Ball State basketball ends Hawaii trip with win against Portland on Christmas

Jordan Guskey
Muncie Star Press
FILE -- Ball State junior guard Ishmael El-Amin dribbles the ball during the Cardinals' game against Georgia Tech. BSU beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

Ball State wrapped up its December trip to Hawaii on Christmas against Portland with a 61-46 victory.

The Cardinals overcame a slow start shooting the ball to pull away in the second half. They frustrated their opponent throughout with a relentless defensive effort, rebounding from the loss against UTEP in more ways than one. They closed out non-conference play 7-6, the start of their Mid-American Conference marathon looming in the new year when coach James Whitford’s crew returns to action.

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Whitford said the trip back to Muncie will have a "night and day difference" now compared to what it would have been had BSU lost.

"It helps a lot because guys are human and as much as we talk about the process it helps to have some results bend in your direction to kind of reinforce the things that you're teaching," Whitford said. "It was great for us. We really scored the ball well the first two games. We didn't defend as well as we should have. Today we didn't score it as well as we could have, but our defense carried us."

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Cardinals overcome another slow start shooting

A jumper from junior guard Ishmael El-Amin and a 3 by freshman guard Luke Bumbalough started a second half for Ball State that would not resemble its shooting performance in the first half at all. While the Cardinals shot 23.3 percent from the field and 11.1 percent on 3s in the first half and just 33.9 percent from field and 27 percent on 3s by game’s end, led by El-Amin and Bumbalough they surged in the final 20 minutes.

Ball State needed just seven minutes and 33 seconds in the second half to score as many points as it did in the first half — 19 points. It watched El-Amin and Bumbalough combine to shoot 9-of-16 from the field and 7-of-12 on 3s in the second half to finish the contest leading their team with 18 and 14 points, respectively.

"It broke the game open a little bit," said Whitford, who'd later add Portland's defense packed the paint to the point it necessitated Ball State being able to hit perimeter shots. "There was a stretch — we were up 19-12 and we weren't hitting shots and I could see the frustration on the court and I thought we let it get to us a little bit. And that's part of the reason they caught up 19-19 at halftime. We needed a couple to go."

The pair made up for uncharacteristically poor shooting days from senior forward Kyle Mallers (1-of-7 on 3s), redshirt freshman guard/forward Kani Acree (0-of-6 on 3s) and redshirt senior forward Tahjai Teague (4-of-12 from the field). Mallers, who Whitford said played well on defense despite his struggles offensively, started after leaving the Cardinals’ previous game early with an ankle injury.

Ball State’s defense hounds Portland from start to finish

The Cardinals ability force turnovers and score off of them didn’t have as critical an effect as it may have had they not nearly turned the ball over as often and allowed close to as many points off of them. The Pilots scored 14 points off of 16 turnovers compared to the Cardinals’ 15 points off 18 turnovers. What Ball State did benefit from, though, was holding Portland to 35.8 percent shooting from the field and 11.8 percent shooting on 3s.

Portland junior forward Tahirou Diabate’s 12-point, 10-rebound, four-steal and two-block performance wasn’t enough to carry the Pilots. The Cardinals’ ability to close out effectively on perimeter shots, help well without allowing too many open looks and more frustrated Portland early and often.

Whitford praised redshirt senior guard Josh Thompson specifically.

"We really needed him today," Whitford said. "He had four assists, one turnover, two steals. He was rock-solid defensively. He was a huge part of the reason why we were able to carry it out the second half."

Ball State also rebounded from a game against UTEP in which it was out-rebounded 37-21 and out-played in second-chance points 18-2. The Cardinals led the Pilots 41-33 and 10-6, respectively, in those categories.

Up-and-down non-conference slate ends with win as MAC play draws near

There were lows during Ball State’s non-conference schedule and there were highs. There was Ball State losing back-to-back games at home against Western Illinois and Loyola-Chicago and later back-to-back games in Hawaii against Washington and UTEP. There was Ball State dispatching Indiana State in Indianapolis and Georgia Tech in Atlanta before closing out non-conference play with a win in Hawaii against Portland.

Now, Whitford, his staff and his players will have a little more than a week to rest, recover and prepare for the start of its MAC slate January 3, 2020 at Worthen Arena against Toledo. Whether issues such as slow offensive starts and streaky shooting or positives such as Teague’s strong play and stellar defensive efforts as a team will continue will play out then. More of things like the latter and less of things like the former will enable Ball State to move toward its goal of winning a conference title.

"We've had some brilliant moments, we've had some moments that haven't been what they want to be," Whitford said. "We're starting a freshman at the one. We're starting a freshman at the two. I guess I would tell you, I think we're in a pretty good place. I think we have a high ceiling for getting better because we are playing so many young guys and they're only going to get better with experience. Our good moments have been really good and we've got to strive to become more consistent, but I think we're capable of being a really hard team to deal with in the conference."

Jordan Guskey covers Ball State and East Central Indiana high schools at the Star Press. Contact him at (765) 213-5813, jmguskey@muncie.gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.