As Ball State University senior guard Peyton Stovall headed back to the locker room following Wednesday's 57-48 loss to No. 5 Georgetown University, he could be seen jumping up and down in excitement and yelling, "Man, if only we'd had [Anthony] Newell!"
Newell, the Cardinals' 6'5" junior forward, fractured his foot in practice Tuesday.
Stovall's sentiment was shared by many of the fans in attendance for two close Ball State losses during the weekend. The Cardinals also lost to the University of Evansville 51-50 on Saturday, losing a nine-point lead in the final seven minutes. Ball State fell to 0-4 for the first time since the 1974-75 season.
"We'd have loved to have Anthony out there," Ball State coach Billy Taylor said after the Georgetown game. "But I couldn't be more proud of the effort we put out there tonight."
Despite the absence of Newell and 7'2" Hoyas center Roy Hibbert towering over every Cardinals' player, Ball State managed to hold Georgetown's rebounding advantage to five for the game. 5'9" Cardinals' guard Melvin Goins pulled down seven rebounds, the same amount Hibbert managed.
"Melvin came out and played well," Stovall said. "Our young guys gave us a lot of energy."
One burst of energy brought the Worthen Arena crowd back into the game with 10 minutes left in the 2nd half. Hibbert went up for a layup only to be rejected by Cardinals' junior forward Rob Giles, who is 10 inches shorter than Hibbert. Ball State then got the ball to Goins for a layup that cut the Hoyas' lead to 10. The crowd, and the Cardinals, remained intense for the remainder of the game.
Ball State's defensive game plan was to contain Hibbert with a zone defense, Taylor said. Georgetown obliged by shooting 25 three-pointers, making seven. Taylor said he was impressed with his team's execution.
"Roy Hibbert's a player of the year candidate," Taylor said. "We had to give something up. I thought we were able to get some stops and get some rebounds."
Entering the match up with Georgetown, the major story line was the return of the Thompson family to Worthen Arena, four months after Ronny Thompson's resignation as Ball State's coach. For his part, Hoyas' coach John Thompson III, Ronny's brother, said he didn't think about his brother during the game.
"It was just another away game," Thompson said. "It was our first road game of the year. We won."
Stovall led the Cardinals' first-half attack against Georgetown, scoring 12 of the Cardinals' 18 points in the first frame. He finished with a team-leading 16, surpassing 1,000 points for his career. He is the 24th Ball State player to reach the mark.
"Coach gave us the confidence to come out and expect to win," Stovall said. "When tip-off came, we expected to win."
Although the team fell short of that expectation, Stovall said that the game was a small moral victory for Ball State.
"It was the number five team in the nation, and we stuck with them," Stovall said.
Stovall led the Cardinals in scoring again in the Evansville game, scoring 22 points and also grabbing six rebounds, which tied for the team lead. Freshman forward Malik Perry, with 10 points, was the other Cardinal to reach double digits in scoring. Ball State shot 40 percent from the field against the Purple Aces.
The Cardinals will not return to Worthen Arena until December 19th against the University of California-Santa Barbara. Their next five games are on the road, the team's second-longest road trip ever. The trip begins Tuesday night at St. Joseph's University.
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