Cardinals knocked from perch

Head coach Mike Davis would have bet on IU. \nBall State head coach Tim Buckley acted as if he would have, too.\nDavis said he found it "funny" that fans and critics were picking No. 15 Ball State to upend IU on its home floor Saturday. Buckley said he didn't know who was picking Ball State to win. \nHad they bet, they both would have won. \nIU did win, 74-61 behind a game-high 22 points from sophomore forward Jared Jeffries, 19 from junior guard Tom Coverdale and 11 from senior guard Dane Fife. Chris Williams led Ball State with 18.\nThe in-state foes' rivalry became heated as a result of the speculation in favor of the Cardinals.\n"It blew my mind that people picked Ball State," Davis said. "I couldn't believe it. If I wasn't a head coach, I'd have put everything on this game. We get no respect in our own gym."\nIU earned respect Saturday by shredding Ball State's interior defense, controlling the tempo and revving up a home crowd that by game's end ruffled the Cardinals with an chant of "over-rated."\nIU opened a 10-point lead with seven minutes left in the first half, and used a second half spurt to bury Ball State. \nOne possession after Ball State senior guard Patrick Jackson's three-pointer gave Ball State a 44-43 lead, IU used a 13-4 run to regain that 10-point advantage with 11:24 remaining. \nA George Leach dunk -- one of a handful that swung momentum IU's way -- kicked off the scoring binge. During the five-minute stretch, Ball State missed nine of its 11 shots and watched IU go inside and out.\nFrom that point on, IU contained Ball State's deadly three-point shooting and salted away its second consecutive victory by zapping any Cardinal surge. \nBack-to-back buckets from Jeffries gave IU a 14-point lead -- its biggest of the day -- and scrapped any chance of a Ball State comeback. \nJeffries, who scored a career-high 28 points Tuesday in IU's one-point win over Notre Dame, continued his resurgence with eight of 13 shooting and seven rebounds. \n"I'm trying to assert myself on offense," the sophomore forward said. "It's different being the player that your teammates look at and other teams look at. You have to pick and choose. You have to be patient."\nBall State was not. The Cardinals (5-2), who have attempted at least 20 three-pointers in all seven of their games, his 10 of 21 Saturday, but rarely worked the shot clock or looked for inside scoring. \nJackson, the Cards' leading scorer at more than 20 points per game, fizzled. Jackson hit only three of 11 shots from the field and finished with eight points. In last season's 65-50 IU victory over the Cardinals in Assembly Hall, Jackson hit only one of nine shots. His two three-pointers -- the last of which gave Ball State the lead -- with 17 minutes remaining, were his last points. He didn't score his first point until just seconds before halftime. \nDavis' solution to stopping Jackson was simple: just guard him.\n"Jackson's a really, really good basketball player," Davis said. "He didn't play well, because our guys guarded him."\nAnd while Jackson struggled, his point guard counterpoint went berserk. After checking into the game with 12:30 left in the first half, Coverdale scored 10 consecutive points to bolster IU's lead. The junior then scored five straight points during IU's second half run. He added four assists and three rebounds to his 19 points and he won the respect of Buckley.\n"His toughness is everything," Buckely said. "He's a really tough matchup. He knows how to play the game, and he plays it the way it's supposed to be played."\nCoverdale led an IU offense that ran when it had the opportunity and settled for 30-second possessions the next trip down the floor. Ball State entered the game averaging 88 points per game, but couldn't find the firepower Saturday. \nBoth teams shot over 40 percent from the floor, but Ball State hit only three of 10 free throws and got out-rebounded 43-34. IU had 13 offensive rebounds and 15 second-chance points, and what Buckley called a "strong bench" scored just 12. The Hoosier bench tallied 27. \nIU slowed down Ball State standout Theron Smith, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Thursday against IU-Purdue-Fort Wayne, Smith scored 29 and ripped down 21 rebounds. In the Hoosier classic last season, Smith scored a tournament record 40 points. Saturday, he battle foul trouble and Jeffries and was able to hit only five of 13 shots. He also committed a game-high five turnovers. \nBut it wasn't statistics that cluttered the minds of the Hoosier and Cardinal personnel after the game. Instead, it was what has rapidly developed into a battle for state supremacy. \nAnd everyone was talking. \n"If we see them again in March, I'll think we'll be able to prove who's who and who's the best team in the state," Jackson said. "That (over-rated chant) was a slap in the face to me."\nHoosier guard A.J. Moye, who bodied up with all three Ball State guards, said Ball State being the higher-ranked of the two teams didn't sit well with the Hoosiers. \n"We took this personal from the start," Moye said. "You don't want to be an underdog on your home court. It was a must win."\nNow, IU has its third two-game winning streak of the season, is likely to crack the top 25 and heads to Miami to battle Miami (Fla.) in the Orange Bowl Classic Friday. \nDavis figured the miniature winning streak was a formality before tip-off Saturday.\n"A lot of you guys thought that Ball State was going to come in here and beat us, but I think we're a really good basketball team," Davis said. "I felt like we could beat these guys by double digits, and we did"