Ball State coach Tim Buckley said Saturday after his team's fifth straight loss he is just looking for 40 minutes of effort from the players.
Before that, though, came a post-game locker-room talk that lasted even longer.
After another late-game collapse in Worthen Arena, this one resulting in a 74-70 loss to Drexel, Buckley couldn't explain why his team's defense fell apart and gave up 48 second-half points after leading 35-26 at halftime.
"I can figure out all the basketball stuff," Buckley said. "I thought we had a good plan to guard their stuff. What I don't have a plan, an answer for, is why we don't play for 40 minutes. [The players] have got to help me."
The first 20 minutes went well enough, even though starting guard and leading scorer Dennis Trammell was sidelined with a sore right Achilles tendon.
Sophomore Darren Yates nailed a pair of 3-pointers in his stead, and classmate Skip Mills scored 10 points. The Cards held Drexel to 33-percent shooting and led by as many as 14.
"We rushed a lot in the first half when they double-teamed us," said Drexel coach Bruiser Flint, whose team improved to 14-10 with the Bracket Buster win. "I told the team to just take your time."
The Dragons did take their time and chipped away at the Cards' advantage. Buckley, however, knew right after halftime his team was in trouble. Sean Brooks powered inside for two of his career-high 25 points just 22 seconds into the second half.
"When you give up easy buckets out of the chute, that's when you can tell," Buckley said.
Brooks, a burly 6-foot-6 forward, continued to bully the Cards inside. He scored 14 points in the second half and pulled down 10 rebounds total.
The Dragons got within one twice, then tied the game at 59 when Phil Goss swished a trey from the left corner with 6:46 left. Another 3-pointer, this one from right corner more than two minutes later, gave the Dragons the lead for good at 66-63.
Goss, who came in averaging 13 points per game, hit yet another 3 to give Drexel a 72-67 lead, but Yates responded with his own trey with 27.8 seconds left.
The last 3-pointer was Goss' seventh, and it gave him a game-high 26.
"He loves me because I let him shoot it every time," Flint said of his senior guard.
The Dragons' Kenell Sanchez made a pair of free throws with 16.6 remaining, and Yates and Mills missed last ditch 3-pointers.
"We'll play well defense at times," Mills said. "When we don't ... We're not good enough to outscore teams. We have to stop teams from making a run."
Mills tied his career high with 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but the sophomore said he alone couldn't make up for Trammell's absence.
"I think everybody has to pick it up," he said. "My teammates got me the ball in situations where I could score. But it doesn't matter if we lose."
Senior forward Terrance Chapman added seven boards and scored 23 points for the Cards.
Buckley said Trammell's injury was a recurring one. The senior was warming up before the game, but then decided he couldn't play.
"If Dennis Trammell couldn't play, then he's not going to play," Buckley said.
Buckley classified his status as day-to-day.
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