Jarrod Jones scored 17 points and Ball State broke a two-game losing streak with an 86-56 victory over Chicago State on Saturday.
In his first start of the season, Tyrae Robinson scored 13 points for the Cardinals (7-4). Tyler Koch and Matt Kamieniecki added 11 apiece, and Jesse Berry had 10.
Matt Samuels led the Cougars (0-14) with 18 points. Lee Fisher had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Jeremy Robinson scored 11.
Trailing 6-5, the Cardinals unleashed a 21-4 spurt to create a 26-10 lead with 8:40 left in the first half. Chicago State trailed 46-23 at intermission.
After Ball State pushed the lead to 58-32, the Cougars came back with a 12-2 spurt in which they sank four straight 3-pointers to trim it to 60-44 with 11:58 to go.
But the Cardinals, now 5-0 at home, had no trouble reaching their season high of 86 points.
