With the emergence of Ball State University's young freshmen in the past two games, coach Tim Buckley is getting scores from players other than scoring leader Skip Mills for the first time this year.
Getting those freshmen, such as Landon Adler and Jalon Perryman, to begin playing with some consistency has been a long process for the Cardinals this season.
Maurice Acker and Perryman earned starting spots early in the season, but Adler and Anthony Newell have played sparingly throughout the year. Adler has put together two solid games in a row, both of which resulted in Ball State victories, and his 17-point performance against Central Michigan showed his coach that the forward is ready to play.
"He was ready for this moment now," Buckley said. "I think Landon wants more, and I think that's his mentality."
Adler and Perryman combined for 26 of the team's 41 first-half points during Tuesday's game and they helped relieve the pressure off of Mills, who couldn't get going offensively. Buckley said Mills is looking to get his teammates involved because every team is clamping on him defensively.
"I thought he got those other guys involved early because that's everybody's game plan, to keep Skip from scoring early on," Buckley said. "What it does is open up things for other people like Jalon and Landon, and hopefully it will be somebody different each and every night who we can count on."
With only one day off between Tuesday's game and tonight's game at Western Michigan (6-11 overall, 3-4 Mid-American Conference West), the recent youth movement for the Cardinals will have to prepare quickly for the next opponent.
"For our team, we have to spend time on us," Buckley said. "With the quick turnarounds and with a team without much experience, it makes it a little tougher."
With the Cardinals, strong defense usually leads to better offense. The team held Central Michigan to 19 percent shooting the second half and only allowed one field in the last nine minutes of the first half. Perryman said it's essential for the team to play defense so their offense can come naturally.
"We base our game on defensive stops," Perryman said. "That's what gets the offense going, being able to run the floor and get the offense going on the other end."
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