If the men's basketball team wants one last shot at making noise before the conference tournament begins next week, tonight is the night to do it.
Northern Illinois, which is tied for the Mid-American Conference West lead, visits Worthen Arena tonight. For Ball State University (9-16 overall, 5-11 MAC West), a win over the top team in the division would be a significant boost to the team's morale, especially following the Cardinals' 27-point loss to Toledo Sunday.
Northern Illinois enters the game with its own agenda.
The Huskies are fighting with Western Michigan for a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament, which begins on Monday. Ball State needs to win its final two games, and hope for two losses from Buffalo, in order for the Cards to sneak in for a home-court game in the first-round.
Coach Tim Buckley said his team is ready for the challenge in its last home game of the season and it must put their performance at Toledo behind them.
"You take the tape and throw it in the trashcan and you go work on the next game," Buckley said. "You know it's one of those [games] that you can't get back."
Ball State has responded well this season in games that follow big losses. In the last three games when the Cardinals were defeated by more than nine points, the team grabbed a win in the next game. Junior Chris Ames, who scored a career high 12 points in a loss to Northern Illinois earlier this season, said players look forward to the chance to steal a win from the Huskies.
"We've responded well in the past when we've lost big, and I don't see why [tonight] will be any different," Ames said. "Practice went great and there are a lot of positive emotions in the team right now."
With the start of the MAC Tournament looming over the horizon, Ames said he and other players are getting anxious for it to begin. But he said he's not getting ahead of himself.
"Obviously the MAC Tournament is where we can make our season," Ames said. "Right now though we've got a very important game to play and if we can get the win, we'll feel great heading into the post-season."
HALFTIME HONORS
Former Ball State coach and standout player Ray McCallum will be honored during halftime tonight along with teammates from the 1980-81 Cardinal squad. It was 25 years ago when that team won Ball State's first-ever MAC Championship with a 79-66 win against Northern Illinois.
In honor of the team, which was also the first Cardinal squad to win 20 games in a season, this year's Ball State players will wear retro uniforms based on the same design McCallum and his teammates wore in 1980-81.
Eleven players from that season will be honored at halftime along with former coach Steve Yoder, who was named the MAC Coach of the Year in 1981. McCallum, who became the first Cardinal-ever named to the All-MAC First Team that season, helped lead the team in the NCAA Tournament by scoring 26 points in a three-point loss to Boston College.
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