By Mark Bennett
It was a hard thing for Kelyn Block and his
Indiana State teammates to watch.
Ball State forward Theron Smith stood politely
dribbling away the final seconds of a game that was out of reach
for the Sycamores. A solid defensive job against the nation's
21st-ranked college basketball team had not been enough.
Only 19 of ISU's 50 shots dropped in the basket.
That's 38 percent. And so, the Sycamores lost their fourth consecutive
game, 68-54 to Ball State on Saturday afternoon in Hulman Center.
The problem isn't new. In fact, ISU is shooting
39 percent for the season. And so, the Sycamores are now 2-8
for the first time since 1993.
Coach Royce Waltman and his staff are stumped,
trying to find a cure.
"It's either you don't have good enough
skilled players, your players are not trying to execute, or you
them set up the wrong way based on their skills. And I'm not
sure what that is," Waltman said. "The only one we
can control is setting them up. And we have tinkered with that
and tinkered with that, probably to our detriment.
"But the empty possessions it would
be easy to say, we just can't shoot," he continued. "But
that just doesn't help us. That may be the real reason. But as
coaches, we're trying to find a way to tinker and put something
together where we can score a little bit more."
The off-target shooting seemed to ISU's missing
link Saturday.
When the Sycamores hit crucial shots, they
played evenly with Ball State (7-3). Their finest moments came
in the final six minutes of the first half. That stretch began
with a 10-2 Sycamore run that tied the score at 30-30. Marcus
Howard lobbed in a 3-pointer. Terence Avery drove past Cardinal
7-footer Lonnie Jones for a layup. Matt Berry banked in a layup
on a fastbreak triggered by teammate Matt Broermann's rebound
and outlet pass. And then Block smacked down a layup attempt
by Ball State guard Chris Williams, which led to a Broermann
3-pointer.
The game was a deadlock.
Rob Owens hit a jumper for Ball State. Avery
dropped in a baby hook for ISU. And then ISU's defense stopped
the Cardinals final first-half possession, when tight defense
by Howard forced Ball State star Patrick "Petey" Jackson
to travel and the score was 32-32 at the break.
"At the end of the first half is when
we played the best [defensively] and created a few turnovers,"
Waltman said. "But you just have enough empty possessions
on offense, and your defense wilts a little bit."
Those empty possessions multiplied after halftime.
Four Sycamore regulars failed to hit a field goal in the second
half, and two others converted just one field goal in the final
20 minutes.
The lack of scoring spoiled a seemingly effective
defensive night for Indiana State. Only three other teams had
held the Cardinals under 80 points this season. And all three
of those other teams -- Duke, Indiana and Butler -- beat Ball
State. ISU also forced the Cardinals into 17 turnovers. Only
Duke's defense topped that, drawing 18 Ball State turnovers.
"We had a few key stops. We realized
that we can stop people," Block said. "We just have
to go down to the other end and take our time, either get the
ball inside or get a good shot."
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| Tangled: Indiana State's
Djibril Kante (3) tries to block a shot by Ball State's Chris
Williams. |
That happened on the opening play of the second
half. Block stole a pass by Jones, and wound up driving past
the Ball State defense for a layup and a 32-30 ISU lead. But
when Jackson and Williams sank back-to-back 3-pointers for the
Cardinals, the Sycamores could not respond. Instead, it took
ISU more than five minutes to hit its next field goal.
"We just can't have that many empty possessions
against a team that scores like that and expect to be able to
beat them," Waltman said.
Defense kept his Sycamores close, but they
never led again.
"The biggest key for us in the game was
the [defensive] stops we had at the beginning of the second half,"
said Ball State Coach Tim Buckley.
The Cardinals, averaging 89 points per game,
realized the unusual nature of their victory.
"This was a low-scoring game, and we
pulled one out," said Williams, who scored 15 points. "The
scouting report's out on us. The games we've lost this year have
been low-scoring."
His coach agreed. "When you play a really
good defensive team, it's always a grinder," Buckley said.
Indeed, the Sycamores held all five Cardinal
starters below their season scoring averages. Jackson, averaging
just under 20 points per game, finished with 19, while Williams
scored 15, Smith 14, Jones six and freshman guard Matt McCollom
two.
But Smith also grabbed 16 rebounds as Ball
State held a 35-30 edge in that category. ISU senior Djibril
Kante grabbed 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes of action. Still,
Ball State's defense limited Kante to just one point. Block led
the Sycamores with 17 points, and Avery added 13.
"We got Kelyn on track for a little bit
tonight, and for a while it looked like we could ride that,"
Waltman said. "But we really aren't very efficient on offense."
The Sycamores have a week to rest for the
holidays and prepare for their final non-conference game, a Dec.
29 matchup with Bowling Green at 2:05 p.m. Saturday in Hulman
Center, while Ball State plays another Top 25 opponent, Oklahoma
State, that same day.
Block thinks Saturday's defensive effort and
a more spirited display in Wednesday's 72-58 loss at Wyoming
are signs that better days are ahead.
"We've gotten a lot better these last
couple games. These last couple games we've come together as
a team, even though we've lost. We've been fighting all 40 minutes,"
Block said. "That's something we weren't doing."
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