Struggling men host Ball State today at Rose Arena

A lack of defense has men’s basketball coach Ernie Zeigler still searching for a set rotation near the end of the regular season.

The Chippewas have four Mid-American Conference games remaining, including a 7 p.m. game today against Ball State at Rose Arena, but have yet to find the right mix of players defensively. Zeigler said his team hasn’t defended to its capability since Jan. 26 in its 65-64 win against Akron.

Eleven players are averaging at least 11.2 minutes per game in MAC games for CMU. Central is 10th in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 71.4 points per game.

“We are a program that’s trying to establish an identity,” Zeigler said. “With that being said, it’s very difficult right now for us to have a set lineup, because with our struggles defensively, it’s very hard for me as a coach to say, ‘The same guys are going to start, and you’re not getting it done defensively.’ . We’re here in year two, four MAC games left, it’s still about what our identity is going to be. We’re still struggling to find that.”

Zeigler said evaluating his players is a day-to-day process and comes with building a program. A home game may be just the thing for CMU (10-14, 5-7 MAC) to end its three-game losing streak.

“I think it’s huge to defend your home because of how hard it is throughout the conference to secure road wins,” said Zeigler, whose team is 1-6 on the road in the MAC. “For us, we’d been playing pretty well at home up until our last game against Kent State. I think this is an important game for us to hopefully re-establish ourselves at home.”

Ball State (5-19, 4-8 MAC) had five players in double-figures in its 82-71 win against CMU Jan. 13. Senior forward Anthony Newell, who is averaging 17.5 points per game, led the Cardinals with 19 that game.

The 6-foot, 5-inch Newell has provided a boost for the Cardinals after missing nine games with a broken bone in his foot earlier in the season. BSU went 0-9 without Newell.

“He’s a difficult matchup because he plays the power forward position for them because they have a really small lineup,” Zeigler said. “He’s actually a guard. . He can handle the ball, he can drive it to the basket, he shoots it from the perimeter . he’s just a really hard matchup.”

Ball State was 33-of-51 from the free-throw line last time against Central, with the Cardinals’ last 13 points coming from the line. The Chippewas only managed 9-of-17 from the line.

“We came out kind of lackadaisical against them last time,” said sophomore guard Robbie Harman. “. Our pressure defense, sometimes we get whistled for more fouls than other teams.”

Ball State also outscored CMU 10-0 in fast break points.

“Their record doesn’t show how good they are,” Harman said. “. They’ve played every team close. We just didn’t realize how good of a transition team they were. That’s the big thing we’re going to focus on – cutting down their transition points.”

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