OXFORD, Ohio – For much of the season, Ball State players speculated about what would happen if Jesse Berry and Jauwan Scaife were both hitting in the same game.
A better question might have been why limit that production to the guard duo?
Berry, Scaife and junior forwards Majok Majok and Chris Bond all scored in double figures as Ball State (8-10, 2-4 MAC) ran away from Miami (7-11, 2-4 MAC) in the second half of Saturday’s game to win 82-62.
“I think this is the first time we all clicked together—me, [Jauwan], Majok and CB,” Berry said. “If that continues to happen, we’ll be pretty tough to beat.”
Until Saturday it hadn’t happened, and Ball State was on a four-game losing streak in Mid-American Conference play.
What unleashed the Cardinals full offensive arsenal was the team’s ability to get out in transition.
Coach Billy Taylor said he preaches the need to get easy points on the break every day in practice, but it was about finding a way to create those opportunities.
“In terms of the transition, it was about us rebounding,” Taylor said. “We could get out and run and we didn’t have to take the ball out of the net as much today. Some games we do it for stretches and then forget, but guys stayed dialed in and we kept rebounding the ball.”
Ball State outrebounded Miami 37-17 in the game, limiting any chance for the Redhawks to extend possessions.
Majok, Bond and Kamieniecki were so physically dominant on the glass—a combined 22 rebounds—that a quick outlet pass was all Ball State needed to push the tempo play after play.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been a part of a 17-rebound performance in 20 years of coaching,” coach John Cooper said. “They played extremely well and they were really just much better than us in every facet of the game.”
The first facet that got the Cardinals going was their shooting touch, especially from deep.
Berry hit four of his six 3-pointers in the first half to give Ball State a 34-29 lead after 20 minutes of action. He finished with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
After failing to reach double-digits in scoring over the past five games, Berry said a good day of shooting at practice on Friday carried over.
The Lafayette, Ind. native’s hot shooting rubbed off on the whole team Saturday.
Bond finished with 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added seven rebounds. Scaife scored 14 points and dished out seven assists.
The biggest beneficiary, however, might have been Majok.
The junior college transfer said the Cardinals’ 57.7 (30-of-52) shooting percentage for the game made everything easier for him.
“They were making shots early so that freed me up to go one-on-one inside and exploit the matchups,” Majok said. “I just tried to make a quick move before they sent another guy over there,”
Majok finished with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting for his fifth consecutive game in double figures. He grabbed eight rebounds to add to his league-leading total as well.
“He’s definitely a force on the boards,” Quinten Rollins said. “Not just in the MAC—he’s a top rebounder in the country. We just couldn’t get a body on him.”
Taylor said his bigs used their physicality to secure position and pursue the basketball all game long.
The edge inside wore down the Redhawks late in the game.
Ball State led 53-50 with 9:09 remaining when Miami started forcing shots. The Cardinals seemingly turned every miss into a fast break.
“It’s big on the road to find a way to get easy points,” Taylor said. “We knew we were going to have to continue to score because Miami plays such a fast tempo and puts pressure on you to keep scoring the basketball.”
Over the final nine-plus minutes, Ball State went on a 29-12 run to close out the game.
It was arguably Ball State’s best performance of the season, but ironic based on the opponent.
Saturday’s win marked the first time the Cardinals have beaten a MAC East Division opponent since the 2011 MAC Tournament.
“We only see these teams once unless it’s in the tournament,” Berry said. “Getting a couple wins on the East will help us out. We want to be one of those bye spots, so those games count [big] for us.”
