Ball State Explodes Past Howard From Long Range
Photos by: Rex and Brett Crabtree
Story by: Ball State Staff
Kyle Mallers already had seven 3-pointers Saturday when he got a good look from beyond the arc on Ball State’s first possession of the second half.
Photo by: Rex Crabtree, Excel Sports Publications
He only needed one more to tie the school record. But his teammate Josh Thompson was down in the corner for a better look, so Mallers dished it to him. And Thompson canned it.
“If they would have closed out on me, I would have kicked it right back,” Thompson said.
That’s the kind of day it was for the Cardinals in a 100-69 victory over Howard. Sharing and burying against Howard’s 2-3 zone.
Thompson racked up plenty of assists himself. Ten of them to be exact, including nine in the first half, to go with zero turnovers. And Mallers eventually tied that school record with eight 3’s on his way to a game- and career-high 24 points.
Ball State (4-2) drained a school-record 21 treys, three more than the previous mark set in a 2016 rout of Eastern Michigan, and the Cardinals registered assists on 30 of their 36 made baskets against the Bison (0-7).
Freshman Luke Bumbalough racked up six of those 3’s for 18 points and had four of the assists. He had the distinction of hitting the record-breaking 3 with just under 5 minutes to play, shortly after fellow rookie Lucas Kroft had tied it.
Photo by: Rex Crabtree, Excel Sports Publications
“I thought our guys really played unselfish,” Ball State head coach James Whitford said. “I thought we really took good shots tonight against their zone. The ball was moving by the pass. It was going inside, outside. There were a lot of times a guy could have shot, and he waited and found a teammate for a better one.”
Mallers hit the first four 3’s he took and finished 8-of-10 from beyond the arc. He exited the blowout victory early, having matched the BSU single-game mark set by Dennis Trammell against Marshall in 2005. Ishmael El-Amin, who scored 15 points, hit three early ones from deep, as well. It was that duo that was hot from the get-go.
Photo by: Rex Crabtree, Excel Sports Publications
Ball State came in with really strange outside shooting numbers through five games. The Cardinals were hitting just 12 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, a number that would rank last in the country if projected over a full game. In the second half, though, their 49 percent mark would have ranked second nationally.
BSU had made only seven first-half 3’s this season coming in. Mallers made that many alone in the first half Saturday, and the Cardinals connected on 13-of-20 as a team. They finished the day 21-for-37 for 57 percent.
“We kind of just took what the defense gave us,” Mallers said. “They were in that kind of soft zone, so we got more open looks.”
When the Cardinals weren’t shooting 3’s, they were breaking down the zone and getting buckets at the rim. Tahjai Teague (11 points) and Brachen Hazen (10) did most of that damage, combining to go 9-for-9 from the floor.
Photo by: Rex Crabtree, Excel Sports Publications
If there was an area Whitford was not as ecstatic about, it was the defensive end. Howard shot 50 percent in the first half, and leading scorer Charles Williams reached his average with 18 points. The Bison were only the second BSU opponent to top 60 points this year.
Ball State will continue its five-game homestand Tuesday, hosting Western Illinois for its only game of the week. Tipoff is at 6 p.m., an hour earlier than typical, on ESPN3. The Leathernecks are coached by former BSU assistant Billy Wright.
Ball State Women come f om behind in fourth quarter to beat Butler 74 to 70.
The Cardinal outscored the Bulldogs 25 to 11 in the decisive quarter.
Blake Smith to the charity stripe as Jasmin Samz watches
Photo by: Brett Crabtree, Excel Sports Publications
Oshlynn Brown and team crash boards with Bulldogs
Photo by: Brett Crabtree, Excel Sports Publications
Photo by: Brett Crabtree, Excel Sports Publications
Head Coach Brady Sallee looks on
Photo by: Brett Crabtree, Excel Sports Publications
Ball State, now 3 and 2 was led by Jasmin Samz 16, Thelma DisAgustsdottia’s 11 with both Estel Puiggros and Oshlynn Brown’s 10. Brown led Ball State with 11 boards.
Butler, now 4 and 1 was led by Kristen Spolyar’s 23 and Genesis Parker’s 22.
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