A week and a half ago, following a 70-49 drubbing by Detroit, Ball State was staring at another sub-.500 season and a possible road trip for the first round of the league tournament.
Three wins later, the latest one a 75-47 thumping of Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, the Cardinals (13-13 overall, 10-7 Mid-American Conference) are brimming with confidence and know they will play the first round in Worthen Arena.
All that stands between them and a regular season-winning record is a trip to Mt. Pleasant, Mich., to take on last-place Central Michigan. The Chippewas (5-23, 1-16) are, quite simply, the worst team in the MAC. But the Cards will not be looking past them, which could undo the momentum they've created the past 10 days.
"We're playing with a lot more confidence," freshman point guard Peyton Stovall said. "We want to play Central Michigan exactly like we played Eastern."
"We want to make this our spurt and go into the MAC Tournament on a roll," Stovall's backup, junior Jesse McClung, said.
Ball State coach Tim Buckley is a firm believer that Central is not as bad as its record indicates, and knows the Chippewas will bring their best effort for the regular season finale.
"You don't ever want to relax," he said. "They're very well-coached. They've been through a lot and stuck together. Central has won one game, and they've competed in 17."
That includes the teams' last meeting, Jan. 14 in Worthen Arena. Central was within 34-31 at halftime before succumbing in the second half in a 90-75 Cardinals victory.
Gerrit Brigitha, CMU's 6-8 senior forward, scored 31 points in that contest. On the season, he is averaging 16.1 (seventh in the MAC), and he leads with 6.8 rebounds per game.
However, his effort was not enough to overcome Ball State's best shooting performance on the season -- 55.9 percent. Since a 16-point second half in the loss to Detroit, the Cards have averaged more than 78 points in their wins.
"We're really starting to gel," Stovall said. "Everything's really clicking."
Stovall's play has been a large reason that BSU is clicking. Although he did not score at Marshall, he dished out a career-high nine assists. He then scored a personal best of 18 at Bowling Green and added 11 at Eastern.
"Coach tells me and Skip (Mills) that we're not freshmen anymore," Stovall said. "We have to play like upperclassmen."
Buckley has said that Stovall's play has benefited from the solid competition he gets from McClung.
"We know what Coach is asking of us," McClung said. "We're all trying to do our roles. (Peyton)'s pushing me; I'm pushing him."
Although Ball State has been rolling since the Detroit game, Buckley said the team did not talk about that game to rectify the wrongdoings.
"It all has to do with the players' mindset," he said. "We've never talked about Detroit. The players generated that on their own. What this team is good at is evaluating themselves.
"All the things we've been emphasizing are coming to fruition. You always want to play your best basketball at the end."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
