BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- David Boyden scored 23 of his 27 points in the second half as Western Kentucky defeated Ball State 84-79 Saturday.

The non-conference victory extended the Hilltopppers' (19-8) home winning streak at E.A. Diddle Arena to 35 games.

The game was part of ESPN Network's Bracket Buster Saturday, pitting the Cardinals (12-13) of the Mid-America Conference against the Hilltoppers, who lead the Sun Belt's East Division.

Point guard Patrick Sparks had 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds for Western, while Filip Videnov added 12 and freshman Jamaal Brown came off the bench to score 11.

The Hilltoppers played the game without forward Nate Williams, who was serving a one-game suspension for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

Ball State's Chris Williams scored a game-high 33 points before fouling out with 18.9 seconds to play. Robert Owens added 23 points for the Cardinals.

Western Kentucky led 36-35 at the half, but was plagued by first-half free-throw shooting problems, making just 9 of 20 fouls shots.

The Hilltoppers outscored the Cardinals 9-1 in the first 4:43 in the second half. Western Kentucky took its biggest lead at 51-38 on a pair of free throws by Mike Wells at the 14:38 mark, and Ball State never got closer than the final five-point margin.