Date: January 12, 2008
Location: Terre Haute, Ind.
Site: Hulman Center (10,200)
Tip-off: 7:05 p.m. EST
TV: WTWO NBC 2
Talent: Jason Pensky and Jim Waugh
Radio: The Crock 92.7 FM
Talent: Brian Fritz & Matt Renn
Series: ISU leads 74-35
Last Time: SIU 58, ISU 50 (2/21/07)
► 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.
► Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery is in fourth season as the Salukis head coach. In four seasons, Lowery has amassed a 85-34 overall record and has led his teams to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. He has also been named the MVC Coach of the Year, earned two regular-season championships and one MVC Tournament title. He is assisted by Rodney Watson, Jack Owens and Brad Korn
The Sycamores suffered their first setback in conference play Wednesday night at Drake to bring their Valley record to 3-1 on the season.
However, ISU returns home tonight where the team has a 7-0 record so far this season to take on the Southern Illinois Salukis.
ISU headed into Wednesday night's game in a three-way tie for first place in the Valley standings with Drake and Illinois State, but the Bulldogs were too much on their home court and improved to 4-0 and 13-1 overall with the 75-50 win over the Sycamores. The win snapped a four-game winning streak for ISU and gave the team its first Valley loss of the season.
Sophomores Harry Marshall and Marico Stinson were the offensive standouts for the Sycamores, as the duo finished in double figures with 16 and 15 points, respectively. In addition, senior point guard Gabe Moore scored eight points to push him over 1,000 in his career at ISU. His 1,003 career points rank 30th all-time, just 61 points behind Harry Morgan in 29th place.
The Salukis put an end to a two-game losing streak in conference play with a 77-64 win at home over Bradley on Tuesday night to even their conference record at 2-2. SIU had four players in double figures, led by Matt Shaw's game-high 18 points.
Southern Illinois lead the all-time series 74-35 and has won 12 of the last 13 meetings against Indiana State. The only win in that stretch for ISU came on on February 1, 2006, at SIU Arena which put an end to the Salukis' 33-game home winning streak, which was the nation's longest at the time.
► Southern Illinois University is located in Carbondale, Ill., and has an enrollment of 21,003. The Salukis are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at the SIU Arena (9,628).
► The Salukis are led by head coach Chris Lowery. Lowery is in fourth season at SIU and has led the Salukis to a 78-26 record in that time and to three NCAA Tournament appearances. He has also been named the MVC Coach of the Year twice in his previous three season at SIU.
► SIU returns 10 letter winners and three starters from last year's team that finished 29-7 overall and 15-3 in the MVC, good for a first-place finish.
► Guard Bryan Mullins is averaging 2.6 steals per game this season, which leads the MVC and ranks 18th in the nation.
► SIU saved one its better shooting games for its last one against Bradley when they needed it most. The Salukis headed into losers of two-straight conference gambes, but made 20-of-30 (.667) shots in the first half against Bradley, their best half of shooting this season and best in its last 26 games. That helped the Salukis snap the two-game slide with a 77-64 win over the Braves and evened their record in conference play to 2-2.
► Senior Randall Falker leads the way in scoring for SIU, as he is averaging 12.5 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per contest for the Salukis.
Senior Gabe Moore joined a very exclusive club on Wednesday at Drake, as he is scored eight points to take him over 1,000 in his career, becoming just the 30th player in Indiana State history to amass at least 1,000 career points. Moore headed into the game with 995 career points, but his eight points against the Bulldogs put him over the top and give him 1,003 in his four-year career at ISU. With 61 more points, the Little Rock, Ark., native will tie Harry Morgan for 29th place with 1,064 points.
After two Missouri Valley Conference wins at home last week, it's pretty easy to see that the Sycamores like to play basketball at home in front of the fans at Hulman Center. ISU has started the season 7-0 at home, which ranks as the second-longest home winning streak since 1999, when the team won 22-straight before falling to Creighton on Feb. 4, 2001. In the team's seven games at home, the squad is averaging 67.6 points per game while allowing opponents just 54.3 points per contest. The Sycamores are also shooting .468 from the field, including .393 from three-point range, while posting a +21 turnover margin.
It's not coincidence that one of the quietest members on the Sycamores roster is quietly having a very impressive season. Sophomore Marico Stinson has been on a roll as of late for ISU, as he has scored in double figures in six out of his last seven games with the only single digit number coming in the form of nine points in a win over Creighton last week. The Memphis, Tenn., native was a bright spot in the team's loss at Drake on Wednesday, as he scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds. On the season, Stinson leads the Sycamores in points (167), points per game (11.9), field goals (66) and three-pointers (27).
This week was already shaping up to be a memorable one for senior point guard Gabe Moore, as he should go over 1,000 career points in tonight's game. On Monday, the week started out on a high note as the Little Rock, Ark., native was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week by the conference office for his performance in ISU's two wins last week. Moore averaged 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game for the Sycamores as they earned wins at home against Creighton (62-54) on Wednesday and UNI (74-56) on Saturday. In Wednesday's win over the Bluejays, Moore led ISU with 13 points while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out five assists. He followed that up with seven points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Saturday's win over the Panthers. In three Valley games, Moore is now averaging 14.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists per contest.
Junior forward Jay Tunnell had his sights set in on keeping his team undefeated at home and in the Missouri Valley Conference on Saturday night. The Topeka, Kan., native scored the second basket of the game for the Sycamores and never looked back, as he tallied a game-high 19 points to lead ISU to the 74-56 win over UNI and improve the team's home record to 7-0 this season and its Valley record to 3-0. Tunnell was solid from everywhere on the court, as he finished 6-for-11 from the field including going 3-for-5 from three-point range and was also 4-for-5 from the charity stripe to post a new season high scoring mark.
When the Sycamores earned a 74-56 victory over UNI on Saturday night at Hulman Center, it marked the first time since the 2000-01 season that ISU started Missouri Valley Conference play with a 3-0 record. During that season, the Sycamores started conference play with a 3-0 record, after beating Bradley (79-70), Northern Iowa (69-57) and Illinois State (78-71) before falling to Creighton in their fourth game. The result has been the same this year, as the Sycamores started the season 3-0 before losing on Wednesday night at Drake. ISU went on to finish the season 2000-01 with a 22-12 overall record and won the MVC Tournament championship to earn an automatic birth in the NCAA Tournament. Let's hope the same success happens this year.
The paint is quickly becoming freshman Isiah Martin's neighborhood and opponents are quickly beginning to find out that it is not a very hospitable place. The forward from Chicago, Ill., has amassed 30 blocked shots in 14 games for an average of 2.14 per game. His 30 blocks are the most in the Missouri Valley Conference, just one ahead of Illinois State's Anthony Slack (29), while his 2.14 average per game is the highest in the conference among all players. On the season, Martin has blocked at least two shots in nine games and has 13 in his first four Valley games, which is five more than any other player through the first four games of Valley play.
One reason for the Sycamores' 3-1 start in Valley play is their increase in defensive pressure. In Wednesday's loss at Drake, ISU forced 16 turnovers and stole the ball 11 times. That upped the team's steal total in Valley contests to 34, for an average 8.5 per game. Both of those marks currently rank first among all teams in conference games, just ahead of Creighton and tonight's opponent Southern Illinois, who each have 33 in four games for an average of 8.25 per game.
If you go to an ISU practice during the week, one could see that head coach Kevin McKenna has placed an emphasis on working on shooting free throws. It looks like that extra work and focus may be working for the Sycamores, as the team has a .724 (178-for-246) free throw percentage this season. That mark currently ranks third among teams in the Valley, as ISU trails only Bradley (.752) and tonight's opponent Southern Illinois (.732).
The Sycamores are 8-6 on the season, thanks to some strong defensive efforts against opponents shooting three-pointers. Through 14 games, ISU has allowed just 80 three-pointers to its opponents. In addition, opponents are shooting just .342 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.
ISU's new offensive scheme gives several players a chance to score points. Senior Gabe Moore and sophomore Marico Stinson have taken advantage of their opportunities and both are averaging in double figures so far this season. Stinson is averaging 11.9 points per game, while Moore is right behind with 11.4 points per contest. In addition, Moore has led the team in scoring six times this season while Stinson has led the way four times in the scoring column. Last season, Moore was the only Sycamore to average double figures with 11.5 points per contest in the team's 31 games.
Last Wednesday's game against Creighton was the first for ISU head coach Kevin McKenna against his old team. The game was a success for the former longtime assistant coach and player, as the Sycamores picked up an impressive 62-54 win over the Bluejays to improve to 2-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play. McKenna spent nine seasons on the Creighton bench as an assistant coach(1994-2001, 2005-07) before taking over the helm at ISU. McKenna also had an illustrious career at CU, as scored 1,500 career points and was enshrined into the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.
Senior guard Gabe Moore is known for being a solid all-around player, as he is at or near the top of several offensive and defensive categories for the Sycamores this season. However, his steal numbers have put him among the best in the Missouri Valley Conference. Moore has 35 swipes this season for an average of 2.5 per game, both of which rank second in the league statistics. In addition, the Little Rock, Ark., native has swiped 173 in his career, which puts him in fourth place on the all-time list at ISU. Moore needs 16 more steals to take over third place, which is currently held by Michael Menser, who collected 188 steals from 1997-2001.
In ISU's first two Missouri Valley Conference games, the final result has come down to strong performances in the second half. The Sycamores went 2-0, thanks to solid performances in the latter part of the game against Evansville and Creighton. In the first half, ISU has scored a combined 50 points, the same as their two opponents. However, the Sycamores out-scored the Purple Aces and the Bluejays 82-60 in the second halves to win both games.
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, while Arnold chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
