Ball State University men's basketball coach Billy Taylor said he still has a bad taste in his mouth from the University of Evansville.
Last season, his then-0-3 Cardinals were well on their way to their first win of the season via a nine-point lead with less than seven minutes remaining against the Purple Aces. But Evansville stormed back with a 13-3 run and a game-winning score with 10 seconds remaining to snatch a 51-50 victory from the winless Cardinals.
Ball State would have to wait more than a month after the game to claim its first victory of the season.
"Anytime you lose a game like that, as a coaching staff, it's something that you're not going to forget very quickly," Taylor said. "It was a very tough loss for us, it was a game that I felt we had good control of, and we let it slip away."
This season, Ball State [4-2] goes into Saturday's road game against Evansville with a little steam after Monday's 54-52 win against IPFW in which senior forward Anthony Newell hit a game-winning 15-footer as time expired.
"For a lot of the new guys on the roster this year, they're not necessarily familiar with what happened in [last season's Evansville] game," Taylor said. "Hopefully we'll go out and we'll compete and really step up for another tough road game."
The Cardinals and the Purple Aces [4-1] have already played two common opponents this season. Evansville lost 75-59 at Butler University and defeated Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville 89-58, while Ball State also lost at Butler 64-55 and defeated SIUE 67-55.
Evansville, which averages 71.4 points per game, also has played a Mid-American Conference opponent this season. The Purple Aces defeated the University at Buffalo 64-49 on Nov. 22.
Freshman center Jarrod Jones said he expects a team effort as his Cardinals look for their third straight win on the road this season.
"We are just going to have to work together," said Jones, who is second on the team in scoring [12.8 points per game] and rebounding [6.8 rebounds per game]. "We can't really depend on one player - everyone's stepping up different games. Teams are going to have scouting reports and try to figure out who they are going to try to stop. If everyone's stepping up, that's how you get a victory on the road."
The Purple Aces are led by their two senior Preseason Honorable Mention All-Missouri Valley Conference selections, guard/forward Shy Ely and guard Jason Holsinger.
Ely leads the team in both scoring [15.2 ppg] and rebounds [7 rpg].
Taylor said he expects to have his hands full with Ely's offensive versatility.
"Shy Ely is just a player that can make jump shots out to 3-point range, can make pull-up shots, scores in the paint, scores in transition," Taylor said. "[He] scores in a variety of ways that helps compliment some of the other players that they have on their roster."
Holsinger is third all-time 3-point shooter in Evansville history. He averages 10.6 points per game and leads the team with 15 assists.
"I think that Holsinger is somebody that is very dangerous from the point guard position because he can shoot the basketball and he creates for his teammates and gets the ball into the post," Taylor said.
Taylor said Evansville also compliments its offense with a sound defense that is allowing 59 points per game this season.
"Evansville is very good defensively, make no mistake about it," he said. "They really compete on the defensive end and put pressure on the basketball, they have good weak side help, and they really play well together as a unit defensively."
The Cardinals will be making their first trip to Evansville since the 1970-71 season and will be looking to improve on their 14-37 all-time record against the Purple Aces.
Saturday's game begins at 8:05 p.m.
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