Despite three straight losses and a 3-16 overall record, the Ball State University men's basketball team thinks its season is far from over.
"We're not down," senior guard Peyton Stovall said. "Nobody likes to lose, but we've just got to continue to work in practice and get better."
The Cardinals will need to get better quickly as Miami University visits at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Miami is the third consecutive team on Ball State's schedule that will enter the game having won its previous two contests. The RedHawks have won three of their last four games since an 0-3 start to Mid-American Conference play.
The RedHawks are led by preseason all-MAC forward Tim Pollitz, who is averaging 16.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while shooting 55 percent from the floor, ranking him in the top 10 in the league.
However, Pollitz's 6-foot-5-inch height will provide less of a defensive mismatch for Ball State's Malik Perry than many big men the Cardinals have faced this season.
Ball State coach Billy Taylor said the Cardinals, while discouraged by the losses, remain confident that there is time to turn it around.
"They're disappointed that we haven't had as much success as we would like," Taylor said. "But we have so many games left in league play. I think our kids have continued to believe that there's a lot of time to correct the problems that we have."
A main problem for Ball State on Wednesday night against Bowling Green State University was penetrating a zone defense. Attempts to break the pressure from the inside with junior forward Anthony Newell were not met with success, as Newell shot four of 13 from the floor and was repeatedly swallowed up by double-teams.
"It throws you off a little bit," Stovall said of the zone. "As soon as we got the ball inside, they'd double-team him. But we've got to knock down shots."
Newell fell from first to second in the MAC in scoring after Wednesday's game, as Western Michigan University's David Kool surpassed Newell with 18 points per game to Newell's 17.6 in league games.
Among Miami's nine victories this year are wins against Mississippi State University and the University of Illinois, the last of which came on the road.
The Cardinals and RedHawks tip off at 2 p.m. Saturday.
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