sounds like the Cards are chomping at the bit from their practices during the 11-day layoff....good luck on your play.....
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Ball State braces for IU's long-range attack
MUNCIE - Ball State's players and coaches can appreciate the way Indiana plays basketball. The Hoosiers' inside-outside game, which sets up one of the most effective three-point shooting attacks in the Big Ten Conference, is similar to the way the Cardinals played a year ago.
Ball State (5-4) no longer is capable of playing that style, but it hopes having a good understanding of it will help in defending against No. 17 Indiana (8-2) when the teams play at 6 p.m. today in a New Year's Eve clash in Worthen Arena.
Hoosiers coach Mike Davis will miss the game after being suspended one game Monday by the Big Ten for a tirade at a referee at the end of a game against Kentucky on Dec. 21.
"Their perimeter guys remind me of our team last year," said guard Chris Williams, who helped the Cardinals break the Mid-American Conference single-season three-point record. "If they're open, they're going to knock down shots, and we have to work on containing that."
Indiana leads the Big Ten in three-point baskets (87) and three-point attempts (240). Starting guards Bracey Wright (26 of 70 from the three-point line), Tom Coverdale (23 of 63) and Kyle Hornsby (20 of 59) are among the top 11 three-point shooters in the Big Ten.
Twelve of Indiana's top 14 all-time three-point shooting games have come in the past three seasons. The Hoosiers made 13 of 29 threes in their last game, a 71-64 loss on Saturday at Temple.
"Indiana has guys with deep range, they can make plays, and they have great spacing on offense," Cardinals coach Tim Buckley said. "You have to shrink the floor so you don't allow the ball to get inside, but at the same time, you can't shrink it so much that you leave those three-point shooters open."
Wright will be one of the chief targets for the Ball State defense, which has been victimized at times by guards this season.
Wright, a 6-foot-3 freshman from The Colony, Texas, began his career by being named most valuable player in the Maui Invitational. He leads Indiana in scoring at 18.2 points a game.
"If you have pride, you're not going to let a guy just score on you," said Williams, Ball State's scoring leader at 23.1 points a game. "No disrespect to him, he's a great player, but he's a freshman. If you're an older guy, you don't want a guy who doesn't have as much experience to take over."
Ball State will end an 11-day layoff with today's game. The Cardinals have lost two straight games, on the road to Dayton and Xavier of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
"We had 11 days off to get refocused," Williams said. "I think we'll come out and give 110 percent effort. We have no choice."
Inconsistent play, especially on offense, has hindered the Cardinals. They haven't shot better than 40.7 percent from the floor in any of their past four games.
"I'm looking for us to take our practice game to the game floor," Buckley said. "If we do that, I'll give us a chance on any night. In games, at times, we've focused on things that don't matter instead of focusing on things that will make us a pretty good basketball team."
