After he watched Ball State grit out a 71-65 victory over his Huskies on Tuesday at Worthen Arena, Northern Illinois coach Rick Judson labeled the Cardinals "the hottest team in the MAC."
Technically, given that Western Michigan's 11-game winning streak ended Wednesday at the hands of Kent State, and Ball State has won its last five, that might well be the case. But the Cardinals' next two games -- at Western Michigan Saturday and Toledo on Wednesday -- will give fans a pretty good clue as to how good they really are.
It will be an angry Broncos team that welcomes BSU -- and a pretty good one, too. Western (12-2, 5-1 Mid-American Conference) features the league's Nos. 3 and 4 scorers in Ben Reed and Mike Williams. The Rockets (12-3, 7-1 after Thursday's 83-80 win over Bowling Green) have bounced back quite well from the 95-71 blasting Ball State issued in Muncie on Jan. 10.
Ball State's current streak, which comes off the heels of an equal losing streak, has the team at 5-1 in the MAC and 8-6 overall, the one league defeat being a 70-67 setback at Kent in the opener. Two more wins could give the Cards the inside track on the West Division and on a first-round bye for the MAC Tournament.
The Cards have exhibited strong team play offensively, with nine different players scoring in double figures at some point this season. Robert Owens (13.4), Dennis Trammell (12.6) and Cameron Echols (10.0), are all averaging double figures, with four others between 8.1 and 4.6. Different players have come up with big shots in tight games. At Miami on Saturday it was McCollom. Wednesday freshman Peyton Stovall drained the big 3-pointer.
All in all, coach Tim Buckley calls it the best team play his team has had offensively in his four years at the helm.
However, we must remember that four of the past five games have been at home, where BSU is 7-1 this season. It took breaking the infamous Oxford hex to get the first road victory. It will take poise similar to that game, the same poise shown against Northern on Wednesday, to win the next two games.
Also, keep in the mind what happened last season.
After losing seven straight, the Cards won seven of their next nine, climbing to 12-11 and back into the division race. But that climb had the team worn out for the stretch run, and it lost six of the last seven.
The improved depth of this year's squad should help when February rolls around this time. The strong defense, both in the paint and on the perimeter, must continue. The balanced offensive approach would help offset the lack of production in the paint.
It also wouldn't hurt the Cardinals to rebound more like they did at Miami (43-31 advantage) than against Northern (42-27 in favor of the Huskies).
If Ball State can affirm an ability to win on the road in the next continues, the Cards can then be safely called the hottest team in the MAC.
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