By Coner Hockett
While Billy Taylor said Indiana University was the best team he’s ever prepared for as a coach, scouting doesn’t get much easier with Ball State in arguably its toughest stretch of games this season.
In a span of six days that started Sunday, Ball State’s schedule included games at IU, against Cleveland State and at Butler this Saturday.
Despite the Hoosiers’ dominating 101-53 win, Taylor said the most important thing is preventing a negative attitude from hanging over the Cardinals as they move forward.
“After a game like this we have to have a tremendous amount of resiliency because the week gets no easier for us,” Taylor said. “When we put together the schedule we knew this week would be a challenge for us.”
One of the biggest challenges for Taylor in Ball State’s (2-2) game against Cleveland State (4-2) on Wednesday is getting the team’s Preseason All-Mid-American Conference guard back on track.
Junior Jesse Berry has struggled mightily over the past two games against Indiana State and IU, combining to shoot 4-of-18 from the field with ten turnovers.
Taylor said Berry’s turnovers were mainly unforced against the Hoosiers, but in both games, the errors came early and got him out of rhythm.
“He’s got to settle himself down early in the games,” Taylor said. “He takes those turnovers very personally, which is great from a standpoint of being a leader and being accountable, but he can’t let it get him down and shake his confidence because we need him to be a good player out there.”
Berry is capable of carrying Ball State for stretches, evidenced by his 17 points against Grambling State that led to MAC West Division Player of the Week honors earlier this season.
Taylor said he is surprised about the junior’s poor play recently because he’s been practicing. It all comes down to Berry making the complete transition to point guard, he said.
“We try and encourage him, as soon as we get the ball entered, you should be thinking score,” Taylor said. “It’s the same thing with Jauwan. You should be thinking how can I score, how can I create offense for our team?”
Six Cleveland State players average over eight points per game, but Taylor said the inside-outside punch from sophomores Charlie Lee and Anton Grady drives the offense.
The Vikings have a positive assist-to-turnover ratio with Lee averaging a team-high 5.5 assists per game.
“They have a lot of offensive weapons who can make threes and also break you down,” Taylor said. “We’ve got limit them to one shot because it’s going to be hard to pressure them into a ton of turnovers.”
