The Eagles (17-9) had a hard challenge to face in the championship. They were playing New Castle (14-12) on their home turf. But right out of the gates, that did not matter to them.
Ball State Women's Basketball (24-7, 14-4 MAC) defeated Miami (Ohio) (12-19, 7-11 MAC) 77-68 in the final regular season contest for either side. The No. 3 seed Cardinals are set to play in the fourth game of March 8's slate of games against the No. 6 seed Akron (17-12 8-10 MAC) in the MAC Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.
One player that has stood out during this stretch is junior Jackson Wors. He led the Eagles with a career-high 27 points in their first-round win over the Bulldogs. But one thing that some might not know is that he has to wear a brace around his right shoulder during games and practices. Over the summer, Wors dislocated his shoulder.
“This is something I’ve dreamed about,” Fisher, a senior, said. “I’ve been at [Muncie] Burris my whole life, since kindergarten, and I’ve been coming to these basketball games. I know this group [of seniors] has always wanted to get to this moment.”
“We didn't come up with the same fire that we had at Akron, which is disappointing,” Ball State Men’s Basketball head coach Michael Lewis said. “We got to figure that out between now and Thursday.”
Friday was the last home non-conference match of the 2023 season for Ball State women’s tennis team, who continued its winning ways. The Cardinals defeated the Butler Bulldogs (2-9) in a 6-1 win
It’s Thursday, Febuary 23. The last practice before Wes-Del’s final regular season game against Elwood. Warriors head coach John McGlothin blows his whistle after each minute and tells his team to switch shooters. The Warriors are partner shooting. “We do it at least three times a week,” McGlothin said. “Lots of shots, working on our individual game…I felt like when I was a younger coach, my teams didn’t take enough time just getting shots up.” For the winningest coach in Wes-Del history, this is what the winter weeknights have looked like for the last 30 years. But following the 2022-23 season, that routine will end with his retirement.
“We’ve been working really hard this season, and the previous semester as well to get to this point,” Kelly said. “The credit all goes to the players. They’re all really passionate and they put in their work.”
At a preseason get-together in Indianapolis, Michael Lewis was talking with a group of alumni and donors about the upcoming Ball State Men’s Basketball season, which would be his first as head coach of the program. A question was posed to Lewis, one that would kick off a revolution in the 2022-23 season: How can the Cardinals get butts in seats at Worthen Arena and build ‘The Nest,’ Worthen Arena’s student section? His idea, one he admitted may have made University President Geoffrey Mearns and Ball State Legal Services a little nervous, was pretty simple: free beer.
This season, the Cardinals won their 20th game Feb. 21 in a highly anticipated matchup with Kent State, who was first in the conference at the time. It is the first 20-win season in the last six. With victories over Toledo and Akron, who currently sit first and third in MAC standings respectively, Lewis’ squad is looking to make waves in the conference tournament.
For Ball State Women’s Basketball, a MAC Championship means everything. For Estel Puiggros, it means even more.
Wapahani blew by Monroe Central 76-33 in the first round of sectionals. In the victory, the Raiders hit 17 three-pointers.
“It was good to get it in three,” head coach Donan Cruz said after No. 12 Ball State Men’s Volleyball swept Central State in straight sets (25-16, 25-9, 25-19) Wednesday.
In the second to last road game of the season, Ball State Women's Basketball (23-7, 13-4 MAC) was defeated by Bowling Green (25-4, 14-3 MAC) 81-76 in overtime. The Cardinals return to action in the final game of the regular season against Miami (OH) (12-18, 7-10 MAC) Mar. 4 at 1 p.m.
The Muncie Burris Owls went 8-14 in the regular season. They lost their first eight games of the season. But last night, that record and streak flew out the window as the Owls defeated Winchester Community in the first round of sectionals.
The Cardinals traveled down to Dorado Beach Resort and Club (TPC) Sugarcane Course in Puerto Rico. The five-person roster consisted of graduate student Joey Ranieri, sophomore Kash Bellar, redshirt sophomore Griffin Hare, redshirt sophomore Ali Khan, and freshman Carter Smith.
This tournament will be the first one in a very long time that we see a different Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in the men’s tournament. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, one of the game’s most legendary coaches has stepped away from coaching, so this will be the first ACC tournament we see without Coach K on the bench. The powerhouse programs of the ACC like Duke and North Carolina have taken a step backward and this has allowed other teams to take advantage. Pittsburgh, Miami and Virginia have taken their places this year amongst the ACC’s elite and are looking to capitalize.
It might be Déjà vu with the way this tournament is playing out so far, but it’s playing out like a movie script in a way. The top two seeds in each tournament feature the two teams who finished last year in the championship rounds of the men’s and women’s tournaments. These teams are all ranked in the top 10 teams in the nation, and all have solid basketball histories of glory and championships. Obviously, rematches are always fun, but there is something about PAC-12 rematches that are just so special. In that third game in a neutral site, you never know for sure who’s going to take the third and final round of the series, and that is what makes this tournament such a fun one to watch.
No matter the odds, always bet on the Big 12 to deliver an amazing Tournament, as this tournament features some of the best basketball programs in the nation. Especially this year. Heading into this year’s Big 12 tournament, both tournaments have a combined total of eight teams in the Top 25 in each of their respective brackets. It also features two of last year’s and this year’s favorites to win the national title. The Big 12 tournament always starts out with really high expectations from the start, but what about this year?
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is always one of the most competitive conferences every year and it provides us with some of the most talented teams in the nation. However, the SEC this year is THE conference to beat this year in both Men’s and Women’s college basketball. On the men’s side, we have Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M and even Missouri all fighting for the SEC crown, and in women’s? South Carolina looks for redemption for last year and to come away with the SEC title to avenge last year’s miserable defeat.
