After a dreadful first half to the season, the Ball State University men's basketball team has righted the ship, leaving many people on campus wondering if this team can pull off a conference title.
The Cardinals didn't pick up their first win until New Year's Eve, almost two months into the season, but they are tied for second place in the Mid-American Conference West division with a MAC record of 2-2.
The Cardinals have been able to turn it around for two major reasons.
First Anthony Newell, perhaps the best player in the entire conference and easily the biggest All-MAC preseason snub, was injured for a large majority of those first two months. If the Cardinals had Newell's 18 points and eight rebounds all season they would be more like 7-9 than the current 3-13.
The other major factor is the team has had more time to adapt to new coach Billy Taylor's system. Going right along with that, Taylor has had more time to figure out what each player can do and put them in the best possible situations.
The question remains; can the Cardinals win a MAC title?
No.
The MAC East has as few as three and as many as five teams that are better than every MAC West team. Let me put it this way the gap between the NBA's two conference's in the early 2000's can't hold a candle to the gap in MAC this season.
The better question is can Ball State win the MAC West. The answer to this question is yes. It's hard to imagine a team that had one out-of-conference victory winning a division title but these Cardinals have the talent to do so.
Ball State is lead by its two-headed monster of Peyton Stovall and the already mentioned Newell. Western Michigan University's coach Steve Hawkins said Stovall and Newell are the best one-two in the MAC.
While the team rallies around these two the Cardinals' season will not be decided by them. Rather everyone else on this Ball State team will determine just how big of a turnaround the Cardinals will make in conference play.
In the Cardinals two MAC losses players not named Stovall or Newell scored 28 of the teams 99 points.
MAC freshman of the year candidates Melvin Goins and Malik Perry, transfer juniors Laron Frazier and Rob Giles, and redshirt freshman Rashaun McLemore will be the ones who determine how successful the Cardinals are in the MAC.
Saturday it was the supporting cast who lead the way against Eastern Michigan University. The Cardinals won 64-60 and non Stovall or Newell players scored 45 of the 64 points lead by Perry's career high 20.
So will Ball State win the MAC West? No. Western Michigan proved last Wednesday by defeating Ball State by 26 on the Cardinals home court that the people who selected the Broncos the MAC West preseason favorite did it with good reason.
However, I see no reason the Cardinals can't place second and from what I saw during their three-game home stand last week I believe they will do just that.
Write to Levin at levintblack@hotmail.com
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