitter @jackgwilliams.
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