Two home games and two wins are pretty good, but not that surprising.
The men's basketball team has only lost once at home this year, to Butler.
Aside from the two wins, however, there was something else that caught my attention this past week. It's something I had basically forgotten, something that needs to be brought back to the forefront.
That something is a someone - Robert Owens.
Owens made his mark as the "spark" off the bench in the nationally known Maui Invitational performance from Ball State.
After the Maui Invitational, however, Owens slowly slipped through the cracks. His minutes declined as did his offensive output.
Then, in December, he had a little spurt, scoring 11 points at both Indiana University and IUPUI. After those two 11-point stands, Owens again began to fall back to the non-active side of play.
His playing time was axed as to two minutes at Toledo, six minutes against Akron, four minutes against Western Michigan, three minutes at Miami and so on.
He got 33 minutes of playing time at Marshall, but that was mostly because of the looming absence of Petie Jackson with a broken finger.
Recently, in the last three games, the playing time has remained minimal for Owens but he has truly started to take advantage of the time he's given.
Against Ohio, he played seven minutes and scored five points. Against Buffalo he put in 15 minutes and tallied a career-high 12 points and four rebounds. Finally, against Toledo Saturday, the sophomore played six minutes and scored five points. He also tallied three rebounds against the Rockets.
So what exactly am I getting at? He should get more minutes, right? Not quite.
I think playing Owens a few more minutes each game would help take a little pressure off of his teammates. The real root, however, is this: Owens plays a key role when Ball State needs a lift.
If the Cardinals are down, need a run, or the starters just aren't getting it done, Owens should be the go-to guy.
Against Toledo, Ball State had been in a nip-and-tug contest with the Rockets the entire first half. About three minutes into the second half, Owens checked into the game. Within a matter of minutes he was right in the middle of everyone, challenging nearly every rebound. Officially for the game he had three rebounds, be he probably had a touch on seven to 10.
On top of his effort, if you are a fan of Ball State basketball then you are well aware of the energy Owens brings to the game. With his facial expressions and constant no-look passing, he brings an energy to the floor no one else can.
Owens checked in Saturday, and after he was fouled going up for a shot, he hit two free throws.
After those free throws and all the effort he showed under the basket, Ball State went on a 15-0 run and essentially secured a winning lead. In my eyes, it was Owens who sparked that run.
Owens may not be a leading scorer for Ball State. He may not be a leading rebounder for Ball State. He is, however, single-handedly the most intense and emotional player Ball State has on its roster.
While on the road, Ball State has found itself reaching for answers more often than not. As the Cardinals travel back onto that traitorous Mid-American Conference road to face Western Michigan Wednesday, my hope is that if the going gets tough, Robert Owens will get going.
Write to Greg at gmfallon@bsu.edu
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