Date: December 22, 2007
Location: Terre Haute, Ind.
Site: Hulman Center
Tip-off: 2:05 p.m.
Radio: ESPN Radio 1300
Talent: Brian Fritz and Matt Renn
TV: WTWO NBC Ch. 2
Talent: Jason Pensky and Jim Waugh
Series: Bowling Green Leads 2-0
Last Time: BGSU 65, ISU 55 (12/29/01
Today' game is the final non-conference tune up for the Sycamores before they begin Missouri Valley Conference play on Dec. 29 at Evansville. ISU will face off against Mid-American Conference opponent Bowling Green, who heads into the game with a 4-5 record on the season.
The Sycamores (4-5) are coming off a 68-80 loss at Tulane on Monday, which kept ISU winless on the road to date this season. However, the Sycamores are 4-0 at home so far this season which should bode well for today's contest. Four Sycamores scored in double figures against the Green Wave, with sophomore Marico Stinson leading the way with 14 points.
BSGU will be facing its second-straight Valley opponent, after suffering a 58-69 defeat to Illinois State in their last game on Dec. 16. Junior Darryl Clements scored a career-high 18 points in the loss against the Redbirds to lead the way for BGSU.
The Falcons will be the fourth MAC opponent the Sycamores have faced this season. ISU has a 2-1 record in the previous three games against MAC foes, with wins at home against Northern Illinois and Ball State and a road loss at Miami (Ohio).
ISU and BGSU have only faced off twice before, with the Falcons winning both contests. BGSU secured a 62-57 on Dec. 21, 1985, at home and then won the last contest between the two schools 65-55 on Dec. 29, 2001, at the Hulman Center.
► Indiana State's Kevin McKenna is in his first season at the helm of the Sycamores program, after completing his ninth season at Creighton as an assistant coach, where he helped the Bluejays advance to four NCAA tournament appearances. From 2001-05, McKenna spent four years as the head coach (89-33) at NCAA Division II Nebraska-Omaha, where he guided the Mavericks to four consecutive 20-win seasons and three appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament. He is assisted by Greg Lansing, Stan Gouard and Lou Gudino.
► Bowling Green's Louis Orr is in his first season as the head coach at BGSU Prior to taking the reigns of the Falcons program, Orr was the head coach at Seton Hall, where he led the Pirates to an 80-69 record in five seasons as head coach, while leading his team to a NIT appearance in 2003 and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2004 and 2006. He is assisted by LaMonta Stone, George Jackson and Andy Moore.
► Bowling Green State University is located in Bowling Green, Ohio, and has an enrollment of 21,132. The Falcons are members of the Mid-American Conference (East Division) and play their home games at Anderson Arena (4,700).
► The Falcons are led by first-year head coach Louis Orr. Prior to taking the reigns at BGSU, Orr was the head coach at Seton Hall, where he led the Pirates to an 80-69 record in five seasons as head coach, while leading his team to a NIT appearance in 2003 and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2004 and 2006.
► Experience is on Bowling Green's side this year, as the squad returns nine letterwinners and three starters from last year's squad that finished with a 13-18 overall record.
► Junior Darryl Clements scored a career-high 18 points in the loss against Illinois State. His previous career best was 13 points on two occasions, most recently at Oakland on Dec. 1, 2007. In addition to points, Clements also set career bests in field-goal attempts (12), three-pointers made (four) and minutes played (38) and tied his career standards for field goals made (five) and free throws made (four).
► Redshirt-freshman forward Chris Knight has led the way for the Falcons this season, as he is averaging 14.0 points and 6.8
rebounds per contest. Junior forward Nate Miller is also a player to watch for BGSU, as he averages 13.3 points and 5.2
rebounds per game to go along with a team-high 18 steals on the defensive end of the court.
One look at the season statistics for ISU and one can see that the team has shared the scoring duties. In Monday's game at Tulane, four Sycamores scored in double figures, marking the third time this season that the team had achieved that feat. Marico Stinson led the way with 14 points and was joined by Harry Marshall (12), Gabe Moore (11) and Isiah Martin (10) in the scoring column. The last time the Sycamores achieved that feat were in back-to-back games against Northern Illinois and IPFW.
The first half of Monday's game at Tulane was extremely competitive, thanks to a pair of strong performances by freshmen Aaron Carter and Isiah Martin. With the team trailing 10-2 at the 15:28 mark, Martin jumpstarted a 13-4 run for the Sycamores with a layup. Carter followed by connecting on back-to-back three-pointers and added a jumper to score the next eight points in a row for ISU to tie the game at 12-12 at the 11:04 mark. later in the half, Martin made himself known once again by converting a layup to give ISU a 26-25 lead with four minutes left in the half. Then, Martin added his third layup of the half with a minute left in the half to put the Sycamores up 32-31 at the time. Carter finished the half with eight points, while Martin chipped in with six points and five rebounds.
Sophomore guard Marico Stinson came out firing early this season for the Sycamores, as he scored in double figures in three of the team's first four games. Stinson's scoring numbers dropped off over the next few games, though, with just two and seven points respectively against IPFW and Purdue. However, he got back to his scoring ways last week with nine points, all in the first half, against Miami (Ohio) and followed that with a season-high 18 points against Ball State. He followed that by leading the team with 14 points at Tulane on Monday. The Memphis, Tenn., native is now averaging 11.1 points per game, has scored in double figures in five of the team's game and is joined by Gabe Moore (10.0) as the only Sycamores averaging double figures this season.
Through the first nine games of the season, it's pretty easy to see that the Sycamores like to play basketball at home in front of the fans at Hulman Center. In ISU's four games at home, the squad is averaging 68.8 points per game while allowing opponents just 53.2 points per contest. The Sycamores are shooting .465 from the field, including .370 from three-point range, while posting a +4 turnover margin on way to a 4-0 record. However, the road has been less friendly to the Sycamores, as they are averaging 60.6 points compared to their opponent's 75.8 average in five games. ISU is shooting .384 from the field as a team (opponents .500), including a miniscule .232 from three-point range (opponents .430), which has led to a 0-5 record.
Whenever the Sycamores play their in-state rival Ball State, Jay Tunnell seems to put together career games. In the team's 59-48 win over the Cardinals, Tunnel recorded his first double-double of the season by scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. However, that performance falls short of his day against the Cardinals last season, when he scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a win over BSU on December 2, 2006. In three career games against Ball State, Tunnell is averaging 14.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and has recorded two of his four career double-double performances.
It had been almost a year since an ISU player last recorded a double-double, but Jay Tunnell put an end to that string with his 16 point, 10 rebound performance against Ball State. Coincidentally, it was Tunnell and teammate Adam Arnold who last achieved the feat as both recorded double-doubles against Wagner on December 22, 2006. Tunnell recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds in the 92-86 win, while Arnold chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Home has been a welcome place for the Sycamores this season, as the team is 4-0 in front of their fans at the Hulman Center. In its last game at home, ISU defeated Ball State by a score of 59-48 on December 8 to keep their record at home un-blemished. Since the 2005-06 season, ISU has compiled a 15-2 record at the Hulman Center against non-conference opponents, with the only losses coming to IPFW (1/2/06) and Miami (Ohio) (2/17/07).
The Sycamores are 4-5 on the season, but those losses are not due to teams scoring too many three-pointers. Through nine games, ISU has allowed just 52 three-pointers to its opponents. In addition, opponents are shooting just 34.4 percent from three-point range against ISU this season, which currently ranks as the fourth-best 3-point field goal percentage defense in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Heading ISU's non-conference contest at Purdue, few would have guessed that sophomore Harry Marshall's name would be at the top of the stat sheet in the scoring column. However, the sixth man for the Sycamores took over the game and led his team in the first half with 14 points. Beginning at the 7:42 mark, he scored six-straight points for ISU and after an Adam Arnold made three-pointer, he connected on another jumper to pull the Sycamores within two points at 28-26 with 5:37 left to give him eight points in about a two-minute span. Then, later in the half he scored five-straight points with just over a minute to play to give the Sycamores their first lead of the day and get his team to the locker room with the halftime lead. He finished the game with six more points to finish for a total of 20 to lead all scorers and set a new career high.
National Signing Day can be a very stressful time for coaching staffs, as they wonder whether or not their coveted recruits will sign on the dotted line. However, the Indiana State men's basketball staff now has nothing to worry about as Carl Richard Jr. (Chicago, Ill./Richards HS), Tyler Cutter (Murfreesboro, Tenn./Siegel HS) and Koang Doluony (Omaha, Neb./Bryan HS) have all signed National Letters of Intent to continue their basketball careers as Sycamores. The three new recruits will fill the vacated roster spots of seniors Gabe Moore, Todd McCoy and Mick Yelovich. Richard Jr., A 6-4, 180-pound small forward, averaged 14 points, seven rebounds and two assists per game as a junior at Richards High School, the alma mater Miami Heat All-Star Dwyane Wade. Cutter, A six-foot point guard from Murfreesboro, Tenn., averaged 18.5 points, five assists, two steals and four rebounds per game as a junior for Siegel High School. A 6-7 forward with a wing span of almost seven feet wide, Doluony brings a long presence on the defensive side of the ball for the Sycamores. Originally from the Sudan, Doluony averaged eight points and seven rebounds per game during his junior season at Nebraska power Omaha Bryan High School.
