by Ball State men’s basketball found itself in an unwanted position as the team began Mid-American Conference (MAC) play with five straight losses.
Though it seemed the team was unable to get over the hump, junior guard Armoni Zeigler was not worried. The former Saint Peter’s Peacock saw a similar circumstance in the 2023-24 season. After hitting some road bumps — including four consecutive losses in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) — he said his former school came together and rallied around each other.
“After that, we just woke up,” he said.
After figuring out ways to turn the ship, the program finished that season 19-14, while posting a 12-8 conference record.
The Peacocks won the MAAC Tournament before falling to the University of Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Fast forward to Saturday, Jan. 31, the Cardinals have won their last three games and are still looking to improve. Though Zeigler said he felt the team could break the imaginary chains, Ball State head coach Michael Lewis said he watched the guard change things himself.
“Not only has his play [improved], but he has also improved as a leader. It’s a daily challenge with these guys, just getting them to talk and to understand,” Lewis said. “True leadership is very selfless, and leadership can be a very lonely place.
“The accountability that he has to take care of himself first before he can hold his teammates accountable, it’s a process. He’s growing, and he’s getting better at that.”
In his two years at Saint Peter’s, Zeigler averaged 8.4 points overall, including 11.4 in the 2024-25 season. When he hit the transfer portal, the idea of playing for Lewis piqued his interest.
After a few months of being a Cardinal, he said he enjoyed playing for the fourth-year head coach.
But his tenure in Muncie has not always been on the plus side. Despite the team’s five-game losing streak to start the MAC season, its non-conference schedule was not much better, as Ball State began league play at 4-8.
To help the Cardinals, Zeigler said that he had to learn how to be his ‘own player’ instead of being worried about making the wrong decision.
Now, he believes he has shaken that insecurity.
“I go out there and hoop. I’m taking what the defense gives me,” Zeigler said. “At the beginning of the year, I was new to Lewis. I would stop myself and do certain things, and I wouldn’t know how to react. Then I just got to the point that I was just like, ‘I don’t care.”’
“I approach the game very differently [now], and I approach the game with more of an attitude.”
His ‘I don’t care’ playstyle has him leading the Cardinals with 13.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. In their last three wins against Ohio, Central Michigan and Northern Illinois, he has scored 28, 17 and 18 points.
“I think he’s really improved his decision making, his reads of the defense, his aggressiveness and his attack,” Lewis said. “His ability to play stronger off two feet and to get to the free-throw line has really changed from the beginning of the season.”
When asked why he targeted Zeigler in the transfer portal, Lewis said he was hoping to get a certain type of player.
That was someone who was not afraid to take matters into their own hands.
“I liked his competitiveness and his toughness. I liked his versatility that we saw on film at Saint Peter’s,” Lewis said.
Ball State currently sits in ninth place in the MAC, but Zeigler is not concerned about that. He believes the three-game win streak proves something about this team.
He also thinks it shows the type of team the Cardinals are.
“It just shows that we have a lot in us. We’re not the team you are just going to walk through because we got a lot of fight in us,” Zeigler said. “I like that mentality because I’ve always been an underdog. So I just prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
