In the first half of today’s game against Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponent Bowling Green, Ball State men’s basketball seemed to be doing everything head coach Michael Lewis asked of them. In the first 15 minutes, the Cardinals forced nine Falcon turnovers and led 42-26 at halftime.
“I thought the first half was as intentional and as purposeful as we've played on both ends of the court [this season],” Lewis said. “I thought we executed offensively [and] attacked in the way that we wanted. I thought defensively, we followed a game plan with urgency and intensity that put us in a position to win the game”
He was correct as Ball State went on to down the Falcons 91-69. It’s the sixth time the Cardinals have held an opponent under 70 points, and in those games, they are undefeated.
“We had good ball movement tonight,” redshirt senior forward Mickey Pearson Jr. said.
“I feel like we got stops that let us get out in transition and attack the offensive glass as well. It's fun playing like that.”
The contest started with the Cardinals (8-7, 2-1 MAC) jumping to a 6-2 lead. Ten minutes later, the red and white led 23-12, and for the rest of the period, they never looked back. Behind the big lead was a mix of positive offensive possessions. One Cardinal that stood out was senior center Payton Sparks.
Coming off of a double-double – 20 points and 16 rebounds – in the loss to Miami, the 6-foot 10-inch big man did it again with back-to-back double-doubles. In today’s game, he recorded 19 points and 13 rebounds. After leaving Ball State for Indiana University for the 2023-24 season, Sparks hit the transfer portal after one lone season with the Hoosiers.
These performances are just part of what Lewis expected when his staff brought Sparks back to Ball State.
“I didn't bring him back here for funsies … [It’s also] what he means to the university, right?” Lewis said. “For one, what he means to the community because of who he was when he was here [before]. Not only the player, but you move around the community [and you see] how many people are like, ‘Hey, I saw Payton here or I saw Payton there.’
“They just love him. If he wasn't that person, we wouldn't have brought him back. But when you combine that type of person with what he can provide as a player, and then [look at] the work he's done and the growth that he's had from the beginning of the season to here. His progression has kind of mimicked our team's progression. So he gets better and better.”
To Sparks, his mentality and mindset for today’s game was simple.
“I was just trying to be dominant,” Sparks said. “Just trying to set the tone [around] the glass or just in the post. I was just trying to help my team in the best way.”
After halftime, the Cardinals struggled to find the energy they had to begin the game. It didn’t favor Ball State as the Falcons (6-9, 1-2 MAC) started to mix zone defense in with their man-to-man scheme, causing issues for the red and white’s poise on offense.
“We didn't do a great job of attacking that early,” Lewis said. “Once we settled in and got what we wanted, I thought our defensive intensity rose again. But we got to just be more disciplined in executing, especially as the game wears on in the second half.”
Though their performance in the second period took time to find momentum, once the Cardinals did return to their first-half selves, they continued the success. Throughout the game, it was a physical game and multiple possessions saw fouls at the rim and players falling to the ground.
After receiving a technical foul for arguing with the officials with seven minutes left to play, Falcons head coach Todd Simon received another technical foul. He was ejected with a minute left after saying something to the officials once again.
Ball State had six double-digit scorers in Sparks (19), Pearson (16), junior guard Juanse Gorsitio (16, four 3-pointers), graduate student guard Jeremiah Hernandez (14), junior guard Jermahri Hill (12) and graduate student guard Ethan Brittain-Watts (10). The Cardinals finished the game going 33-for-56 from the field (58.9 percent), 18-for-22 from the free-throw line (81.8 percent) and led for 93.4 percent of the contest.
When Lewis was constructing this roster, this is what his vision looked like.
“Like I said after the Kent State game, there were some glimpses, and we saw it again today of what I envision this team being when we put it together,” Lewis said. “The challenge, which is a huge challenge for everybody, is ‘Okay, that's great. Do it again, and do it again.’
“I thought our effort was pretty good against Miami, but we had some mental breakdowns that cost us the game in the second half. So we had a few of those things creep up again today. So now, [it’s about whether or not] we can get more consistent in our overall attention to detail, accompanied with the effort to be able to win games.”
The Cardinals will face that challenge when they travel to Ohio Tuesday, Jan. 14. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.
Read More
2024 Hoosier Survey Results
By Staff Reports / 16 hours agoThe 2024 Hoosier Survey by Ball State’s Bowen Center for Public Affairs identifies Indiana residents’ top policy priorities in the new year.
