With Ball State having suffered its first loss of the season atWright State Saturday, Anderson coach Denny Lehnus said he felt histeam was "kind of like raw meat (thrown) to the lions" bychallenging the Cardinals in Worthen Arena Wednesday.
Ball State took some time but eventually got some good bites inand disposed of the Division III Ravens, 83-48.
Despite the lopsided margin, BSU head coach Tim Buckley said hewasn't pleased with how long it took his team to get rolling.
"I thought we bounced back (from the loss) for 16 minutes in thesecond half," he said. "I would assume our focus wasn't very good.I think that was reflective in our (16-of-27) free-throwshooting.
"I think we weren't intense defensively for extended periods oftime, and we've got to do a better job of that, like we did in ourtwo early-season games against Xavier and Butler," he said.
A pair of scoring runs, one in each half, separated Ball State(3-1) from the visitors.
Anderson hung with the Cards for the game's first nine minutes,taking its final lead at 17-16 when Ian Lafferty buried a 3-pointerfrom the right corner.
But senior forward Robert Owens quickly responded with abaseline jump shot, beginning a 13-0 run.
Owens added a trey of his own; freshman Peyton Stovall drove themiddle for a layup; Michael Bennett hit a pair of free throws, andMatt McCollom got a putback as Ball State built a 29-17 advantageat the 6:48 mark.
The margin reached 42-28 at halftime.
In the second half, a pair of threes from freshman Darren Yatesfueled a 10-0 spurt that put the Cardinals up 63-37 and in controlwith 9:44 to play.
Buckley said he felt the defensive intensity was "far better"from that second spurt on.
"I think it created offense for us," he said. "I think theyfinally came together as a group and played good team defense."
Lehnus said Ball State is the quickest and most physical teamAnderson will play this year.
"In those spurts, if I remember right, they beat us to everyloose ball," he said. "Everything that didn't go in, they got toit, and I think you have to give them credit for that.
"We won't play another game that physical in the next fiveyears, and yet, I don't think Ball State's an exceptionallyphysical team, but we're not exactly a bunch of big folks, so we'vegot to get away with blocking some people out. I thought thephysical aspect hurt us, and their quickness."
Anderson also had shooting and ball-handling problems againstthe Cards' defense. The Ravens shot just 34 percent and committed25 turnovers.
Ball State turned those miscues into 32 points. The Cardinalsshot 53.4 percent (31 of 58) and outrebounded the Ravens 43-30,including 15 offensive boards.
Forwards Terrance Chapman and Cameron Echols both hadseason-best performances. They generally outmuscled the smallerRavens. Chapman scored a team-high 13 points and grabbed ninerebounds, while Echols notched 12 points and 10 boards, six ofwhich came on the offensive end.
"Basically it just started on the defensive end, and it camedown to the offensive end," Echols said. "Every time we took shots,we had to crash the offensive boards and get putbacks because theywere too little to box us out."
"Coach has been preaching to the team about getting the ballinside," Chapman added. "We had to come back strong againstAnderson after the letdown at Wright State."
Stovall scored a career-high 10 points, while McCollom, Owensand Yates added nine apiece. Backup point guard Jesse McClung didnot score but dished out seven assists, including a first-halfalley-oop pass to Owens, who skyed for a one-handed dunk.
"I thought we did a good job of sharing the basketball, and wehad good balance," Buckley said. "I thought we bounced back in themiddle of a game, which is what you have to do. But if you're goingto compete with the highest level of teams, you have to get out toa great start, and you have to sustain it for longer periods oftime.
"We've got to get our defensive intensity back. It has to be ata peak level all the time if we're going to be a good basketballteam. That's kind of what we have to hang our hat on."
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