Aces fall to Ball State
MUNCIE, Ind. – Three days after scoring a career-best nine points at UT Arlington, Michael Day picked up his first double digit contest, scoring 13 on Saturday as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team fell to Ball State by a final score of 80-43 at Worthen Arena.
“We need to be better and will get better when we return from Christmas,” Purple Aces head coach David Ragland said. “It will be good to return to practice and turn things around.”
Coming off the bench, Day played just under 25 minutes and connected on five of his nine attempts while adding four boards, an assist and a block. Tanner Cuff added 11 points and a team-high 7 boards.
Ball State scored the opening 11 points of the game to take the early lead. Evansville missed its first 11 shots before Tanner Cuff got his squad on the board. He added a triple that made it a 16-5 BSU lead at the 12:39 mark. The Aces would not get any closer over the remainder of the period as the Cardinals took their largest lead of 20 points heading to intermission.
Michael Day had a solid half as he tallied seven points while banking in a 3-pointer. Cuff matched his seven tallies in the period. BSU had two players in double figures in the opening 20 minutes.
Hopes of a second-half rally were quickly erased as the Cardinals scored eight of the first nine points as they cruised to the 80-43 victory. Payton Sparks led the Cardinals with 20 points while three others reached double figures. BSU shot an even 50% on the day while holding UE to 29.1%. They also finished with a 42-33 tally on the glass.
UE returns to action on Dec. 29 as Missouri Valley Conference play continues with a 3 p.m. contest against Missouri State at the Ford Center.
