Campbell was once again the leading scorer, this time with 26 points. He also had 10 rebounds while going 2-2 from 3-point range. Campbell used his 6-foot-8, 260-pound frame to aggressively back down the Ball State defenders and use a combination of hook shots and spin moves to finish around the rim.
“I thought [Campbell] was a load, and for whatever reason, he makes every 3 he shoots against us," head coach James Whitford said. “That didn’t bother me as much as ... Kaminski’s 20 — that was the difference in the game."
Kaminski's 20 points came off of 7-15 shooting, five of those shots coming from behind the 3-point line, nearly doubling his season average.
On average, Kaminski attempts seven 3-pointers a game. Against Ball State in January, he was held scoreless and missed all four of his 3-point attempts.
“For us to allow him to get 11 [3-pointers] off in the game, knowing who he is, there’s no way under the sun that should happen,” Whitford said.
With the game tied at 67, Kaminsky's hit his biggest shot of the night. He started in the left corner near the Bobcats' bench before receiving a screen, and he dashed through the free-throw line area to the right wing where junior forward Franko House met him off a defensive switch.
House slipped on the coverage, which allowed Kaminski to fire a 25-foot 3-pointer, giving the Bobcats a 70-67 lead late in the game.
The 6-foot-8 forward held the follow-through, as the ball swished through the net as the clock wound down to less than a minute.
“[House] seemed like he lost his balance, he fell back a little bit,” Whitford explained. “It was a broken play, [Kaminski] just popped out to 25 feet — it was [a] deep 3, but it was open.”
With the loss, Ball State moves to 15-9 on the year, but remains in a tie for first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division with its next opponent, Central Michigan. Both teams boast a 6-5 conference record and will meet in Mount Pleasant, Mich., on Feb. 13.
Senior forward Bo Calhoun finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds but thought Ball State was a bit slow with Campbell.
“We had a good game plan on him, we were just one step slow,” Calhoun said as he kept looking down at the final stat sheet.
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