Ball State will head into Eastern Michigan having lost five of its last six contests and officially out of the Mid-American Conference West Division race.
With two games left, the Cardinals (13-12, 8-8 MAC) are in ninth place, which means they would have to play their first league tournament game on the road. To secure a home game, they must not only win the two games, but hope someone else falters.
"I think we keep an eye on [the bracket] because we spend so much time and take great pride in our preparation," coach Tim Buckley said. "But we don't allow it to become a distraction. We focus more on that as coaches than we do as a team."
Eastern is looking to avenge a 96-86 loss the Cardinals handed them at Worthen Arena in January. The Eagles are 5-10 in the MAC and are guaranteed to open the conference tournament on the road.
The Eagles are led by senior guard Markus Austin (13.9 points per game) and forward John Bowler (13.2 ppg, 6. 2 rpg). Michael Ross adds 11.7 ppg, while freshman Darryl Garrett puts up 12.2 ppg coming off the bench.
Sophomore Peyton Stovall leads BSU with 16.4 points per game.
In January, the Cardinals had a significant advantage from the free-throw line, hitting seven more free throws on eight more attempts. The Eagles took advantage of the Cardinals weak interior, pounding them for 42 points in the paint. The Eagles also scored 16 points in transition.
"I think they have a very formidable front line, as good a front line as we have in the conference," Buckley said. "That's an area where we've been weak, but, on the other hand, I think we've really made some strides with our post defense since then."
"I think we also have to take some things away from them in transition, which they were able to take full advantage of here the last time we played."
The Cardinals will be without senior guard Dennis Trammell, who went seven of 11 in January and added 21 points. Trammell will miss the rest of the season because of tendinitis in his left heel.
Darren Yates or Matt McCollom will start in Trammell's place.
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