Saturday's game did not start out well for Ball State. The Cardinals made only nine of 34 from the field, three of 11 from beyond the arch, and they were being out-rebounded by one of the worst rebounding teams in the Mid-American Conference.
At halftime, Terrance Chapman removed his shoulder brace and apologized to his team for his performance in the first half.
"Before we went out onto the floor (in the second half) Terrance Chapman said to the team 'That was my bad guys,'" coach Tim Buckley said, "'I was focused on my shoulder in the first half of the game, that's not going to happen in the second half.' That was the difference in the game."
The rest of the players also decided that they were not approaching the game from the right standpoint mentally, and decided that the second half would not be the same
"It was all in our head," guard Dennis Trammell said. "Before we left at half time we got in our head that we weren't going to have a half like we had the first half."
It wasn't. The Cardinals (10-6, 5-3 in the Mid-American Conference) were able to score the 67-59 come-from-behind win over Northern Illinois (7-11, 3-7 in the MAC).
Dennis Trammell led the team, going eight of 13 from the field (five of six in the second half) and five of seven from three-point range (four of four in the second half) to end with 24 points. Skip Mills added 16 and Chapman added a double double.
On the defensive end, the Cardinals, after giving up 13 of 25 in the first half, held the Huskies to eight of 26 in the second half and held a team that usually makes 40 percent of its field goals to three of 15.
"We just had to come in and focus more on defense and getting stops, because they were shooting 52 percent in the first half and we were only shooting 26 percent. I knew that once we started making stops we would shot the ball better."
It wasn't easy for the Cardinals. They got it to within a point three times in the second half before they were able to take the lead, with 4:11 remaining on a Chapman lay-up.
"I think we went to the well three times," Buckley said. "Where they got it to nine, they got it to eight. We kept coming, we just couldn't get over the hump. In most of the games you see like that, they never get over the hump."
The Cardinals didn't look back, with Trammell adding a three-pointer on the next possession. A short Trammell jumper and a pair of free throws by Trammell and Mills put the game away
"It was really a team win," Buckley said. "And the players deserve all the credit for deciding that they were going to go out and play that way in the second half."
The Cardinals, who turned the ball over 19 times against Akron, kept control of the ball exceptionally well against Northern, turning the ball over only four times. This was the lowest mark for Ball State since the Cardinals played Indiana on Dec. 31, 2002.
The attendance for Saturdays game was a season high at 6,166.
"We don't win without the crowd today," Buckley said. "There's no question about that. They're so important to what we try and do."
The Cardinals have a quick turnaround, as they welcome Eastern Michigan to Worthen Arena tonight at 7 p.m. for retro night.
"All of our guys want to play in the NBA, so this is kind of like an NBA schedule isn't it?" Buckley said. "We'll see how they respond."
"Like I told them, you know, it's a quick turnaround, but would you rather practice or play games? Unanimously they said play games."
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
