It would be fair to say, that for the men's basketball team, it is becoming "crunch time."
Ball State has seven regular season games remaining for the year. The first of those seven come this Saturday as the Cardinals travel to Athens, Ohio, to take on Ohio University in a Mid-American Conference clash.
According to head coach Tim Buckley, this game, along with the rest for the season are important for a couple of reasons.
"As a basketball program you always trying to find new senses of urgency so that you can maintain that hunger and fire when you play," Buckley said.
Buckley said there are a few "senses of urgency" for his team at this point.
"I think there are a lot of different things," Buckley said. "No. 1, winning the West division championship is definitely is a goal. (Another goal is ) getting to Cleveland with a bye and possibly playing your way into a potential at-large bid."
Buckley explained that when it comes to that at-large bid, the final 10 games are usually pretty important.
"The committee usually looks at the last 10 games. And they say those mean a lot," he said.
Brian Burns, a Cardinal senior who has been finding himself more and more involved in games as of late, shared the same feelings.
"It's important we keep this little winning streak going," Burns said. "The committee does look at the last 10 games. Coach has been talking to us about the at-large bid. We are really the only the team in the conference with a chance at an at-large bid."
Even with the thought of an at-large bid on their minds, Buckley and the rest of his team are still not looking past the game at hand - Ohio.
"You think we have something in hand but actually we don't," Buckley said. "There is still a lot of basketball left to play."
"The biggest thing is to get ready for an Ohio team that came in here and beat us last year."
To aid the Cardinals against the Bobcats, Ball State will continue to look for help from its two big men - Burns and Lonnie Jones.
Jones has tallied 11 blocks in the last two games. The 7-footer needs only three more blocks to hold the Ball State single-season blocked shots record. Jones' name already appears in the record books for the second, third, fourth and fifth spots.
Burns, although not as strong when it comes to blocking shots, has found a niche of his own.
"Lonnie and I bring two types of defense," Burns said. "Lonnie brings shot blocking and changing shots. I bring more position defense and help-side defense. Lonnie and I have just tried to work together to help the team."
Burns is averaging 11.5 minutes in conference play. He boosted that average after playing for 26 minutes against Miami and 23 minutes against Northern Illinois on Tuesday.
"Brian has gradually gotten better this season," Buckley said. "His commitment to his conditioning and getting himself in a shape to play in high level has really contributed to that. His defense and rebounding have been key."
One aspect that may play a factor in Saturday's game is the crowd that, over the years, has become known for creating a tough environment at Ohio.
"Their crowd isn't going going to get a chance to play," Buckley said. "The only guys we have to worry about are the guys they have in uniform."
"The play very well at home," Buckley said. "They have had some good games there. We feel like they will be a team that is coming off of a loss and will be wounded. They will be ready to play."
Ohio lost to Bowling Green Wednesday, 80-64.
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