Date: January 15, 2008
Location: Springfield, Mo.
Site: Hammons Student Center (8,846)
Tip-off: 8:05 p.m. EST
Radio: The Crock 92.7 FM
Talent: Brian Fritz & Matt Renn
Series: MSU leads 32-15
Last Time: MSU 71, ISU 41 (2/3/07)
Tonight's game at Missouri State begins a tough road stretch for the Sycamores, as they will play four out of the next five games away from the Hulman Center.
ISU has struggled on the road this season, posting a 1-6 record. However, the Sycamores opened the Valley season with a road win at Evansville, before falling to Drake last Wednesday in Des Moines.
The Sycamores are coming off an exciting double-overtime victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday. The win improved ISU's record at the Hulman Center to 8-0 this season and improved their Valley record to 4-1.
Sophomore Marico Stinson was the hero for ISU, as he scored a game-high 20 points and hit the game-winning three-pointer with two seconds left in the second overtime period to propel the Sycamores to the 64-62 win over the defending league champs. Sophomore Harry Marshall also came through in the clutch, as he connected on 14 of his last 15 free throw attempts to finish with 16 points.
Senior Dale Lamberth led the way for the Bears in their road loss at Drake on Saturday night. He came off the bench and scored 19 points to keep the score close for Missouri State.
The Bears lead the all-time series between the two schools, 32-15. The Bears have won four games in a row over the Sycamores 12 of the last 13 games in all. In addition, the Sycamores will be looking for their first win ever at the Hammons Student Center, as the squad is 0-17 all time in the building.
► 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.
► Missouri State's Barry Hinson is in his ninth season as the Bears head coach. During that time, Hinson has posted a record of 139-98 at Missouri State and has taken his team to four NIT appearances, including three-straight heading into this season. Prior to coming to Missouri State, Hinson was the head coach at Oral Roberts from 1997-1999 and amassed a record of 36-23. He is assisted by Ben Miller, Steve Woodberry and Kyan Brown.
► Missouri State University is located in Springfield, Mo., and has an enrollment of 21,407. The Bears are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at the Hammons Student Center (8,846).
► The Bears are led by head coach Barry Hinson. Hinson is in his ninth season as the Bears head coach. During that time, Hinson has posted a record of 139-98 at Missouri State and has taken his team to four NIT appearances, including three-straight heading into this season. Prior to coming to Missouri State, Hinson was the head coach at Oral Roberts from 1997-1999 and amassed a record of 36-23.
► MSU returns seven letter winners and tw0 starters from last year's team that finished 22-11 overall and 12-6 in the MVC, good for a third-place tie in the conference standings. That earned the Bears a trip to the NIT, where they were defeated in the first round by San Diego State.
► The Bears are coming off a road loss to league-leading Drake on Saturday. The Bulldogs pulled away at the start of the second half to earn a 65-54 victory and dropped MSU to 9-8 overall and 2-3 in the Valley standings
► Senior Deven Mitchell leads the way for the Bears in several statistical categories. His 15.5 points per game are a team high and he also averages 6.4 rebounds per game, which is almost two higher than any other member on the roster. He is joined in double figures by senior forward Dale Lamberth, who is averaging 12.5 rebounds per game and leads the team with 33 three-pointers.
Somebody had to be the hero in Saturday night's win over Southern Illinois and Marico Stinson stepped up to take the honors. The sophomore guard battled through 44 minutes of action on the court, but saved his biggest shots for when they counted the most. In the first overtime session, Stinson connected on a three-pointer with 1:33 left to tie the game at 52-52 and send it to the second overtime period. During the second OT period, his three-pointer with 1:22 left gave ISU a two-point lead at 59-57. However, after SIU got the lead back at 62-61, it was Stinson who nailed a three-pointer with just two seconds left to propel the Sycamores to a 64-62 victory at the Hulman Center.
To Harry Marshall, the best way for him to contribute on Saturday night was to connect from the free-throw line. The night did not start well for the sophomore guard, however, as he missed his first four attempts from the charity stripe. But, he turned that all around by continuing to drive to the basket and get to the foul line. He made all that hard work count, as he connected on his next 12 free throws and finished the game making his last 14-for-15 attempts from the line. He finished the game with 16 points total and was 14-for-19 from the free throw line to set a new season and career high. Marshall's 14 free throws were the most by an ISU player since Gabe Moore connected on 13 against Wagner on December 21, 2006.
Senior Gabe Moore joined a very exclusive club 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 achieve that milestone. 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 three more points against SIU, Moore now needs just With 58 more points to tie Harry Morgan for 29th place with 1,064 points.
The importance of home field/court advantage is often debated upon in collegiate athletics. However, one look at ISU's record this season and the Sycamores would surely be believers, as the Sycamores have started the season 8-0 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 eight games at home, the squad is averaging 67.1 points per game while allowing opponents just 55.2 points per contest. The Sycamores are also shooting .449 from the field, including .389 from three-point range, while posting a +27 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 seven out of his last eight 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. He followed that up with a game-high 20 points and hit the game-winning three-pointer in double overtime to propel ISU to the 64-62 win over SIU on Saturday. On the season, Stinson leads the Sycamores in points (187), points per game (12.5), field goals (74) and three-pointers (31).
Last week was a memorable one for senior point guard Gabe Moore. 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) and UNI (74-56). After the weekly honor on Monday, Moore tallied eight points in the team's loss at Drake to go over 1,000 in his career at ISU
Junior forward Jay Tunnell had his sights set in on keeping his team undefeated at home and in the Missouri Valley Conference against Northern Iowa. 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 improved the team's home record to 7-0 at the time 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 15 games for an average of two per game. His 30 blocks are tied for the most in the Missouri Valley Conference, with Illinois State's Anthony Slack, while his 2.00 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 five Valley games, which is three more than Drake's Jonathan Cox with 10.
One reason for the Sycamores' 4-1 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 and followed that up by forcing 12 turnovers against Southern Illinois. That upped the team's steal total in Valley contests to 37, for an average 7.4 per game. Both of those marks currently rank third among all teams in conference games, just behind of Creighton Southern Illinois, who each have 38 in five games for an average of 7.60 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 .727 (200-for-275) free throw percentage this season. That mark currently ranks fourth among teams in the Valley, behind Bradley (.762), Southern Illinois (.732) and Northern Iowa (.728).
The Sycamores are 9-6 on the season, thanks to some strong defensive efforts against opponents shooting three-pointers. Through 15 games, ISU has allowed just 85 three-pointers to its opponents. In addition, opponents are shooting just .329 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 12.5 points per game, while Moore is right behind with 10.8 points per contest. In addition, Moore has led the team in scoring six times this season while Stinson has led the way five times in the scoring column, including scoring a season-high 20 points on Saturday against SIU. 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 2.33 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.
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.
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.
