If there is one thing Ball State has become lately, it's streaky. And that didn't change Wednesday night.
The Cards defeated Western Michigan, 61-74, at Worthen Arena and sustained two streaks. The win marked the team's sixth-straight win overall and its fourth-straight win at home. On a player level, Theron Smith continued his double-double streak, marking his sixth in a row, with 10 rebounds and 13 points.
The streaks didn't continue, however, without a strong fight from Mid-American Conference West foe Western Michigan (9-9 overall, 2-5 MAC).
One streak Ball State broke Wednesday night was the "slow start" streak. Ball State (13-5, 6-1) jumped out to an eight-point lead just six minutes into the game.
"We just wanted to quit getting off to these sluggish first-half starts," said senior Petie Jackson, who finished with 12 points.
Western Michigan did not roll over, as Steve Reynolds, co-MAC West Player of the Week along with Jackson, nailed two three-point shots and a jumper in a matter of a couple of minutes to tie the score at 14-14.
From that point on, it was a back-and-forth battle between the Cards and Broncos - until Chris Williams took over with five minutes remaining in the first half.
Williams dropped 11 points on Western with three 3-pointers and a jump shot in a two-minute span.
"When he gets going, sometimes it gets demoralizing because he can hit a bunch in a row," head coach Tim Buckley said. "You can go from a deficit to taking the lead."
With the help of Williams, who finished the contest with a team-high 19 points, the Cardinals entered the locker room at the half ahead by eight points, 40-32.
The closest Western Michigan was able to get in the second half was within seven points of Ball State.
One key to Wednesday's game for Ball State was containing Reynolds. After his spurt of shots in the first half, tough defense presented the senior with some problems.
"He's a great player," Jackson said. "It took (Reynolds) 19 shots to get 20 points, so I think Matt McCollom, Theron Smith and Zach (Willingham) did a good job defending him.
"It was a collective effort; we really wanted to come out and guard tonight and I think we did a pretty good job of that."
Broncos head coach Robert McCullum explained that after Reynolds' shooting stretch - making 5-7 shots at one point in the first half - he expected Ball State's defense to make some changes.
"They weren't just going to stand around and give him the same looks," McCullum said. "We just can't come down every time and go to Steve, because when you do that, it disrupts your flow. For a while there I didn't think we had much flow."
One player McCullum was especially impressed with from Ball State's side of the court was senior center Lonnie Jones.
"Even if he doesn't block a single shot, he is still someone you have to talk about in your game preparation," McCullum said of Jones. "Just his presence - sometimes just a threat causes as much trouble as an actual blocked shot just because of the doubt it puts in the shooter's mind. He forces you to think twice before taking the ball to the basket."
Jones had four blocks on the night and finished with 10 points.
Stepping in for Jones on the defensive end of the court several times Wednesday night was senior Brian Burns. Burns finished with two points, but according to Buckley, the points aren't what impressed him.
"In my opinion, your defense is only as good as your big guys giving help," Buckley said. "Brian Burns gave tremendous help tonight on the defensive end. He rotated quickly and even rotated a couple of times to take some charges. When you have your big guys who rotate that quickly then you have an opportunity to be a good team.
"He gave us a big lift in that area."
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