Toledo, Ohio -- Head coach Tim Buckley knew going into Saturday's matchup with Toledo that it would be a slug fest. After falling behind 6-0 to the Rockets, Ball State came out swinging. The Cardinals rallied with a 22-3 run lasting 12 minutes en route to a 68-59 win.
"You have to get a big lead so you can hang on for dear life," Buckley said. "These games are grinders. We knew this team wouldn't go away."
Leading the Cardinals (10-5 overall, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) throughout the game, as has become the norm for Ball State, was Theron Smith who posted his ninth double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Smith is averaging a double-double for the season at 18.7 points and 11.3 rebounds a game.
"We sometimes take 'T' for granted because he is Mr. double-double as of late," Buckley said. "He has just been really consistent this year."
Toledo head coach Stan Joplin also showed his appreciation for Smith saying, "He is a top player of the league, if not the best."
Also contributing to the score against Toledo was Petie Jackson and Chris Williams. The two teamed up for a combined 22 points -- 11 each. Neither Jackson nor Williams shot particularly well; Jackson went 3-9 from the field while Williams was 3-11.
Buckley rated Jackson's performance "MVP-like," not on the offensive side of the ball, but rather the defensive side when Jackson went up against last year's MAC Freshman of the Year, Terry Reynolds.
"Patrick Jackson did a tremendous job defensively on Terry Reynolds who is a guy who can really score," Buckley said. "We thought Patrick did a pretty good job on him last year. We felt like it would be a good matchup, and for a guy we rely on so much offensively, he really did a good job against a really good offensive player."
Jackson said he was fairly pleased with how well he matched up against Reynolds, who was the leading scorer for Toledo with 13 points.
"He is a pretty good guard," Jackson said of Reynolds. "He can really shoot it but I was just trying to keep him in front of me. He still played a pretty good game, but not as good as he could have played."
"Wins on the road in the MAC are always good," senior Brian Burns said. "It was a big game for us defensively. We played pretty good as a unit."
Burns was big factor for the Cardinals Saturday, coming off of the bench after center Lonnie Jones found himself in early foul trouble. Burns tallied a season-high eight points and had three steals.
"It felt good," he said. "(Toledo) is a place that's always hard to play. It just feels really good to be on top of the (MAC) West right now."
Buckley said the momentum will be nice for his team with the upcoming schedule. Ball State's next three games are all at home, beginning with conference leaders Bowling Green on Wednesday.
After playing the Cardinals Saturday, Joplin foresees Ball State as having a successful remaining conference season.
"Ball State is a very good basketball team," he said. "In our division they are probably playing the best right now."
The win marks Ball State's third-straight MAC win and drops Toledo (5-7, 2-1) to second in the MAC West behind the Cardinals.ff>QPRSUTRSTOSWWXZOPPLKCGLFANOMHJOQROTTSRSTVXWUTQ
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