For only the second time in school history and the first time since 1971, Ball State University's men's basketball team will end its season with at least 20 losses after falling to the University of Toledo 71-61 Thursday.
Ball State (9-20, 5-10 Mid-American Conference) was having its best shooting performance with less than 10 minutes left in the second half, making 20-of-32 from the field. The Cardinals then missed their next six shots and Toledo (17-11, 13-2 MAC) scored nine unanswered points to take a 57-45 lead. Ball State failed to hit late free throws and couldn't close the lead to less than seven.
Skip Mills led the way for the Cardinals against Toledo, scoring 21 points, taking down six rebounds, dishing out four assists and stealing the ball four times. He shot 9-of-15 from the field, tying his season high for field goals made. Mills now has 1,325 points for his career, putting him 23 shy of Patrick Jackson, who is 11th all-time for Ball State.
"Give Toledo a lot of credit tonight," coach Ronny Thompson said.-á "They picked up their defensive intensity in the second half and started paying a lot of attention to Skip Mills."
Anthony Newell recorded his sixth career double-double with 17 points and 10 boards.The Cardinals made 26-of-53 shots for the game, which is their best shooting percentage for a game since they shot 50 percent from the field in the season-ending game against the University at Buffalo last season.
Toledo saw four players score in double figures. Justin Ingram led the way with 20 points for the Rockets.
The Cardinals made more shots from the field and outrebounded the Rockets. However, Toledo got to the line 19 more times than the Cardinals and scored 24 points off turnovers to take away that advantage.
In 1971, the Cardinals lost 20 games when Bud Getchell coached a team that only won six games. Unless the Cardinals are able to win Sunday against Western Michigan University and go on to win the MAC and National Championships, Ball State will set a new record for most losses in a season.
He closed his four-year career at Ball State with a 30-67 record and is one of only three coaches in Cardinal history to not have a winning season. The others coached less than two years.
Ball State will look to avoid the nearly inevitable school loss record on Sunday against Western Michigan. The Cardinals lost 74-61 in the matchup earlier this season.
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