TOLEDO, Ohio -- Ball State set a school record Wednesday night.
However, it might be the worst school record to set.
The 100-64 loss to Toledo marked the largest margin of defeat for Ball State (13-15 overall, 8-9 Mid-American Conference) in school history when playing in a conference game. The record prior to Wednesday came in the 1976-77 season against Miami, when the Cardinals lost by 33 points.
"For some reason we aren't coming to play," Ball State coach Tim Buckley said. "When you don't come to play, the other team comes to play, you get beat and you get beat good.
"They beat us in every facet of the game. They out-toughed us, they out-hustled us, they out-executed us, they out-defended us," Buckley said.
The true key to Toledo's success Wednesday was no secret by the game's end.-รก
Senior guard Nick Moore finished with a career and game-high 39 points after shooting nearly perfect for the night. Moore finished 14 of 16 from the field, 6 of 7 from 3-point land and a perfect 4 for 4 from the free throw line. Moore exploded for the most successful night of his four years on his final game in Savage Hall.
"It's feels great," Moore said. "Every senior wants to finish like this. That's the best we've shot the ball for a long time. We did a good job of taking care of the ball. I couldn't have asked for a better way to go out."
Ball State senior, Chris Williams said that some of Toledo's first half enthusiasm came from it being the final home game and senior night for the Rockets (6-11, 12-15).
"It was their senior night," Williams said. "As a team, we had to know they were going to come out and play. Our defense was horrible. We got beat to every loose ball. They just dominated us."
"It was (Moore's) last game at home," Williams said. "He just wanted it more."
In the end, Buckley refused to accept senior night as an excuse.
"Senior night is not an excuse for us not to play well," Buckley said. "(Moore) got open shots, we didn't defend it the way we worked on defending it and when he gets open looks he's a great player and he's going to hit those shots."
Toledo's other senior, Milo Kirsh finished with 11 points.
Ball State wasn't the only team to force statisticians to thumb through the record books Wednesday night.
Toledo had its most successful first half since the 1999 season against Buffalo. Wednesday night Ball State allowed the Rockets 57 points in the first 20 minutes.
On the other side of the ball was a struggling BSU team that allowed the Rockets to shoot 61 percent from the field for the first half.
Heading into Wednesday's game, Ball State was ranked No. 1 in the MAC in 3-point defense. That did not seem to be the case against Toledo's perimeter shooting.
"We didn't execute what we worked on in practice all week," Williams said. "We were supposed to show them ball screens and we didn't. No one helped anybody and they had open looks all night. We had the game plan to win, but as players we just didn't produce."
Buckley said that his team had been working on the fundamentals but lacked the effort to execute what had been practiced.
"It was a very big problem," Buckley said. "We didn't challenge their shots. We didn't compete from the opening tip, and the game was over at the opening tip."
Toledo finished the contest hitting 13-of-19 3-point shots, a clip of 68 percent.
"Needless to say, you are a pretty good team when you shoot the ball well," Toledo coach Stan Joplin said. "This is the best we have shot the ball since the Michigan State game. I think we just kept putting pressure on them and our shots just kept falling.
"We were just being aggressive and shots were falling. That just gave our guys some confidence. I don't think we did anything out of the ordinary."
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