Chemistry, toughness missing in Ball State's loss to Bowling Green

MUNCIE, Ind. — The starting lineup was different. The 1 p.m. tip time was different and the 3-point shooting was so, so much different.

But in Ball State's second Mid-American Conference outing, a 76-71 loss to Bowling Green, the result was the same.

"I'm completely disappointed in our effort and our toughness," coach James Whitford said. "It's not an X-and-O thing for us. We have to get our locker room in order. It's our chemistry right now, that we've got to get together.

"We have a chance to be a good team, but we're wasting it away."

Senior forward Franko House, often referred to as a leader by example, showed up late for shootaround this morning. So Whitford pulled him from the starting lineup and put true freshman Kyle Mallers in his spot. For five minutes the Cardinals played without one of their two best players.

"That's where our problems started," Whitford said. "They mushroomed throughout the course of the day."

3 thoughts: Ball State falls to 0-2 in MAC play

Bowling Green (7-8, 1-1 MAC) didn't trail in the first nine minutes after a Zack Denny steal from Mallers led to a breakaway bucket and a 4-0 lead. Things were tight through most of the first half, but the Cardinals recovered and went into the break with a three-point lead.

Like Whitford said, it wasn't the X's and O's haunting Ball State (9-6, 0-2). Even with a 2-for-3 effort from 3-point range in the first half, his squad held a lead. But it didn't last. Something was off, and it showed. Bowling Green won the second frame 41-33 as it won points in the paint, 26-18, and shot 48.4 percent to Ball State's 39.4 percent.

"It was kind of a weird a game," point guard Tayler Persons, who led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting. "We played at 1 o'clock, so it's like coach talked about, 'The team that's the most ready to play is the team that's going to win' ... credit to Bowling Green, they brought it to us."

Falcons big man Demajeo Wiggings scored 17 on 6-of-11 shooting, while guard Antwon Lillard scored 19 on 7-of-12. They each tallied one of the Falcons' eight blocks.

For Ball State, House put up 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting in his 27 minutes off the bench. Sean Sellers, who hit three of the team's four 3-pointers, scored 11. Highlighted by the struggles of Ryan Weber (0-for-6) and Francis Kiapway (1-of-6), the Cardinals posted a dismal 4-of-25 (16 percent) from 3-point range.

"There are a lot of reasons you can lose a game, and missing 3s is one of them, and that's fine," Whitford said. "But getting outhustled to loose balls, that's not acceptable."

For Sean Sellers, a season that almost wasn't

Despite Ball State's lacking energy, it had two chances at the end of the game to tie the score, trailing 74-71. Persons missed a layup with 18 seconds to play, but Trey Moses (10 points, nine rebounds) hauled in an offensive board and called timeout.

Afterward, Kiapway had a 3-pointer swatted away and out of bounds by Zack Denny with 12 seconds left. The Cardinals last attempt was by Sellers with nine seconds to go, but it was tipped and came up well short.

"It's just, we had some good looks, we ran some good plays that we thought would get good shots," Persons said. "It just didn't work. Sometimes that's basketball, you just don't make shots."

That's just basketball. But this game — this game was different.

"We have to get better, and I've got to find a way to break through, cause I'm not right now," Whitford said. "If we're playing our A-game in march, I think anyone in the league would tell you, 'Those guys have a chance to be a real scary team.'

"But we're not like a little ways away from that, we're a long ways away from that."

Find Ball State reporter Dakota Crawford on Twitter: @DakotaCrawford_.