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MUNCIE, Ind. - For the second straight game, the outline was nearly the exact same. A slow start saw the Jaguars fall into a deep first half hole and a feverish second half comeback fell short on the road. In this instance, it was the Jaguars falling to in-state foe Ball State, 83-64, inside Worthen Arena. 

Head coach Jason Gardner tried changing the starting lineup in an effort to correct the road woes, but to no avail. T.J. Henderson and Ron Patterson, who came off the bench for the first time all season, led the Jaguars with 14 and 11, respectively. However, five different Ball State players finished in double-digits, paced by Tahjai Teague's 14 points and a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double from Kyle Mallers. Trey Moses added 12 off the BSU bench and Tayler Persons and Sean Sellers tallied 11 each. 

Ball State shot 53.4 percent overall and 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) from three-point range while holding IUPUI to just under 38 percent. The bigger Cardinals bullied the Jaguars around the basket, outscoring IUPUI 40-28 in the paint and outrebounding the guests 36-30. 

"Another slow start kind of did us in," Gardner said. "You can't get behind like that and have to play uphill against a good basketball team and expect to win. It was a combination of things where we didn't find their shooters and we missed some open shots. Those are things that we have to continue to work on and continue to correct. 

"Once things starting going the wrong way, you saw us get down and it was hard to pick ourselves up from there. We played a bit tentative from there and couldn't stop their runs. I thought we did some better stuff and made some plays in the second half, but those are the things we have to do from the opening tip."

The Jags took a brief 7-6 lead when Patterson stroked a corner three, but Ball State followed with three threes in three trips, prompting Persons to thump his chest and Gardner to call an animated timeout. Things got better for a bit as Maurice Kirby scored four straight points and Patterson followed with a steal and transition finish, but Ball State reeled off a 12-2 run, capped by a Jeremie Tyler three, to take a 31-15 lead with 5:43 left before the break. 

The lead grew to 18 at the half as Ishmael El-Amin, son of former UConn standout Khalid El-Amin, scored on a pull-up jumper in the final seconds. Ball State shot 55 percent in the first half and held IUPUI to just 29 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes. 

Even as IUPUI recorded some early stops in the second half, they didn't capitalize offensively as Ball State used an 11-0 run early in the second half to extend to a 58-30 advantage. 

Gardner spent much of the second half, teaching, instructing and praising his young troops. 

IUPUI shot 48 percent in the second half, including hitting 5-of-12 second half three point attempts. Freshman Jaylen Minnett had eight points and three steals in limited action because of foul trouble and Kirby added eight points and seven rebounds in just 15 minutes. Senior Aaron Brennan contributed seven points and Nick Rogers had five points and a pair of assists in his first career start. 

The loss dropped IUPUI to 5-8 all-time against Ball State and Gardner to 2-2 against the Cardinals. 

The Jaguars will return home on Wednesday night (Dec. 6) to host SIUE at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. That game will be aired on ESPN3 as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) are on the call. Fans who donate an unwrapped toy to benefit the Women's and Children's Center of the Salvation Army will receive a FREE ticket to Wednesday's game.