Date: January 23, 2008
Location: Terre Haute, Ind.
Site: Hulman Center (10,200)
Tip-off: 7:05 p.m. EST
Radio: The Crock 92.7 FM
Talent: Brian Fritz & Matt Renn
Series: Indiana State Leads 74-72
Last Time: ISU 70, UE 56 (12/29/07)
After playing three of the last four games on the road, Indiana State returns home tonight for a showdown with in-state rival Evansville at the Hulman Center.
The Sycamores got the best of the Purple Aces in their meeting on Dec. 29 at Roberts Stadium, earning a 70-56 win in the conference opener for both squads. The win broke a four-game losing streak against the Purple Aces and a three-game losing streak in Evansville for the Sycamores.
ISU heads into the game after suffering back-to-back road losses last week. The Sycamores dropped a 65-44 decision to Missouri State on Tuesday and then were defeated by Creighton 86-69 on Saturday. However, ISU returns home tonight to the Hulman Center, where the team is a perfect 8-0 so far this season.
Sophomore Marico Stinson set a new season-high with 23 points, including six three pointers, to lead the way for ISU against the Bluejays. Sophomore Cole Holmstrom also had a breakout game, as he scored 15 points off the bench.
The Purple Aces have lost seven-straight games headed into tonight's contest and are coming off a disappointing 77-76 loss at Bradley on Saturday night. Jason Holsinger had 23 points to lead the way for Aces against the Braves, while Shy Ely added 20 points in the loss.
ISU leads the all-time series 74-72, but have lost six out of the last eight against Evansville and the last two at home to the Aces.
► 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.
► Evansville's Marty Simmons is in his first season as the head coach at Evansville. Prior to returning to his alma mater, Simmons was the head coach for one year at Wartburg (Iowa) and five years at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, compiling a record of 98-73 in those six years. At SIU-E, Simmons led the team to two 20+ win seasons and two NCAA Division II Tournaments. He is assisted by Marcus Belcher, Jimmy Elgas and Ben Wierzba.
► The University of Evansville is located in Evansville, Ind., and has an enrollment of 2,421. The Purple Aces are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at Roberts Stadium (11,600).
► The Purple Aces are led by first year head coach Marty Simmons. Simmons (5-12 at UE) returned to his alma mater after coaching the past five seasons at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, where he led the team to two 20+ win seasons and two NCAA Division II Tournaments.
► Evansville returns eight letterwinners and two starters from last year's team that posted an overall record of 14-17 and a 6-12 record in Missouri Valley Conference play.
► Junior forward Shy Ely has scored 20 points or more in three-straight games. He scored a career-high 28 on Jan. 12 at Illinois State, 21 last Tuesday against Southern Illinois, and 20 on Saturday at Bradley. Ely is 25-for-43 from the floor (.581) and 15-for-18 from the free throw line (.833) in those three games.
► Junior guard Jason Holsinger leads the way for the Aces, as he is averaging 13.5 points per game and has a team-high 80 assists and 45 three pointers on the season.
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 are surely be believers. 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. In addition, the Sycamores are shooting .449 from the field, including .389 from three-point range, while posting a +27 turnover margin.
Marico Stinson has been a consistent scorer for the Sycamores all season, but he broke out for a couple of season highs in Saturday's game at Creighton. He connected on a season-high six three pointers and finished the game with a season-high 23 points to lead the way for ISU. Both marks were also team highs for an individual player this season for ISU. However, they were not career highs for Stinson, who scored 37 points and hit nine three-pointers against Drake on Dec. 30, 2006 to set his career marks in both of those categories.
One reason for the Sycamores' 4-3 start in Valley play is their increase in defensive pressure. The Sycamores have 57 steals in seven league games, for an average 7.71 per game. Both of those marks currently rank first among all teams in conference games, just ahead of Southern Illinois and Illinois State, who have 52 and 51, respectively, in league play.
When teams face off against the Sycamores, one thing will be constant: Gabe Moore will be in the starting lineup. On Saturday against Creighton, Moore started his 100th consecutive game in an Indiana State uniform. The Little Rock, Ark., native started the final 23 games of his freshman career and has not missed a start since, for a total of 77 straight games. In his career to date, Moore has scored 1,017 points, grabbed 278 rebounds, dished out 379 assists and collected 175 steals.
The paint is quickly becoming freshman Isiah Martin's neighborhood and opponents are beginning to find out that it is not a very hospitable place. The forward from Chicago, Ill., has amassed 32 blocked shots in 17 games for an average of 1.88 per game. His 32 blocks are tied for first in the league with Illinois State's Anthony Slack, but his 1.88 average per game is tops in the conference. In addition, his 15 blocks in the team's seven league games are also first in the conference, three ahead of Drake's Jonathan Cox. On the season, Martin has blocked at least two shots in 10 of the team's seventeen games.
Somebody had to be the hero in ISU's double-overtime win over Southern Illinois and that player was Marico Stinson. 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 against Southern Illinois 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.
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 eight out of his last 10 games with. The Memphis, Tenn., native has scored 20+ points in two of his last three outings, including a season-high 23 points at Creighton on Saturday night. On the season, Stinson leads the Sycamores in points (218), points per game (12.8), field goals (85) and three-pointers (39).
Senior Gabe Moore joined a very exclusive club at Drake, as he 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. Moore now has 1,017 and needs just 47 more points to tie Harry Morgan for 29th place with 1,064 points.
The week of Jan. 7-14 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 at Drake. ISU went on to finish the 2000-01 season 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 Sycamores are 9-8 on the season, but those losses have not been due to teams beating them from beyond the arch. Through 17 games, ISU has allowed 106 three-pointers to its opponents. In addition, opponents are shooting just .351 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 12.8 points per game, while Moore is right behind with 10.2 points per contest. In addition, both have led the team in scoring six times, including Stinson's season-high 23 points at Creighton on Saturday. If both finish the season in double figures, it will top last season's final statistics as Moore was the only Sycamore to average double figures with 11.5 points per contest in the team's 31 games.
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 37 swipes this season for an average of 2.18 per game, both of which rank second in the league statistics. In addition, the Little Rock, Ark., native has swiped 175 in his career, which puts him in fourth place on the all-time list at ISU. Moore needs just 14 more to take over third place, which is currently held by Michael Menser, who collected 188 steals from 1997-2001.
They Sycamores are off to a 4-3 start in conference play, thanks to limiting their own turnovers and forcing more from their opponents. On the season, ISU has a turnover margin of +2.18, which ranks fourth in the conference. In conference play, that number is even better as the Sycamores have posted a +4.17 turnover margin, which currently ranks second among teams in Valley play.
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.
