Ball State men’s basketball has played the Mid-American Conference’s (MAC) No. 1 seed Akron twice this season. The first time was an 81-73 road defeat Feb. 4. The second time was this evening after the Cardinals fell to the Zips 87-82.
After the game, there was one thing players and head coach Michael Lewis agreed on, and it’s something that’s been an issue all season; defense.
“The consistency in which we compete defensively, it's got to be better,” Lewis said. “...We've shown the ability to do it in small stretches. It's been too difficult for us over a 40-minute game to stack possessions together to beat a team of that caliber.”
The contest began with the Cardinals (14-14, 7-8 MAC) and Zips (22-6, 14-1 MAC) trading baskets. Ball State had a 16-15 lead at the 13:45 mark of the first half, but that was the last time they led the game. Following that, the Zips couldn’t miss. They finished the half shooting 18-for-33 (54.5 percent) and the red and white struggled to match that, trailing at halftime 47-39.
But while they gave credit to Akron, the Cardinals believe their mindset wasn’t in the right place during the stretch.
“We come out with the right mindset in terms of communication [and] being everywhere on defense, the game probably ends a little differently,” graduate student Ethan Brittain-Watts said. “They definitely don't get [almost] 90 points. I can guarantee you that.”
Britain-Watts said the poor communication and execution on defense is fixed in practice. However, Lewis said it doesn’t help when players don’t do what they’re asked.
“You gotta be loud, you gotta be decisive and you gotta do what you say,” Lewis said. “You can't yell switch and then not switch … You can't be guessing, and we're guessing too much.”
While the Cardinals’ first-half defensive miscues did not aid them, their second-half effort was different. Though Ball State dropped the matchup, the red and white outscored the Zips 43-40 in the half while both teams shot 16-for-34 (47.1) from the floor.
However, two other factors held the Cardinals back. Senior center Payton Sparks struggled to penetrate the Zips’ defense, only scoring three points. The other hiccup was the bench-point difference. Akron had 42 while the red and white only recorded 13.
Though that was an issue, freshman guard TJ Burch had positive minutes, scoring seven points and recording two assists.
“Burch gave us a real lift off the bench,” Lewis said. “He's been working in practice. He's had a great attitude [and] he continues to get better … What I'm most proud of is his two assists. He made some drives and got guys some good looks. For him, personally, [that] is progress. I'm not sure he would have made those passes a month ago.”
Leading the Cardinals was junior guard Jermahri Hill with 26 points. Following him was redshirt senior forward Mickey Pearson Jr. with 24 points and nine rebounds.
“We kept fighting [and] I liked the fight [and] our spirit,” Lewis said. “I thought we did a lot of good things offensively … There are a few possessions I’d like to get back where I felt like we tried to hit a home run instead of just continuing [to execute]. That's the best defense in our league and we just hung 82 [points] and we were just kind of ho-hum offensively.”
With three games left in the MAC — Ball State will next play Bowling Green on the road Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m. — the Cardinals are in a three-way with Eastern and Western Michigan for sixth place. To punch their ticket for the MAC Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, Brittain-Watts believes it comes down to one thing.
“If we defend, we [can] compete with anybody,” he said.
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.
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