MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State has been rolling along for so long and had put itself in prime position for the all-important No. 3 seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
But a sloppy finish Friday night — especially at the free-throw line — curtailed those hopes as the Cardinals blew a late lead and lost to visiting Western Michigan 87-80 in front of a season-high 5,924 fans at Worthen Arena.
"This was a big game for us," James Whitford said, "and we probably turned it into too big of a game because I thought we felt a little bit of the pressure and it maybe worked against us.