by The Ball State Cardinals went on the road to Louisville to take on the nationally ranked Cardinals.
Ball State came into this game after an 87-65 loss at the hands of the Davidson Wildcats. This is the second game of their road trip out of the three. Ball State held an 8-2 record prior to this matchup.
Louisville came into this one off a big win against New Hampshire with a 94-43 finish. Louisville entered this game with an 8-3 record.
Ball State didn’t shoot like they normally do in the first half. The Cardinals averaged 28.6% from beyond the arch before this game. They made their first 3-point basket in the third quarter after missing their first 10 attempts from outside.
Ball State head coach Brady Sallee talked about the shooting performance.
“I think the speed of the game increased,” explained Sallee. “They have size and length that they can challenge shots with probably took us out of our comfort zone.”
Louisville flipped the script against Ball State in terms of playing inside offensively and defensively. Ball State came into this game averaging about 50 total rebounds per game as a team. Bree Salenbien led the team in rebounding with 10 boards per game.
Louisville got to work on the offensive boards against Ball State. They finished with 15 offensive rebounds and 45 total rebounds compared to Ball State’s 36 total boards.
Louisville also scored in the paint well against the Cardinals from Muncie. Louisville scored 42 points in the paint and 17 second-chance points.
Coach Sallee talked about his team’s play in the paint in their matchup with Louisville.
“We fought,” said Sallee. “They beat us up on the boards, and that’s the first time that’s really happened to us. They’ve got the size that makes you think they could do that.”
Ball State nears the end of this 3-game road trip with a game against South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits hold a 9-3 record at this point in the season.
Brady Sallee spoke about how important that game is for the team before returning home.
“We look at all games critically,” said Sallee. “We don’t think any one is different from the next. There is still a lot of trying to find ourselves, and one of the great ways to do that is to play great teams.”
Ball State fell on the road to Louisville and falls to a 8-3 record. Meanwhile Louisville improves to 9-3 with their next meeting being with North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Ball State’s next meeting is on the road with South Dakota State as they look to avoid falling into a 3-game losing streak.
