Since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1999, Buffalo has generally been a cure for ailing teams, a whipping boy.
Ball State (8-8 overall, 5-3 MAC) is certainly in need of a win, having lost a last-minute lead in both of the past two games. But the Bulls are not about to be willing helpers when they visit Worthen Arena for a 2 p.m. battle on Sunday.
The Bulls, who were 24-85 in coach Reggie Witherspoon's first four seasons, have won seven games so far (7-9, 3-5), including their defeats of Northern Illinois and Akron in their last two. Buffalo's offense has been an exercise in balance, with eight players averaging at least 5.9 points per game. Junior guard Turner Battle is leader with 13.4 points and 3.4 assists. Freshman center Yassin Idbihi, who hails from Morocco, also scores in double figures (10.4) while leading the Bulls in rebounds (6.2).
BSU holds a 7-2 lead in the series, winning all four meetings in Muncie.
Ball State comes in following a disappointing, but not disheartening, 66-63 loss at Toledo. The undermanned Cardinals fought back from an eight-point deficit late in the second half to take a 63-60 lead with fewer than four minutes to go, but could not score on their last seven possessions, which included three turnovers.
The Cards played without leading scorer Dennis Trammell (13.1 points). The junior guard had strep throat, but could return for Sunday's game. Sophomore center Tom Howland missed his fifth straight due to a partially dislocated kneecap, while freshman guard Darren Yates is academically ineligible for the rest of the season.
"Toledo's a great team, and I don't think we played even close to our potential -- and we lost by three points," junior Matt McCollom said after the game. "That's pretty good going against a good ball club like that.
"I think everybody in that locker room knows we gave it everything we had tonight."
Coach Tim Buckley said his team had no business playing as well as it did, adding, "We lost on the scoreboard -- that's the only place."
However, the fact remains that on the road Ball State has lost to the top three teams in the MAC (Western Michigan, Kent State, Toledo) by a combined 10 points, and the Cards are looking for more than a moral victory.
With Trammell out, Buckley played both point guards -- freshman starter Peyton Stovall and junior Jesse McClung -- at times. Stovall, who registered 11 points and three assists before fouling out in the final seconds, had some positive reviews of the lineup.
"It's definitely more up-tempo when me and Jesse are in," Stovall said. "We like to get after them, and me and Jesse feel we're the best point guards in the MAC -- together, on the same team. That confidence gets us to play defense better and run the ball club better."
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