by Ball State men’s basketball concluded its five-game road trip Wednesday evening with a final stop at Evansville. The journey has seen the Cardinals play away from Muncie since Nov. 15.
Though the Cardinals hoped to make it back-to-back wins for the second time this season, the run ended with a 64-52 loss to the Purple Aces, marking a 1-4 overall record for the stretch.
“I thought we played pretty sound for about 32 or 35 minutes,” Ball State head coach Michael Lewis said. “The ball didn’t drop like the other night. We had three assists and nine turnovers in the second half, and when you’re struggling offensively to make shots, you’ve got to give yourself every opportunity you can. We weren’t sound enough to do that.”
One good sign ahead of the contest was the return of junior guard Joey Hart. He’s been out the entire season with a foot injury. In his return, Hart drained his first shot, a deep 3-pointer. But that was the only stat he recorded due to limited playing time.
However, the entire Cardinals’ roster did not find much success as the team finished the game with a 32.1 shooting percentage (18-for-56). From deep, the Cardinals (3-6) shot just 25 percent (6-for-24).
Lewis said he wanted to see better play at the rim as well. Evansville scored 30 paint points to Ball State’s 20. Though the outcome wasn’t in their favor, the Cardinals held their own in the first half. Armoni Zeigler hit three 3-pointers in the opening half and had 11 points — he finished the game by leading Ball State with 17.
Both Ball State and Evansville had five fouls in the half, and the Purple Aces (4-5) led the Cardinals 33-32 at halftime. But things changed after the midgame break.
“We had some silly and very careless turnovers … Like I said, these guys did some good things. But just not enough of it,” Lewis said.
The Cardinals finished the game with 14 turnovers while the Purple Aces lost the ball 10 times. One of the other factors was Evansville senior forward Connor Turnbull. The 6-foot-10-inch Purple Ace recorded a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. He also had three blocks in the win.
“He was the Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Year last year. His offensive game has gotten better,” Lewis said. “I thought when we were able to get to him and double him, we caused some problems. But then there were two crucial breakdowns in the second half, and we didn’t double him … You can’t give him open looks.”
Yet, both teams had their moments in the second half where scoring became nonexistent. Evansville had a three-minute scoring drought in the first few minutes, while the Cardinals matched that halfway through the period.
“The thing that can be consistent is your defense, and
I thought we put another solid defensive effort out there on the floor,” Lewis said. “But when you break down a couple of times, you get dinged. You’re not going to win a lot of college games scoring 52 points.”
Ball State senior guard Devon Barnes followed Zeigler with 11 points while redshirt sophomore forward Kayden Fish had 10.
The Cardinals make their return to Worthen Arena Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. as South Dakota pays a visit. Following that game and a road contest against Campbell Sunday, Dec. 14, Mid-American Conference (MAC) play officially begins.
Ball State will host MAC foe Miami (OH) Saturday, Dec. 20. Ahead of the final few games of the non-conference season, Lewis said there are a few things the Cardinals can learn from this road trip.
He thinks those items will help the team find the win column down the road.
“I think this team’s going to continue to come together. Guys have to understand and accept what their job is,” he said. “And then they got to go do their job. When we get more consistency in that area from more guys, then I think we’ll see different results.”
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
