Malachi Smith looking for one of his 10 assists. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
It took Ball State 12 minutes to score its first basket and the University of Dayton Flyers constructed a 20-point lead in the first half, but the Cardinals adjusted at halftime and crept to within five points midway through the second half before Enoch Cheeks, Malachi Smith and Isaac Jack took over and led UD to its third straight victory, 76-69.
Hall of famer Hal McCoy writes UD Flyer basketball exclusively for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Dayton, OH. — The game was less than two minutes old and it looked as if Ball State’s basketball team was finished, frightened and intimidated.
After all, a guy wearing a black face mask who looked like Hannibal Lecter threw down two slam dunks in the first 85 seconds and the University of Dayton was off and running.
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That man was Zed Key and he perpetrated four slam dunks on Ball State in the first half, wearing that scary mask to protect a broken nose from last summer.
Ball State’s players feared Lecter/Key would break a few of their noses.
This was going to be no ball for Ball State, a 92-mile bus ride from Muncie, IN., to be defrocked and demeaned in UD Arena.
And it looked even worse when Ball State couldn’t throw the ball into the Great Miami River if the Cardinals were standing on the Stewart Street bridge.
Zed Key looking like Hannibal Lecter on a slam dunk.
They missed their first 12 shots and didn’t have a basket until eight minutes were left in the half. And that basket was a goal-tending call. The first legitimate basket came with seven minutes left in the half and Ball State was down by 18.
And that lead in the first half stretched to 20 before Ball State put on a mini-run to cut it to 15 at intermission.
So how was it that the final score was Dayton 76, Ball State 69. . .and the Cardinals were within five midway through the second half.
UD coach Anthony Grant was not surprised.
“Basketball is always going to be a 40-minute game,” he said. “The lesson for our guys today, and we talked about it at the half, being up 20 late in the half, we needed to get the momentum going in the second half.
“We told them, ‘They’re gonna make a run,’” said Grant. “We have to be able to answer their runs and that’s the way the game went. They made their run, cut it to six or eight, and to our guys’ credit we responded by getting stops and getting out and making plays.”
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Ball State’s momentum was led by 6-5 junior guard Jermahri Hill, a mutli-talented player the Flyers couldn’t stop. Hill scored 25, 14 in the second half.
“Momentum is a funny thing and they were comfortable in the second half,” said Grant.
The main men to kill Ball State’s momentum were Isaac Jack, Malachi Smith and Enoch Cheeks.
Isaac Jack led late large charge with 11 points.
Jack, a 6-11 sophomore transfer from Buffalo, missed UD’s first two games with a lower body injury. He entered the game when Ball State crept to within 57-50 with nine minutes left.
With Jack scoring seven points, the Flyers went on a 15-8 burst to grab a 72-58 lead that made Ball State’s late uprising more challenging.
Jack was a regular at Buffalo but is an off-the-bench player for the Flyers.
“Isaac understands his role, accepted it, embraced it,” said Grant. “That’s the mark of a really great teammate. Believe in your role. Embrace it and stsr in it. Isaac checks all the boxes and he has since day one when he stepped on campus.
“With his siza and physicality Isaac is a valuable piece for what we do,” Grant added.
Isaac entered the game because Key encountered foul trouble and Grant said, “He has been in the program and he knows what these type of situations call for. He was the beneficiary of some of the guards making plays for him.”
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Jack was five-for-five from the field, mostly scoring around the rim on dish-offs from Smith. Jack scored 11 points in 14 minutes.
Of his first game back, Jack said, “I’ve always had a good bond with Malachi Smith. I trust him and I think he trusts me. I didn’t have any special instructions when they sent me in.
Enoch Cheeks set a UD career high with 23 points and made it a double-double with 12 rebounds.
“I just do what I can, play as hard as I can. . .and that’s what I did and it happened to work,” Jack added. Of his status as a role/bench player, Jack said, “I just have to stay ready because I don’t know if I’m going to get 15 minutes, 10 minutes or five minutes.
“I just know what whatever opportunity I get I’ll do the best I can to help the team win,” he added.
The play of Smith at point guard has been smoother than Kentucky bourbon and Tennessee whiskey during his three games this year after two seasons interrupted by injuries.
On this night he hit five of six shots, buried his two three-pointers for 17 points and accumulated 10 assists.
The big scorer was the ever-improving Enoch Cheeks, evolving from a defensive and rebounding force to a scoring force as well. The 6-3 senior transfer from Robert Morris, set a UD career high with 23 points and made it a double-double with 12 rebounds.
Nate Santos tries to shake a Ball State defender.
“We started the game with great focus and late in the game we started worrying about other things and not really focusing on what we needed to focus on,” said Cheeks. “That’s what happens when you lose focus.”
At one point, Ball State drew within five, at 53-48, forcing a UD timeout and Cheeks said, “There was a lot of things said in the huddle. We just tried to figure out the problems. We knew what we needed to focus on, get back to key points coach made.
Cheeks admits he is making an adjustment as the team functions this year without superstar DaRon Holmes II.
“It was something I definitely had to adjust to, playing with a high-level player like that,” he said. “Our offense ran through him, so I had to use different things in my skill set.
“I needed to just stay on the floor and help the team win and I was OK with that,” he added. “The first couple of games I was a little frustrated, but the coaches told me to use my intangibles to help the team win and I figured if that’s what gets us to March Madness, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
And so far this year he is doing it all even better and without Holmes he is stepping up his scoring.
Isaac Jack is back and surrounded by the enemy.
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