Heading into Christmas break, the men's basketball team had momentum on its side, having defeated IUPUI, Indiana State and Wright State at home before heading into the season's toughest stretch of games.
On Ball State's Christmas platter sat a set of games that would truly challenge the Cardinals - Dayton, Xavier and Indiana, two of which were ranked.
However, BSU's momentum did not last. In fact it wasn't a very merry holiday break for the Cardinals at all.
Ball State dropped every game it played over break, falling at Dayton (80-65), at Xavier (87-58), against IU (76-62) and finally losing in overtime to open the Mid-American Conference schedule against Akron on Saturday, 105-104.
In each Cardinal loss it was a single player who stepped up and took over for Ball State's opponent. Against Dayton it was Ramod Marshall who led the Flyers,finishing with 23 points.
After playing only five minutes in the first half and scoring four points, senior David West took over for Xavier. The NBA prospect finished that game with 24 points, including 14 in the first six minutes of the second half
"We didn't guard him," Buckley said of West after the Xavier game. "He's a good player, and we didn't make him work. It was more of a team demeanor. We were very passive to start the second half."
On New Year's Eve, freshman Bracey Wright exploded for 31 points to lead Indiana to a 76-62 win in Worthen Arena.
"We just weren't able to contain Bracey Wright," Buckley said. "That's why they have such a good basketball team. They were able to go to him and he was able to make the plays."
Wright had a career-best 31 points, shooting 11-of-18 from the field and 50 percent (5 of 10) from behind the 3-point arc.
"He's a great player," Buckley said. "He's one of the best players in the country, not one of the best freshmen. He plays with great poise. He's just a really great player to watch."
With tough pre-conference play out of the way and an even 5-5 record, Ball State turned its attention to the MAC schedule and headed to Akron, Ohio, to open conference play on Saturday.
After a back-and-forth game it was foul trouble that ended up hurting the Cardinals most by the end of overtime. By game's end four of five Cardinal starters had fouled out.
Despite marking its fourth straight loss, there was a bright spot for Ball State Saturday. Senior Chris Williams set a new BSU single-game scoring record - 48 points.
"The shots were falling for me and we needed someone to score," Williams said. "I just tried to step up and do what I could to help our team win."
Despite the performance from Williams, Ball State coach Tim Buckley's post-game comments reflected his continued frustration and quest for an answer.
"Chris has tried to come to the front and be a leader and now he needs to get some people to follow," Buckley said after Saturday's game. "We played poorly, we didn't defend anyone, we gave them easy baskets and we weren't very competitive. We are searching for answers right now."
Backing up Williams were Matt McCollom (17 points) and Cameron Echols (14).
Leading Akron was Derrick Tarver with 33 points. John Hollingsworth and Darryl Peterson each tallied 21 for the Zips.
The game against Akron wasn't the only game over break that Williams dominated offensively. In three of the four games, Williams was either the leading or co-leading scorer. Through Dec. 30 Williams remained the MAC's top scorer, and heading into the Akron game he was Ball State's leading scorer, averaging more than 21 points.
After his offensive explosion against Akron, Williams now averages 24.3 points a game. Of the 11 games the Cardinals have played this season, Williams has been the leading scorer eight times.
Williams and the rest of the Cards (now 5-6 overall) have little time to dwell on their first conference loss of the season. Ball State heads to Bowling Green on Tuesday for its second MAC game and will host Northern Illinois on Saturday.
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