by MUNCIE, Ind.- The Ball State Cardinals cruised to a 5-0 Mid American Conference start in their meeting with the Bulls from Buffalo on Wednesday, Jan. 14. The Cardinals dominated the Bulls in a 42-point win.
Ball State came into this game off their fourth straight MAC win against Toledo by a thrilling 72-68 final score. They held a 12-4 record leading into their matchup with Buffalo.
Buffalo entered this matchup with a 2-13 overall record and a 0-4 record in the Mid American. They came off seven straight losses entering their trip to Muncie.
Ball State defense got off to a hot start with creating transition opportunities and forcing turnovers. The Cardinals forced Buffalo to turn the ball over nine times in just the first quarter. Of those nine turnovers, Aniya Rowe for Buffalo accounted for seven of them.
The Cardinals ended up forcing a total of 22 turnovers, and they played a more clean offensive game than average. Ball State turned the ball over 12 times compared to their average of 18 turnovers per game.
Ball State center Tessa Towers talked about his team’s ability to turn defense into offense and the team’s playmaking ability.
“I would say in transition, we are at our best,” said Towers. “Those bust out moments to get quick layups and make the energy higher.”
Up to halftime, Ball State dominated the game in terms of time with the lead. The Cardinals lead for a total of 19 minutes and 10 seconds while Buffalo held a lead in early stages for a total of 29 seconds.
The Cardinals also were winning the rebounding battle 22-13 at the time even with the bench accounting for nine of those 21 rebounds. By halftime, Alba Caballero grabbed seven rebounds off the bench for the Cards.
Caballero ended the game with eight points and 11 rebounds for the Cardinals.
Coach Sallee talked about his bench players doing the little things right to help the team dominate.
“We needed Alba (Caballero) to play like that,” explained Sallee. “She’s a heck of a player. She’s been working and working, and you’re starting to see it.”
Ball State’s offense found everything they wanted throughout this game. They played an all-around dominating contest scoring 100 points for the third time this year and for the second time against a Mid American opponent.
Ball State shot 56% from the field by making 35 of their 63 attempted shots. The Cardinals shot 16% higher than Buffalo’s 40%. Ball State also passed over there season average in assists by dishing 22 assists compared to the Bull’s nine assists the entire game.
On top of dominating the offensive side of the ball, the Cards dominated the defensive side as well. Ball State won the rebound battle 44-29 with Alba Caballero grabbing 11 of those 44 total boards.
Ball State didn’t have a standout scorer against Buffalo, but they spread their scoring through their starters and bench players. Tessa Towers led in scoring with 16 points followed by Grace Kingery and Bree Salenbien with 14 points each. Aniss Tagayi added 13 points of her own to the scoring totals.
The bench played a big role in adding scoring to the Cardinal’s triple-digit scoring win. Alba Caballero and Ashlyn Brooke each had eight points, and Zhen Verburgt had seven to add. Ball State’s role players scored a total of 38 points opposed to Buffalo’s 11 points off the bench.
Coach Sallee talked about his team’s performance in terms of making things look easy against Buffalo.
“I thought we really prepared well in the last couple days,” said Sallee. “I’m not saying that I expected to come out and do what we did. We’re sharing the ball at a high level, and I think that’s the kicker for us. When we share it like that, we can put up a bunch of points in a hurry.”
Ball State won this game handily over the Bulls in a 103-61 win. The Cardinals reached triple digits in scoring for the third time this year in their efforts to repeat as MAC champions. They improve to a 13-4 record with their next meeting being at Western Michigan on Saturday, Jan.17.
