Ball State Bench Statistics
Name Games played Minutes per game Points per game
Zavier Turner 22 30.1 10.0
Rocco Belcaster 25 19.0 4.0
Bik Gill 15 7.9 1.6
Kaleb Mallory 12 8.9 1.2
Against Central Michigan on Feb. 21, the Ball State men's basketball team shot 50 percent from the field, 55.6 percent from behind the arc and went into halftime down five.
Once again, however, the Cardinals' offense struggled in the second half, shooting 8-of-23 from the field in what turned into an 83-60 loss.
“[Central Michigan is] so explosive on offense and they can put points up so fast,” Ball State head coach James Whitford said. “I thought we really got rattled in the second half; all of a sudden the lead jumped to double digits, and at that point we lost our composure.”
The Cardinals have shown they can compete with the top teams in the Mid-American Conference, but have been unable to find the spark to help win a close game.
The Cardinals' subs have scored a total of 10 points in their last two games, all coming in Saturday's loss to Central Michigan. Central Michigan and Kent State scored a total of 28 bench points.
In the past two games, the starters have logged heavy minutes due to a lack of availability off the bench.
Sophomore Zavier Turner and junior Rocco Belcaster are the only players on the bench who average more than 18 minutes per game.
The pair is 3-18 from the field in the team's last two contests.
Turner and Belcaster can both knock down the 3-point shot, but they were a combined 0-7 against Central Michigan and Kent State.
Central Michigan played 12 players and Kent State played nine players against the Cardinals, which can take a toll on the starters, especially in the post.
With injuries and off-the-court issues, Ball State is down to primarily a seven-man rotation. Kentucky, the top ranked team in the nation, has a 10-player rotation that expands in some cases.
The Cardinals rely heavily on Belcaster and Turner due to former starters freshman Jeremie Tyler and senior Matt Kamieniecki being out.
With Kamieniecki returning from lower back spasms, Ball State has more options with junior Bo Calhoun, who has stepped in as the starting center.
"That's when we have fall-offs and that's the part we have to get better at," Whitford said. "One of the things that Kamienicki being back helps us with is as soon as he responds well for us, he will start and it takes someone like Bo [Calhoun] ... coming of the bench and I think that strengthens our second unit."
Calhoun will help establish a second unit that includes junior Bik Gill, a transfer from Owens Community College, and second-year guard Kaleb Mallory.
Approaching the end of the regular season and the MAC tournament, Ball State will look to make the most of its second unit to put together some victories.
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