Ball State University's men's basketball team heads into the second game of its Mid-American Conference schedule and is still searching for the first road win of the season - and coach Ronny Thompson's career.
The Cardinals take a MAC worst 4-10 record to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face Western Michigan University (5-9, 0-1 MAC).
The Broncos are coming off a two-point road loss to Northern Illinois University while the Cardinals were beat by a last-second shot by the University of Toledo on Saturday.
The loss was the fourth straight for the Cardinals, and Ball State has dropped six of the last seven games.
"We will get over the hump," Thompson said, following the loss.
The game will likely be a mismatch, as Western Michigan averages 70.6 points per game and gives up 72.5, while the Cardinals score 60.4 but give up 63.9.
The Broncos are led by junior Joe Reitz, who averages 14.9 points and 8.7 rebounds a game.
The Broncos and the Cardinals compete in the MAC West, which Toledo is picked to win. With both teams falling in the first conference games, the Cardinals are staying positive about what they can do in the MAC.
"I feel really confident about what we're going to do in the conference," Peyton Stovall said. "I can't wait to get down in the conference and get some more games in the [MAC] West and East. These games are going to be fun and we're going to get down to the nitty-gritty and we're going to do what we got to do."
Ball State's lineup continues to shift with Ahmaad Cook, Brandon Lampley and Jalon Perryman seeing more playing time against recent opponents.
Perryman started the season well for the Cardinals, scoring double figures in four of the teams first games, but had failed to repeat that of late. After seeing his playing time fall during December, he saw 19 minutes against Toledo.
"He's earned it, he's worked his way out of it, he's been spending some time and I wanted to get him out there and reward him," Thompson said.
Cook saw his first minutes since Dec. 16 and scored his first career points against the Rockets. He also had a steal in only three minutes on the court.
Lampley played for much of the final 10 minutes against Toledo and ran point guard with Stovall. He got 11 minutes against Tennessee State University and four minutes against Indiana University after a prolonged absence from the court during games.
A win against Western Michigan would be a first career road win and a first career MAC win for Thompson.
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