MUNCIE - The leading scorer is hobbled with an injury and doesn't know whether he can play.
The team is stuck in a downturn of five consecutive losses that it doesn't recognize as a "losing streak."
Its RPI ranking has plummeted from No. 53 to 113 in the past three weeks.
A jubilant January has eroded and been replaced by a frustrating February.
To an outsider, this seems like turbulent times for Ball State's basketball team. But the Cardinals believe the mistakes they've made to put themselves in their current predicament can be corrected in quick order.
"We feel we can do some things better, and we should be on the other end of this five-game losing streak - I don't event want to call it a streak; it's a bad period," senior forward Mike Bennett said.
The Cardinals (12-11, 7-7 Mid-American Conference West) will try to put their "bad period" behind them when they play Toledo (13-11, 8-6 MAC West) at 8 p.m. today in Worthen Arena.
Ball State's skid has dropped it from first place in the West Division to fourth. A chance to contend for a top-three seed and a bye into the MAC Tournament quarterfinals has given way to an all-out dogfight in the last four games just to get a chance to play host to a first-round tourney game.
"We still feel good about ourselves," Cardinals guard Dennis Trammell said. "We know we're a good team. We're just struggling now. We're still on top of our game, and we still feel good.
"When you've got guys walking around who believe in (a losing) streak, that's when you've got a problem. But we're not walking around like that. He have our heads up."
Trammell, who leads the Cardinals with a 16.6 scoring average, missed Saturday's 74-70 loss to Drexel with a strained left Achilles' tendon. His status for today's game is uncertain.
Trammell on Monday said he doesn't know when or how he was injured. He played on Feb. 16 in a loss at Bowling Green, then was unable to finish practice the next day.
With or without Trammell, Ball State must figure a way to eliminate the problems that have plagued it the past five games.
The biggest deficiency for the Cardinals has been an inability to finish games strong. In each of the past four losses, they have led or been within one point of the lead in the final three minutes.
"We've been in position to win some games," Cardinals coach Tim Buckley said. "I admire the resiliency of the kids on this team. With the exception of the Marshall game (a 90-81 loss on Feb. 6), I think we've played pretty good basketball.
"You always feel like you can get better, and you're always tweaking things, but you can't beat yourself up."
This will be the third time this season that Ball State has played a team for the second time. The Cardinals lost their first two such games, 54-52 to Miami and 70-69 to Bowling Green.
The team is stuck in a downturn of five consecutive losses that it doesn't recognize as a "losing streak."
Its RPI ranking has plummeted from No. 53 to 113 in the past three weeks.
A jubilant January has eroded and been replaced by a frustrating February.
To an outsider, this seems like turbulent times for Ball State's basketball team. But the Cardinals believe the mistakes they've made to put themselves in their current predicament can be corrected in quick order.
"We feel we can do some things better, and we should be on the other end of this five-game losing streak - I don't event want to call it a streak; it's a bad period," senior forward Mike Bennett said.
The Cardinals (12-11, 7-7 Mid-American Conference West) will try to put their "bad period" behind them when they play Toledo (13-11, 8-6 MAC West) at 8 p.m. today in Worthen Arena.
Ball State's skid has dropped it from first place in the West Division to fourth. A chance to contend for a top-three seed and a bye into the MAC Tournament quarterfinals has given way to an all-out dogfight in the last four games just to get a chance to play host to a first-round tourney game.
"We still feel good about ourselves," Cardinals guard Dennis Trammell said. "We know we're a good team. We're just struggling now. We're still on top of our game, and we still feel good.
"When you've got guys walking around who believe in (a losing) streak, that's when you've got a problem. But we're not walking around like that. He have our heads up."
Trammell, who leads the Cardinals with a 16.6 scoring average, missed Saturday's 74-70 loss to Drexel with a strained left Achilles' tendon. His status for today's game is uncertain.
Trammell on Monday said he doesn't know when or how he was injured. He played on Feb. 16 in a loss at Bowling Green, then was unable to finish practice the next day.
With or without Trammell, Ball State must figure a way to eliminate the problems that have plagued it the past five games.
The biggest deficiency for the Cardinals has been an inability to finish games strong. In each of the past four losses, they have led or been within one point of the lead in the final three minutes.
"We've been in position to win some games," Cardinals coach Tim Buckley said. "I admire the resiliency of the kids on this team. With the exception of the Marshall game (a 90-81 loss on Feb. 6), I think we've played pretty good basketball.
"You always feel like you can get better, and you're always tweaking things, but you can't beat yourself up."
This will be the third time this season that Ball State has played a team for the second time. The Cardinals lost their first two such games, 54-52 to Miami and 70-69 to Bowling Green.
