Men's basketball coach Ronny Thompson's first season has not gone as planned.
As Ball State University enters the fourth game of the Mid-American Conference season still searching for its first conference win after a 56-52 loss to Eastern Michigan University, Thompson is looking for something else.
"I hope you don't have to be motivated to play this game," Thompson said. "If you have to be motivated to play this game, it's a problem."
The leading scorer for the Cardinals was Ahmaad Cook. Cook, a freshman who had only played 10 minutes before Saturday, played for 16 minutes, all of which were in the second half and included the last five minutes of the game. He hit his first two shots and finished with five 3-pointers.
"When your number is called, you've got to answer," Cook said. "When I'm out there knocking shots down, I'm not doing anything I'm not supposed to be doing. If coach wants us to knock down shots, I'm going to knock down shots."
Perhaps the only person not surprised by Cook's performance was Eastern Michigan's coach Charles E. Ramsey.
"[Cook] was in our scouting report," he said. "Not so much for what he's done this season, but what he's done in high school."
In addition to Cook's performance, Thompson said that he needed someone to step up.
While he did not name names, Skip Mills and Peyton Stovall combined for six points. The last time the two played a game in which they did not combine for more than six points was in the first round of the 2004 MAC Championship - as freshmen.
Mills and Stovall, two guards who have been among the leading scorers their entire career when healthy, did not play for the final few minutes as the play of Cook and Micah Rollin caught the Cardinals up to the Eagles. Jarelle Redden and Brandon Lampley took their places.
"I think we needed our older guys to step up, and they didn't," Thompson said. "So, we tried some different combinations and I just went to the group that was out there hungry and was scrapping. And I think they did a tremendous job - offensively and defensively. They played the way I wished some other people would play."
Mills and Stovall weren't the only ones who saw limited time. Junior Steve Horton started, but only played 11 minutes and saw only one minute in the second half. Chris Ames started but only played nine minutes.
The Cardinals enter today's game against Northern Illinois on a six-game losing streak. While Thompson admits that "wins always help," he doesn't want his team to use the streak as an excuse.
"It can be negative, or you can be tired of losing and then do something about it," he said. "And that is the way I want to look at it."
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