Ball State’s upset of Buffalo Thursday night sent a crowd of 3,072 home happy.
The Cardinals downed the Bulls 71-68. Buffalo entered the game with a 9-6 record, and was predicted to finish second in the MAC East in preseason polls.
It also had the Preseason MAC Player of the Year, Javon McCrea, occupying its post.
“We all know Buffalo is a really good team in the conference,” Ball State head coach James Whitford said. “We can compete with good teams when we do things well.”
Senior guard Jesse Berry came off the bench to pace the 4-12 Cardinals with 21 points. He shot 50 percent from three-point distance and connected on all 10 of his free throws.
“Personally it gives me confidence.” Berry said. “I think we definitely needed this win. Its shows that when we play good basketball we play together –we can beat anybody we just gotta stick together.”
Ball State’s leading scorer Zavier Turner was held scoreless for the first time this season as he shot 0-for-5 from the field. The 5-foot-9 freshman had three assists and no turnovers as he appeared to be fully comfortable running the offense for 32 minutes.
Franko House was a key component in the win for Ball State finishing with 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting and pulled down six rebounds.
Chris Bond helped out a lot as he completed a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds. Majok Majok scored 12 points and pulled down five rebounds.
“I couldn’t be more pleased, the students were awesome,” Whitford said. “They’re getting into the game, they’re getting on the officials which I like—they were awesome.”
The Cardinals improved in key aspects of the game that had ailed them all season. They committed 14 turnovers, they pulled down 35 rebounds and they committed a season-low eight points off turnovers.
“I was really happy for our guys,” Whitford said. “College basketball is a grind; our guys have worked really hard all season.”
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