View a photo gallery from the game.
Throughout the first half against NAIA opponent Calumet College, Ball State struggled to get any momentum going. A put-back at the first half buzzer by redshirt sophomore forward Tyler Koch gave the team the momentum it needed in route to a 74-39 win.
The put-back, which came off a missed 3-point attempt by senior guard Randy Davis, helped the Cardinals put together a 24-3 run to open the second half.
The offensive explosion proved to be enough as Ball State (2-2) routed Calumet in front of 3,055 fans in Worthen Arena.
"We wanted to take it to double digits by half time," coach Billy Taylor said. "Tyler's tip got us right at double digits. We had the ball coming out of halftime so it was a pretty big swing in momentum."
The Cardinals had a 10-point lead at the end of the first half. Although the team had led most of the half, it was never able to pull away.
Taylor said it was important for the Cardinals to get a fast start in the second half.
"Instead of it being an eight-point game, with us getting that tip-in and a basket right away to push it to 12 [in the second half], we really never looked back from there," he said.
Senior forward Jarrod Jones recorded his 22nd career double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Koch scored a career-high 14 points along with three blocks.
Koch is still recovering from the hip surgery he underwent over the summer.
"Slowly but surely, I'm getting my feet under me a little bit," Koch said. "My body is healing up somewhat and overall it's improving."
Along with his tip-in at halftime, Koch hit three 3-pointers for the Cardinals to make any comeback by the Crimson Wave nearly impossible.
Sophomore guard Jesse Berry added 12 points and Davis, who had an injury scare in the second half but returned, had five points and seven assists.
Calumet was led by Roddy Richardson with eight points. Richardson was a former high school teammate of Berry's at Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Ind.
With the season still young, Jones is confident the team will continue to improve on playing the full 40 minutes of the game.
"We're still trying to find ourselves with the different lineups and different groups getting to play with each other on the court," Jones said. "It's a learning experience for us now, but we will get to the 40 minutes."
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