Skip Mills and the rest of the Ball State University basketball team found making shots difficult against Indiana University on Saturday. Mills was held to 3-of-14 shooting and Ball State shot 35 percent in an 80-56 loss.
Mills scored 16 points, but nine came from the free throw line. He shot 1-of-5 from 3-point range, with his only basket coming on a halfcourt buzzer-beater at the end of the first half.
"I was just trying to make something happen," Mills said. "It was weird that shot would go in than the other shots I took. I practice on stuff like that just goofing around. But I needed other shots to fall other than that one."
Indiana coach Mike Davis said he thought Mills struggled with his shot rather than anything the Hoosiers did defensively.
"I think in a game like this when an in-state school comes in and a sell-out crowd, if you miss a couple shots you start to press," Davis said. "I don't think it was anything we did defensively against him. I just think he missed some shots and he started rushing some shots."
Mills wasn't the only Cardinal who struggled offensively. Maurice Acker and Chris Ames combined to shoot 2-of-12 from the field. Ball State was 3-of-10 from 3-point range while Indiana was 12-of-20 from deep.
Mills entered the contest averaging a team-high 19.4 points per game and was shooting 49 percent from the field. Mills became the go-to-guy offensively when Peyton Stovall's season ended with an ACL injury in the Cardinals' second game of the season at Wright State.
Ball State coach Tim Buckley said Mills has stepped up his role since Stovall's injury.
"I'm really proud of Skip," Buckley said. "I don't think everybody realizes how much of a burden this has been for him losing Peyton. He came into the season being Robin and now he's Batman."
Mills has averaged 19 points per game since Stovall has been out. He scored a season-high 23 points against Anderson on Dec. 17.
"He's done an admirable job," Buckley said. "And I know he wanted to do well tonight. It had nothing to do with him not playing well +â-óGé¼" he wanted to do too well. And I think he deserves a lot of credit for that."
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