Ball State men’s basketball is finally putting the pieces together.
After starting the season 4-13 with losses in their first five Mid-American Conference games, the Cardinals have put together their first winning streak since their first two games of the season. Ball State (7-13, 3-5 MAC) topped Northern Illinois, 58-53, at home Saturday, Jan. 24, to pick up their third consecutive victory.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Ball State coach Michael Lewis said. “I thought our defense, I think can continue to improve, but to hold a team to 34% and 53 points is a pretty good effort. We needed it because we struggled to find the basket, but to be able to win the game when the ball wasn’t going in, it was really good for us.”
It was by far the MAC’s most defensive game of the season so far. The 111 combined points between the Cardinals and Huskies represented the lowest-scoring MAC game this year and the lowest since Miami (Ohio) and Eastern Michigan put up a whopping 89 total points on March 2, 2024. It also marked the third MAC game in the last three years in which both teams failed to reach 60 points.
It was exactly the gritty, defensive sort of win that Ball State has pulled out for three games in a row now. The Cardinals’ 69.8 points per game allowed represents the MAC’s best scoring defense, and the players have adopted a defense-first mentality as of late.
“To be honest, we don’t really worry about offense too much,” said junior guard Armoni Zeigler. “Coaches been telling us, defense is going to win the game. We know we can score, but you win a game with stops, so we’ve got to get the stops, listen to coach, and everything’s going to come right.”
For a guy not worried about offense, Zeigler has been on quite the tear recently.
He broke out with a 30-point performance in a road loss to Akron on Jan. 13, then followed it up with 28 in Ball State’s first MAC win over Ohio on Jan. 16. He tied for the team-high 17 points at Central Michigan on Jan. 20 and made the game-saving play, knocking a loose ball down the court as time expired to secure a 68-67 road win.
Zeigler once again tied for the team-lead with 18 points on Saturday and knocked down four of the Cardinals’ five made triples.
Lewis joked that Zeigler was “full of it” (and he may have used a word other than “it”) when he heard what the junior guard said about his defensive focus, but he commended the St. Peter’s transfer for absorbing coaching and holding his teammates accountable.
“I’ve challenged him,” Lewis said. “These guys have come here for different reasons, looking for different things or looking for more. There’s accountability that comes with that, there’s responsibility that comes with that, and I think those guys, they’ve got to want that. You can’t run away from it. You can’t shy from it. You asked for this, right? Here it is man, what are you going to do with it?
“I think a couple of those guys are starting to rise to the challenge of becoming what I would say is a pretty good college basketball player at our level, and so that’s fun, and it is a little bit rewarding to know he hears a couple things that come through.”
Zeigler isn’t the only Cardinals guard to have broken out recently. Redshirt sophomore Davion Hill has come off the bench since Dec. 29 but is averaging 14.5 points per game in that span. Hill is also a crucial playmaker, ranking second on the team with 2.3 assists per game. And despite his smaller stature at 6-foot-2, he has also become one of the most impactful Cardinals on the boards with 4.2 rebounds per game.
In Saturday’s win, Hill tied Zeigler’s team-high with 18 points and added eight rebounds and three assists to lead the team in both of those categories. Hill also scored or assisted on all of the Cardinals’ last 10 points, scoring three tough layups to help maintain the lead and then dumping one down to Kayden Fish for a thunderous dunk with a minute left. He also hit two free throws with five second left to put the game on ice.
Hill and Zeigler have become quite the dynamic duo in the Cardinals’ backcourt, and their growing chemistry has given a struggling offense signs of life.
“Coaches made it a big point for me and Armoni to play off each other,” Hill said. “I think early in the season, there would be some of the games where Armoni was rolling and I was having a hard time getting going, or vice versa. Just us trying to play off each other and hold each other accountable. Armoni’s been getting onto me, I think I’ve got to get onto him a little more.”
The win had added importance for Ball State, as the game was used to honor the 40-year anniversary of the 1985-86 men’s basketball team, which won the MAC Tournament and appeared in the NCAA Tournament.
According to Lewis, it was the first time the members of that team had gathered back at Ball State in the 40 years since that season, and he was glad that his team was able to give them a win in their return to Muncie.
“To be able to win three in a row, really happy that they have that experience, and obviously, to be able to compete and play in a way that I think the 85-86 team would be proud of,” Lewis said. “That’s what I told our guys. The thing at halftime was great, but you get a chance to honor 85-85 by how you play and how you compete, so just go out there and compete your butt off playing a way that they would be proud of.”
Ball State will look to keep the win streak going when the Cardinals visit Toledo on Saturday, Jan. 31. Tip off between the Cardinals and Rockets is set for noon ET.
Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Ball State basketball wins its third-straight with victory over NIU
Reporting by Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
