At the time it was just another loss. Nobody expected the 48-51 loss to Eastern Michigan back on Jan. 14 to create a losing stretch like Ball State is in now.
Ever since the Cardinals lost to the Eagles over a month ago, Ball State has lost nine of its last 12 games, including a seven-game losing streak.
"We played well in that first game but didn't close it out." coach Billy Taylor said. "That lose against Eastern Michigan kicked us into a negative streak and it would be a great confidence boost for our team to play well (today)."
Ball State (13-13, 4-9 Mid-American Conference) has a chance to avenge that lose as they travel to Eastern Michigan today at 4:30 p.m.
In the last matchup, Eastern Michigan out-scored Ball State 12-3 in the final 5:41 minutes, including a game-winning three-pointer by Antonio Green with 1.5 seconds left.
Taylor said playing a full 40 minutes against Eastern Michigan will be key.
"We didn't close that game out properly. We folded and gave Eastern (Michigan) a lot of free throws down the stretch," Taylor said. "While the result and the finish of the game was poor I thought we did a lot of good things to put us in that position."
Ball State holds a 5-8 on the road this season. Today's game will be the final road trip for the Cardinals as they finish out their final two games at Worthen Arena.
"We've done some good things on the road," Taylor said. "This is an opportunity for us to end on a positive note on the road and then come back home to build some momentum into the MAC tournament."
Eastern Michigan (12-16, 7-6) sits atop the West Division of the conference. The Eagles are led in scoring by Darrell Lampley who averages 13.3 points per game. Antonio Green adds seven and has hit 29 threes this season.
Ball State's Jarrod Jones paces the Cardinals averaging 15.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Jones has scored double figures 20 times this season. Jesse Berry adds 9.2 points.
Forward Matt Kamieniecki is a key part to the Cardinals defense and has been out for a portion of the season due to a back injury. He returned to the lineup last game versus Western Michigan playing 10 minutes.
Taylor said having Kamieniecki back on the floor gives his team another solid defensive presence.
"He's a guy that's willing to sacrifice his body," he said. "We need his presence out there defensively. We've had some struggles on defense so he's a guy that can get us back to where we need to be."
The Cardinals have dropped eight straight conference games and are 1-8 since opening the season at 12-5.
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