The Ball State men's basketball team shot a season-high 67 percent from the field in the second half to defeat Buffalo Saturday night in New York, 80-68. The win marks Ball State's fourth in a row and seventh in nine games.
Saturday's contest marked the sixth time this season the Cardinals have had four players in double digits in scoring. Every time the Cards have done such, they have won.
Saturday it was Cameron Echols who led the Cardinals with 22 points, followed by Chris Williams with 20 points. Robert Owens chipped in a career-high 19 while Matt McCollom rounded off the top four with 14 for Ball State.
McCollom's points did not come easily. The sophomore guard missed his first nine shots and was scoreless at halftime. Echols' points, however, came fairly easy as the junior finished the night shooting 11 of 14 from the field. For Williams, it was the second straight game the senior was 5 of 16 from the field and 10 of 12 on free throws.
Ball State's season-high field goal percentage in the second half came after one of the season's lowest field goal percentages, 28 percent, in the first half.
"We took rushed shots in the first half," Ball State coach Tim Buckley said. "In the second half, we did a better job of running the offense. We played poor defense tonight and it came down to us being able to outscore them. We were also able to convert their turnovers into points."
The Cardinals' win did not come without some competition. Buffalo took the lead just over two minutes into the second half. At that point, however, it was an Echols' jump shot that started a Ball State 18-7 run. Echols and Owens had eight apiece in the run, which allowed the Cardinals to forge ahead on their second road win of the season.
Michael Bennett and Mc-Collom grabbed six rebounds each. Bennett's total, a career-high, came entirely at the offensive end.
For Buffalo, it was Daniel Gilbert leading the Bulls with 14 points while Mario Jordan had 12 points and B.J. Walker added 11.
What hurt the Bulls the most was turnovers. The Cardinals ended the game with just seven turnovers while Buffalo lost possession 21 times.
Ball State's win marks the first time the Cardinals have been over .500 since facing Xavier on Dec. 20. Ball State will play Central Michigan on Wednesday in an attempt to make it five straight wins. The Cardinals now hold an overall record of 12-11 and a conference standing of 7-6 that slots the Cards in third place in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
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