Ball State Ends Bulls' Winning Streak

Almost two years ago to the day, Ball State halted a record nine game-winning streak by the men's basketball team. On Saturday afternoon, this year's squad couldn't find a way to stop history from repeating itself.

The Bulls' (14-7, 6-3 Mid-American Conference) defense was one step behind the Cardinals (14-8, 6-3 MAC) throughout the game en route to a 71-70 loss in Muncie, Ind. Buffalo's season-best six-game winning streak was snapped in the loss.

Ball State shot the lights out at Worthen Arena, and that, combined with an abysmal defensive effort by the Bulls, made things difficult on head coach Reggie Witherspoon's team.

Allowing a team to shoot 54 percent from the field and 53 percent from long range isn't a good recipe for winning on the road, according to Witherspoon.

"To start the game, we put ourselves in a hole, and then we wear ourselves out and can't get any stops," Witherspoon said. "It's something we've been talking about and talking about and we come out and play poorly defensively."

The loss came despite another amazing performance by junior guard Zach Filzen, who played all 40 minutes in the game. The sharpshooter continues to carry the Bulls and posted a new career-high in points with 26 in the loss. He hit four 3-pointers and now has 76 on the season.

Filzen also provided a spark on the defensive end, even though the Bulls struggled in that area. He recorded a career-high five steals and seemed to spark Buffalo at times in the game when the team needed it most.

The Bulls played sloppy basketball throughout the game and didn't do themselves any favors in the first half, as they recorded nine turnovers. Buffalo was trying to fit balls into spaces that weren't there. Witherspoon knows his team has to eliminate mistakes, especially when playing away from Alumni Arena.

"Even though we didn't have a lot of turnovers, [the ones we did have] were almost completely unforced," Witherspoon said. "We came out stubborn and forced passes that weren't there."

Ball State controlled the play in the first half, but Buffalo made a nice run before the break. Trailing 30-24 with just under four minutes left, Filzen and sophomore guard Tony Watson combined for three quick 3-pointers to give the Bulls their first lead since the opening basket.

But the Cardinals snuck in a last-second layup and went to the locker room up 38-37.

The Bulls would re-take the lead early in the second half and would hold the lead for most of the remaining minutes of the game. Junior forward Dave Barnett was set up perfectly by junior forward Mitchell Watt on a backdoor cut to give the Bulls the lead at 39-38.

Junior forward Titus Robinson then energized the Bulls even further with a giant slam-dunk off of a miss by Filzen. Buffalo led 41-38 at that point and seemed to have taken control of the game.

Robinson turned in his best performance of the season for the Bulls and tied a career-high with 16 points. He also had five rebounds, and Witherspoon hopes the struggling big man will start to round into form.

"He had pretty good energy, and hopefully Titus is coming around," Witherspoon said.

The Bulls took a 66-63 lead with around five minutes remaining on a Filzen runner, but that's when everything went wrong for Witherspoon's team.

Ball State then went on a 7-0 run to take a lead that they'd never relinquish.

Senior forward Byron Mulkey missed a last-second 3-pointer that would have won the game for the Bulls. He struggled in the game, going 0-for-6 from the field and missing all four of his attempts from behind the arc. The Bulls really needed him to chip in late in the game, but he was unable to find more of the second half magic that Bulls fans have grown accustomed to seeing from him.

Cardinals guard Jauwan Scaife was outstanding in the game and was unguardable at times. The 6-foot-2 sophomore hit six of eight 3-pointers and led Ball State with 22 points.

The Bulls will look to get back to their winning ways on Tuesday night when they host Central Michigan (6-16, 3-6 MAC). Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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