After sinking seven first-half three-pointers at Wright State last season, the Ball State men's basketball team shot just 4 of 30 from the field in the second half and suffered its first loss of the season, 64-50.
Coach Tim Buckley called the first-half shooting "fool's gold."
The fourth-year coach doesn't want his team to mine the same thing tonight when Wright State (3-1) visits Worthen Arena for the Cardinals' 7 p.m. home opener. That is especially true since the Cardinals (1-1) sank 12 of 21 threes in Saturday's win at Detroit.
Buckley said this time against the Raiders, his team must be more patient and not always take the first available jump shot.
"We can't take too many first-side shots," Buckley said. "We need to move the ball around. We didn't do that last year. It's having the right kind of patience and right kind of rhythm."
"Every game that goes by, we want to put it out of our heads," point guard Peyton Stovall added. "All we need to do is reverse the ball and work out of the post."
Stovall especially is hoping he hasn't found fool's gold. The sophomore has scored a team-high 14 and 21 points in BSU's two games. At Detroit he was 8 of 9 shooting, including 5 of 5 on three-pointers.
"My shot was really feeling good," Stovall said. "I felt the practices I had over the summer helped me."
While Buckley welcomes Stovall's offense, he is also hoping his point guard can step it up on the other end.
"We still need him to spearhead our defense," Buckley said. "He's done an adequate job, but he can improve his pressure on the ball."
Dennis Trammell and Skip Mills, the other two guards in Ball State's lineup, back Stovall with 15 and 10 points per game, respectively. Forward Terrance Chapman has scored just four points in two games, but he is averaging nine rebounds.
Wright State, which features just one senior and one junior on its roster, is also led by a sophomore point guard -- DeShaun Wood with 20.5 points per game. Freshman Everett Spencer has grabbed 7.5 rebounds a game, and teams with sophomore Drew Burleson and Ohio State transfer Zach Williams in the frontcourt.
NAME THAT GROUP
At halftime of tonight's game, the Ball State athletics department will announce the winning entry of the Name the Student Section Contest. The department selected 16 student entries and conducted an online, bracket-style competition. The final vote was between "Cluckheads" and "The Nest."
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