Ball State head coach Michael Lewis has said his team has struggled with leadership and communication multiple times this season. After today’s 74-71 home-loss to Western Michigan, he was asked about how he and his staff can change that at this point of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) season. 

“It's a great question,” he said. 

After back-to-back MAC losses to Northern Illinois and now to the Broncos, he said defensively, the team has no ‘bite.’ He credited how the offense has played the last 10 games, but his positivity vanished when talking about the other side of the ball. 

“We struggle to compete on being able to fight dribbles and keep [the ball] in front of us,” Lewis said. “We're fouling too much, our ball screen coverage isn't as good as it needs to be, we don't have enough bite defensively and there's not enough attack … We're not disruptive enough.”

But his criticism came down to one statement. 

“We're trying to learn how to play defense,” Lewis said. 

The Cardinals (9-11, 3-5 MAC) opened the game trading buckets with the visiting Broncos (6-14, 3-5 MAC). From the early going, senior center Payton Sparks provided the spark the red and white needed. He finished the game with a double-double — 19 points and 17 rebounds — and had three blocks. Yet, it didn’t matter as Ball State couldn’t capitalize on the performance. 

“We keep shooting ourselves in the foot and we keep beating ourselves,” Sparks said. “That's why we keep losing games like this.”

Throughout the remainder of the contest, Western Michigan led 83.1 percent of the game. But, the Cardinals had multiple chances to take the lead. But they only were able to tie the game four times and last led 11-10 at the 12:29 mark of the first half.  

To redshirt senior forward Mickey Pearson Jr., the game summed up what the season has looked like thus far.

“I feel like [it was] kind of an up-and-down game,” he said. “I guess you would say that maybe [describes] our season, up and down.”

But the problem to Lewis isn’t just on the court and in games. It starts in practice, and much like Pearson Jr. described the nature of the game and season, Lewis said it’s been the same situation behind closed doors. 

“I think we've been way too inconsistent with our effort on a daily basis,” Lewis said. “We had a lot of issues our first year, but those guys were pretty wired up to play and compete. Last year, those guys worked. They gave us what they had [but] we weren't very talented. The thing that I struggle with, personally [about this team] is just the inconsistency in our effort. I can't understand that.

“Good practice, bad practice. Good game, bad game. It's just a roller coaster … We're just trying to focus on winning the next possession. And we're not there yet.”

When asked if he’s seen this effort before in his basketball journey, his answer went beyond the game. Like multiple instances in the past, Lewis discussed how life itself is similar. 

“I had a friend [ask] ‘How do you explain [the] Northern Illinois [loss]?” Lewis said. “Well, they're human, right? It's difficult to show up and be your best every day. It's difficult to be dependable in those situations every day. That's why 99 percent of the world can't do it because it's difficult.

"I'd be interested to see if you did a university roll call today, how many students didn't show up at class today? How many professors canceled class today because they didn't feel like going, how many people took days off or I’m going to work from home. It's really difficult to do it on a daily basis, and I think that's what we're struggling with.”

Though the Cardinals are not in the ballpark according to Lewis, they only have 10 MAC games remaining in the regular season. Their next contest is when they face Buffalo (6-13, 1-6 MAC) Feb. 1 on the road. The game will be played at 5 p.m.

 After that, their next conference game is against the No. 1 seed Akron (15-5, 8-0 MAC). To Lewis, it doesn’t matter who they play. Every negative outcome stings the same. 

“Does this suck right now? Hell yeah, it does,” Lewis said. “Anybody that's ever competed, it eats at you. It's hard for me to sit here right now and keep my composure because it eats at you.” 

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

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