With a school-record 20 losses on the line, Ball State University's men's basketball team is looking for a win against one of the Mid-American Conference's top teams.
The Cardinals (9-19, 5-9 MAC) will travel to Savage Hall to play the University of Toledo (16-11, 12-2 MAC), where they have not won since 2002. Toledo is 8-1 at home this season and 6-0 at Savage Hall against MAC opponents. Ball State lost 62-60 in its Jan. 6 game against Toledo; however, the Cardinals know this game will not be easy.
"They are in a rhythm right now," coach Ronny Thompson said. "The team that we played here is a totally different team now, in terms of their mindset, in terms of their approach. They have kind of clicked. You can tell they are a group of players that have played together for a long time."
The Cardinals, meanwhile, have struggled lately, dropping four of their last five contests. A loss to Toledo would give Ball State 20 losses for the first time since 1971, tying a school record. The Cardinals would then need to win 11 straight games, including the MAC Tournament and the national championship to avoid setting the school record in Thompson's first season.
"You don't go into a year saying 'Oh yeah, we're going to lose 20 games this year,'" Thompson said. "We knew this year was going to be a retooling, rebuilding year. We knew there were going to be rough pockets, we knew there were going to be struggles. I don't think any coach in America goes 'Oh yeah, we're going to lose 20 games this year.'"
One of the biggest struggles for Ball State has been shooting. The Cardinals are shooting 38.6 percent this season, ranking 331st out of 336 teams.
"I think a lot of times we've missed easy shots that there's no way in the world that we wouldn't convert at times," Thompson said. "I think the shooting has been an Achilles' heel for us this year."
Skip Mills will be playing in one of his final games as a Cardinal, with just two games remaining in the regular season. His senior year has not gone as well as his junior year. After being the highest scoring returning player this season, his points per game has fallen five-and-a-half points this season, and he has topped his 2006 points per game average of 18.6 four times this season.
"He's going to come around," senior Chris Ames said. "It might be these last two games and in the tournament. It'll be crazy for whoever is guarding him."
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