Ball State University
Toledo
Men's Hoops Falls to MAC West Leader Toledo
February 07, 2015 | Men's Basketball
By Doug Zaleski
BallStateSports.com
There was a time when Ball State could lay claim to a powerful hold on Toledo in men's basketball games played in Worthen Arena.
From the time the building opened in January 1992, the Cardinals beat the Rockets 18 times in a 21-game stretch through February 2011. A third of those wins were by 15 points or more.
Toledo is trying hard to make things more even. A 72-61 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon was Toledo's fourth in a row at Worthen, and it was one the Mid-American Conference West-leading Rockets (15-8, 7-3 MAC) were happy to get.
"This is a really good road win; I was awfully nervous coming in," Kowalczyk said. "I know how good Franko House is and Zavier Turner, and I think Sean Sellers is the best freshman in this league. Our guys were really ready against a team that's pretty good."
The loss was the eighth straight for Ball State, which fell to 7-14 overall, 2-8 in the MAC.
"Toledo came out on a mission, really locked in and jumped out in a huge way," Cardinals coach James Whitford said. "I thought we were as equally unfocused (early). We didn't defend at all. I would put that first half at as bad as we've played all year."
The Rockets' .532 field-goal percentage in an unfamiliar arena continued an unsettling theme for the Cardinals in recent games.
The previous three opponents in Worthen – Ohio, Kent State and Buffalo – plus Toledo combined to shoot 52.2 percent on the Cardinals' home court.
Toledo shot 65.2 percent in the opening half, with 10 of its 15 baskets coming inside.
"To their credit, I could see it in them; they came ready," Whitford said. "You can see when a team is dialed in and focused, and they jumped out of the gate. They look to me like a team on a mission to get to the NCAA Tournament. They came out today and played like it.
"And equally it was us. … There are all the excuses under the sun, but there's none that can justify the way we played in the first half on defense."
The Cardinals, who made 11 turnovers in the first half, trailed 42-27 at the break. They closed the deficit to nine points on three occasions in the second half but never really threatened the Rockets.
Ball State's best offensive weapon, the 3-point shot, was off kilter. The Cardinals ranked 34th in the country entering the game with 8.1 made 3-pointers per game. They hit just 6-of-32 from the arc against Toledo.
Whitford said he thought 20 of the 32 attempts probably had the kind of ball movement (going inside before coming back out) that he desires.
"I thought it was a combination of not having a particularly good shooting day, which happens … but I certainly thought we forced some," he said.
Sellers, the Cardinals' best shooter from the arc who is tied for second in the MAC in 3-point percentage, made just 1-of-6 long shots.
"We had a huge emphasis on being there with high hands," Kowalczyk said of his team's perimeter defense. "They run really good offensive sets and a system to get those guys open shots and open 3's. Zavier Turner and Sean Sellers are really good 3-point shooters, and (Jeremiah) Davis is capable. And the other freshman, (Francis) Kiapway is a dangerous shooter as well."
House led the Cardinals' offense with 19 points, making 6-of-8 shots and 7-of-8 free throws. Davis added 12 points and logged a season high with four steals. Kiapway had 11 points.
Toledo's Julius Brown led all scorers with 24 points.
The Cardinals played without starting post player Matt Kamieniecki, who missed the final 35 minutes of Wednesday's game against Buffalo with a back injury. He is the Cardinals' leading rebounder in MAC games, averaging 8.4.
Whitford said Kamieniecki is day to day, but won't play again until he's healthy.
"With an injury like he has, it could be between 48 hours and 3 weeks," Whitford said. "When we feel like he's healthy, we'll play him. He wants to play. It's been my decision to shut him down."
Ball State will play at Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) Tuesday. The game can be seen on ESPN3.
