DAYTON, Ohio — Ball State University knew it had to slow down the offensive attack of the University of Dayton's long, lengthy, quick and talented lineup Tuesday night.
The Cardinals were mostly successful in their attempts, holding the Flyers to just 23 made field goals.
But somewhere in their defensive focus, Ball State might've forgotten how to execute on its own end offensively, as the Cardinals lost 59-35 to the Flyers in front of 13,167 fans at UD Arena.
Ball State's 35-point output is the program's lowest since its 1946-47 season-opening 80-31 loss to the University of Notre Dame.
Cardinals' coach Billy Taylor said the aggressive pressure by Dayton — who received votes in this week's Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN top-25 polls — was too much to handle.
"I give credit to Dayton — they keep heavy pressure on the basketball on the point guards, they really pressure the wings and have a lot of long, lengthy defenders," Taylor said. "They certainly played like a team that's a top-25 team, and they have been and they probably will get back to that level."
Ball State (6-6) converted just 12-of-43 shots (28 percent) from the field against Dayton, and was never able to get into a groove in the post, which has been the Cardinals' strength this season.
Ball State scored just 14 points in the painted area as Dayton was able to bully the Cardinals' frontcourt by blocking six shot attempts.
The Flyers also controlled Ball State's leading scorer, sophomore center Jarrod Jones. Jones scored just three points on 1-of-8 shooting — well-below his 15.1 points-per-game average, and ending his streak of three straight double-doubles.
"In order to get the ball inside, you have to have good screening and good cutting," Taylor said. "I thought our screening and cutting wasn't great, so that forced our offense a lot further out."
Senior forward Terrence Watson scored a team-high eight points for Ball State. He said the Flyers' physicality and swarming abilities really limited the Cardinals' offense.
"It was a very physical game," Watson said. "Sometimes you just have nights like that where shots aren't falling, free throws aren't going in. You've just got to stick together as teammates. It's time to come together as one."
Ball State moves to 6-6 and begins Mid-American Conference play on Saturday at home against Northern Illinois University.
"It's zero-zero again. We're 6-6 and .500 — not where we wanted to be, but we have to forget all about that," Watson said. "We've played some tough teams to get us ready for MAC play, so now that's what we're focused on."
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