Date: December 4, 2007
Location: Oxford, Ohio
Site: Millett Hall
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m.
Radio: The Crock 92.7
Talent: Brian Fritz and Matt Renn
Series: Indiana State leads 4-2
Last Time: Miami 70, ISU 58 (2/17/07)
The road has not been kind to the Indiana State Sycamores this season, as the squad is 0-3 thus far in road contests. However, the Sycamores will be looking to buck that trend and secure their first road win of the season when they take on the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks in a non-conference match up tonight.
ISU's record away from home reached 0-3 with Saturday's loss at Purdue. In that game, Harry Marshall exploded for a career-high 20 points off the bench while freshman Isiah Martin added a career-high 14 points to go along with four blocked shots.
However, both teams are coming off losses as the RedHawks suffered a 44-47 loss at No. 12/10 Louisville on Saturday night. Senior forward Tim Pollitz led the way for Miami in the game with a game-high 22 points while adding eight rebounds. He was joined in double figures by Kenny Hayes with 11 points and six rebounds.
Tonight's game will be the first of two against Mid-American Conference opponent this week, as Ball State comes to Terre Haute to face off against ISU on Saturday night at Hulman Center. This game is a return game from last year's O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBuster game at Hulman Center, where the Sycamores fell to the RedHawks by a score of 70-58.
With that loss, the RedHawks earned just their second win in the series between the two schools. Tonight's game will be the seventh in the all-time series between the two squads, with Miami winning two out of the last three contests. ISU lost its only other game at Millet Hall by a score of 61-77 on December 7, 1991.
► 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.
► Miami (Ohio)'s Charlie Coles is in his 12th season as the head coach at his alma mater. In that time, he has led the RedHawks to a 196-144 record. Last season, his squad posted an overall record of 18-15 and went on to win the MAC Tournament championship, which earned the team a trip to the NCAA Tournament First Round where they were defeated by Oregon. He is assisted by Jermaine Henderson, Ryan Pedon and Jason Grunkemeyer.
► Miami University (Ohio) is located in Oxford, Ohio, and has an enrollment of 16,300 students. The RedHawks are
members of the Mid-American Conference (East Division) and play their home games at Millett Hall (6,400).
► The RedHawks are led by head coach Charlie Coles, who is in his 12th year at the helm of the program. During that
time, he's compiled a record of 196-144 to add to his career record of 288-228 (18 seasons). Last season, he led his
squad to an 18-15 record and a MAC Tournament Championship, which earned the RedHawks an automatic bid to the
NCAA Tournament where they fell in the first round to Oregon.
► Miami (Ohio) returns three starters and nine lettermen from last year's team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
► The RedHawks are led by a pair of prolific scorers in Michael Bramos and Tim Pollitz, who together average 38.8 of Miami's 58.2 points per game. Bramos, a 6-5 junior forward, leads the team with 21.0 points per contest and has connected for 21 three-pointers on the season thus far. He also averages 5.2 rebounds per game and has seven blocked shots on the defensive side. Pollitz, a 6-5 senior forward, is right behind with 17.8 points per game but averages a team-high 7.0 rebounds per contest to go along with 21 assists.
The Sycamores will become very familiar with the Mid-American Conference this week and in the near future, as three out of ISU's next four games are against teams from the MAC. On Tuesday, the Sycamores head to Oxford, Ohio, to take on Miami (Ohio) and then welcome Ball State into Hulman Center on Saturday. Then, following a road game at Tulane, ISU will face off against Bowling Green at home in its final non-conference match up of the season. Throw that in with the team's victory over Northern Illinois this season, and the Sycamores will have faced off against four foes from the MAC during the 2007-08 with a possibility of a fifth game when the 2008 O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBuster pairings are announced. That could prove beneficial, as the team is 4-2 against MAC opponents since the 2005 season.
Tonight's game is a return game from last year's O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBuster game played on February 17, 2007 at Hulman Center. In that game, the Sycamores lost to the RedHawks by a score of 70-58. However, this time the Sycamores travel to Oxford, Ohio, to face the RedHawks on their home court. However, history bodes well for ISU in tonight's contest, as the RedHawks are 0-3 in return games in the BracketBuster series.
Heading into last Saturday's game 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 with a total of 20 to lead all scorers in the contest.
Freshman Isiah Martin is certainly enjoying his opportunity as a starter for head coach Kevin McKenna and he's proving that he's earned it with his performance over the last two games. In his first career start, the Chicago, Ill., native scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots in a win over IPFW. He followed that up with a career-high 14 points, five rebounds and four blocks at Purdue last Saturday. When he's been in the starting lineup, Martin is averaging 12.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game for ISU.
Blocked shots have been much more prevalent this season for the Sycamores, as the squad already has 20 through just six games this season for an average of 3.3 per game. That production currently ranks tied for fourth among teams in the Missouri Valley Conference, with freshman Isiah Martin's 11 blocks tying for fourth overall in the conference. In addition, if the team stays on that current pace, ISU will rack up approximately 96 blocks this season which would more than double last year's total of 42 as a team.
Through the first five 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 three games at home, the squad is averaging 77 points per game while allowing opponents just 58.5 points per contest. The Sycamores are shooting .461 from the field, including .381 from three-point range, while posting a +9 turnover margin on way to a 3-0 record. However, the road has been less friendly to the Sycamores, as they are averaging just 59.0 points compared to their opponent's 75.0 average in three games. ISU is shooting .375 from the field as a team, including a miniscule .194 from three-point range, which has led to a 0-3 record.
Last Saturday's game against IPFW was highlighted by the performance of junior forward Adam Arnold. The Decatur, Ind., native put together his best game of the season to date as he scored a team-high 12 points and grabbed five rebounds. He also dished out two assists and blocked his fourth shot of the season at the Sycamores went on to a 63-55 win over the Mastodons.
It was a 2-0 performance at home for the Sycamores two weeks ago, as the squad posted non-conference wins at home against Northern Illinois (75-65) and IPFW (63-55). That brought the team's record this season at home to 3-0 and added to an impressive non-conference home record over the past few seasons. Since the 2005-06 season, ISU has compiled a 14-2 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).
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.
