In compliance with Spring Break, Ball State's men's basketball team has been doing a little traveling of it's own.
In the past week, Ball State has won three games and lost one. In the same time frame, the Cardinals have played in Cleveland, traveled back to Muncie and then to Philadelphia. The team leaves for Louisiana today.
The past week, full of games for Ball State, began the Thursday before spring break as the Cards traveled to Cleveland in a quest to secure a Mid-American Conference tournament title.
That quest fell short as Ball State lost in the semifinals last weekend to Bowling Green, 69-57.
After losing in the semifinal of the MAC tournament, Ball State was overlooked by the NCAA Tournament selection committee in regards to the "big dance."
Instead, Ball State was invited to host an opening round game against South Florida in the National Invitation Tournament on Tuesday.
"If you can't be in the NCAA Tournament you might as well try to get to New York," senior Billy Lynch said.
Lynch was referring to the semifinal and championship games of the NIT to be played at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 26 and 28.
Before thinking about New York, Ball State had to face South Florida. The Cardinals defeated the Bulls in that game, 98-92. Chris Williams broke out with a 40-point performance.
After winning in the opening round Ball State continued it's post-season success by defeating Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, 76-54 on Friday in first round play. Jackson led the Cardinals with 28 points going six-of-eight from three-point land.
Before last week, Ball State had never won an NIT game and had only one three other post-season wins in school history.
"I think we are real upbeat right now," Lynch said. "We are excited to be where we are right now."
Most of the players share the same opinion that the team must take the tournament "one game at a time."
That next game for the Cardinals will be against Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Against LSU, Ball State may be need another strong performance from a single player, much like the team did in it's last two games.
"It would be nice if we could all click on the same day, but it doesn't always happen that way," Jackson said. "It usually takes one guy to carry us on offense. Hopefully we can get all clicking at the same time but if not we will just need someone to step up big for us."
As the Cardinals continue forward with the "one game at a time" line of thinking, Jackson said the team feels pretty good about how far it has already advanced.
"This is basically fun time for us," Jackson said. "This is so much more different. Everyone is more relaxed. We are just having fun.
"There are a lot of teams at home just watching right now," he said. "We are just taking advantage of the moment. We will just go LSU and throw it up and see what happens. If we win, we'll keep moving. If not, it's been a hell of a season."
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