With the second half of the conference season beginning tonight at Northern Illinois, the Cardinals are reviewing what has worked and what hasn't through their first nine Mid-American Conference games.
Ball State University has won only three of the nine MAC games and has yet to pull out a victory on the road.
After winning three of its last four games, coach Tim Buckley said he is trying to get the team's home mentality to travel with them for away games.
"You have to appreciate the environments you're going to play in and then respond to those things," Buckley said. "I think some of it is just youth and not having experience in some of the environments. I think we can get kind of rushed when we're on the road."
Balanced scoring has been a consistent plus for the Cards during their three MAC wins.
Two of the wins came when four players scored in double-digits and a different Cardinal led the team in scoring in each victory.
Freshman Jalon Perryman, who has averaged 11 points per game in the last three contests, said he and his teammates are trying to use their athleticism.
"When we get out and running that gives us a major advantage," Perryman said. "If we get out on the fast break we're pretty tough to stop."
Ball State (7-10 overall, 3-6 MAC West) has had its most success when players such as freshman Landon Adler and junior Chris Ames step up and give a major offensive boost off the bench. In the past two wins, the Cardinals' bench has outscored their opponent's bench by 20 points.
Ames said when he and other bench players get going offensively, it helps the entire team's play.
"If I score, it boosts me up and my teammates and we start to get really excited on the court," Ames said.
When Ames and Perryman are shooting well, they usually turn their defense up another notch. Ames said he spends a lot of energy on defense but gets a second wind when his offense is clicking.
"When I score I get a lot of energy to be honest," Ames said. "It also makes the defenders really have to start guarding me and trying to stop me. Then I'm able to open up opportunities for my teammates a lot easier."
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