After Ball State fell to Indiana State in Worthen Arena 94-84 in Saturday’s contest, Cardinals’ head coach Michael Lewis was not happy with his team’s outing.

“We couldn't get our bigs or our guards in sync, and when we were doing there, it became a layup drill,” Lewis said. So until we can contain the ball, it's going to be very difficult for us to find ways to win.”

The first media timeout of the game came at the 15:45 minute mark. The play that occurred before the stoppage was what he wanted to see as his roster had five deflections and looked poised. Following that, things changed.

Throughout the game, Indiana State senior guard Samage Teel couldn’t be stopped. He finished the game with 14 points and 11 assists. As a team, the Cardinals had 11 assists themselves.

“Teel has got a little wiggle in him,” Lewis said. “But he's not a jet. He's a good basketball player, that's not what I'm saying. You've got to be able to contain the ball and we're going to have a lot more opportunities this year to play against guards that have a lot more speed, quickness and wiggle to them than him.”

But before Lewis talked about the game, his first words of the media session had nothing to do with basketball, but what news broke this morning; Ball State head football coach Mike Neu’s firing.

Lewis said Neu was one of the first people on campus to reach out when he was hired in the spring of 2022.

“A lot of times, people and fans look at us as commodities so to speak,” Lewis said. “And I'm not worried about Mike, but I do feel for his family because I understand how those things go. I do want to publicly thank Mike for our friendship, which will continue, and the things that he poured into this football program.”

To Lewis, Neu understood things when it came to coaching because it’s something all coaches share. He also believes that the former Ball State football player and head coach wanted everything for his players and the university.

“When you're the football coach and the basketball coach at a university, you're held to higher standards,” he said. “We signed up for that, and that's the business part of it. But I think he did a lot of good things for Ball State.”
But when it came down to his team and his coaching job, Lewis said that he and his staff had failed in getting this team to be where they needed to be. By the second half, the Cardinals had lost their momentum and aggressiveness.

“Why was that? I wish I had the answer,” Lewis said. “That's why this team is poorly coached right now. I don't have that answer. It was just a complete lack of activity, complete lack of aggressiveness and hands.”

While senior Payton Sparks found success – he led with 16 points and seven rebounds – and five total Cardinals had double-figure scoring nights, it still wasn’t good enough for Ball State’s third-year head coach.

One of the other Cardinals in double-figures was freshman guard TJ Burch. He had 14 points and had a steal late in the contest. To him, he’s just trying to find ways to improve.

“I was just playing with the team [and with what] they gave me,” he said. “Just attack the gaps with the flow.”

Ball State will return to Worthen Arena to face Detroit Mercy Wednesday, Nov. 20. The game will be played at 7 p.m.

But to end the press conference, Lewis didn’t talk about their next game. Along with Sparks and Burch, he once again spoke on something else that was also important to the team other than the game: ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Players wore warmup shirts to represent the cause as the matchup was one of the Hoops4ALS two November contests.

“There's a different meaning to it. You just want to go out there and just give it your all,” Lewis said. “Because a lot of people want to be in your shoes and be given the same opportunity. But, you just play your heart out, and that's all you can do, and that's all they want.”

Lewis believes that one of the worst trends in college athletics is the ‘me, me, me’ attitude and hoped that his players learned something from the experience. 

While he didn’t force the team to listen to his background with the disease – Lewis’ former roommate and men’s basketball manager at Indiana University, Andy Murphy, passed away from the disease earlier this year and before his death, helped co-found Hoops4ALS – he wanted them to understand the position they are in as college athletes.

“We have a responsibility to use our platforms to try to help, and it's about others, and it's not about me,” Lewis said. “...In reality, when you're able to help others, I think that's most important. So obviously, we try to raise some awareness and some funds for ALS, trying to try to find a cure.

“I hope these guys look at it from a different perspective. When they have opportunities to use their visibility and things to try to help somebody else or help an organization, you know that they are an example of some people that are trying to do so.”

Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or on X @ZachCarter85.

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