Ball State men’s basketball lost its home contest Wednesday night against Detroit Mercy 70-59. The Titans came into the game coming off a loss against Toledo and the Cardinals were also looking to get back in the win column after a ten-point home loss to Indiana State Nov. 16.
The Cardinals dropped another game, making it three-straight losses, and things do not seem to be improving. With a five-game road trip coming up, it will be interesting to see what head coach Michael Lewis and his team can do moving forward.
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
Sloppy and unproductive offensive first half
The first 10 to 15 minutes of the first half blatantly did not look good for the Cardinals. They looked confused on offense and could not seem to get things rolling early on. The rotations and substitutions were off and everyone seemed unprepared to open up the contest.
Lewis subbed senior center Payton Sparks out at the 18:03 mark for senior center Ben Hendriks. Sparks was then subbed back in at the 18:00 minute mark and Hendriks was back in again with 17:38 on the clock.
In the first half, Ball State shot 33.3 percent from the field and just 18.2 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Add in the fact the misses were not close and a couple were airballs, and that number gets even worse. Five Cardinals did not hit a single shot from the field and those five players combined to be 0-for-9. Pre-season All-MAC center Payton Sparks put up one shot but was two-for-six from the charity stripe. Redshirt senior forward Mickey Pearson Jr. led the Cardinals with eight first-half points.
Bench continues to contribute energy despite the loss
Junior transfer Jaunse Gorosito picked up where he left off against Indiana State in providing a much-needed spark off the bench. Gorosito put up 11 bench points against Indiana State and added 12 tonight. He led the team from deep and was 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Gorostio was 4-for-6 from the field and added two rebounds, an assist and two steals in 19 minutes off the bench.
The energy emitted from Gorosito outside of his scoring and shot-making capabilities. One of his assists led to a second-half and-one bucket from Pearson Jr. that got the fans in Worthen on their feet. He continued to make plays on defense and made a few big plays here and there although getting himself into foul trouble.
Also coming off the bench was graduate student transfer Jeremiah Hernandez who provided six points an assist and two steals. Hernandez was also a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Hernandez played 19 minutes and was relatively clean on the floor with no fouls and just one turnover.
Freshman guard TJ Burch continued to shine as well, putting up six points and shooting 2-for-5 from the field in limited minutes. Burch knocked down one 3-pointer to add to his total. He also tallied a steal while turning the ball over once.
Poor rebounding and too many mistakes
Detroit Mercy out-rebounded Ball State 40-to-30 and 13-to-6 on the Titans' offensive half.
The Cardinals gave up too many second-chance points and were bullied in the paint as Detroit Mercy scored 30 points in the paint compared to Ball State’s 24.
To add insult to injury, the Titans scored 17 points off turnovers compared to the 10 Ball State scored. Detroit Mercy did give up one more turnover than the Cardinals but Ball State was not as productive in turning those takeaways into points.
Ball State will hit the road to take on Eastern Kentucky in the Gulf Coast Showcase Nov. 25. Tip-off is scheduled for noon from Estero, Florida.
Contact Logan Connor via email at logan.connor@bsu.edu or via X @_loganconnor
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