Date: January 27, 2008
Location: Normal, Ill.
Site: Redbird Arena (10,200)
Tip-off: 3:05 p.m. EST
Radio: ESPN Radio 1300 AM
Talent: Brian Fritz & Matt Renn
Series: Illinois State Leads 54-42
Last Time: INS 68, ILS 65 (3/1/07)
The Sycamores continue a tough five-game stretch where they will play four of those games away from home including today's game at Illinois State.
Indiana State heads into the game after a 72-42 drubbing of Evansville on Wednesday night at home, which was the team's biggest win since 2001. It also marked the team's first regular-season sweep of a Valley opponent since 2004.
Senior Gabe Moore once again had a solid game against the Purple Aces, as he led all scorers with 14 points and added seven assists and five steals to round out the night. Senior Todd McCoy was also a standout, as he recorded his first career double-double at ISU with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the game.
The Redbirds have lost their last two games, both on the road, after winning their previous nine in a row and jumping out to a 6-0 start in conference play. The most recent defeat came on Wednesday night, when Illinois State was beaten by the rival Bradley Braves by a score of 76-75 in Peoria, Ill.
Illinois State was led in that game by senior Boo Richardson, who scored 17 points while dishing out four assists. He was joined in double figures by Dom Johnson (15), Osiris Eldridge (11) and Emmanuel Holloway (10).
The Redbirds lead the all-time series between the two schools 54-42. However, the Sycamores won the last game in the series and have won three out of the last five games overall. In their last trip to Redbird Arena, the Sycamores picked up a 54-50 win on Jan. 6, 2007.
► 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.
► Illinois State's Tim Jankovich is in his first season as the head coach of the Redbirds (14-5). He took over as the head coach at Illinois State after spending the past five years as an assistant coach at Kansas and Illinois under Bill Self. During that time, Jankovich helped his teams to five-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and two trips to the Elite Eight. He is assisted by Rob Judson, Anthony Beane and Paris Parham.
► Illinois State University is located in Normal, Ill., and has an enrollment of 20,104. The Redbirds are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (10,200).
► The Redbirds are led by first year head coach Tim Jankovich. Jankovich (14-5 at ILS) took over as the head coach at Illinois State after spending the past five years as an assistant coach at Kansas and at Illinois under Bill Self. During that time, Jankovich helped his teams to five-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and two trips to the Elite Eight. He was also the head coach at Hutchinson Community College from 1997-99 and the head coach at North Texas from 1994-97.
► Illinois State returns four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's team that went 15-16 overall and 6-12 in the Missouri Valley Conference. ISU's season ended in the first round of the Valley tournament, when the Sycamores defeated the Redbirds 68-65 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
► Illinois State had its nine-game winning streak snapped when the Redbirds dropped a 79-73 decision at Drake. The stretch included ISU's first 6-0 start in Missouri Valley Conference play since the 1997-98 season.
► Sophomore Osiris Eldridge leads the way for the Redbirds with 15.6 points per game, which ranks second overall in the Missouri Valley Conference. The guard from Chicago, Ill., also leads the team in rebounding (6.0), three-pointers (41) and steals (31).
Wednesday's win over in-state rival Evansville completed the season sweep for the Sycamores over the Purple Aces. ISU won the first contest 70-56 in the team's Valley opener on the road (the team's only road win of the season) and then wrapped it up with the 30-point win at the Hulman Center by a score of 72-42. That win was the largest margin of victory for the team since a 36-point victory over Evansville on Feb. 21, 2001. It was also ISU's first regular season sweep of any Missouri Valley Conference opponent since it swept Evansville during the 2004 season.
Senior Todd McCoy has flirted with a couple of double-double performances earlier in the season, but fell just short of the achievement. However, he got the job done on Wednesday against Evansville and recorded the first double-double of his two-year career at ISU with 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Purple Aces. The Philadelphia, Pa., native's 12 boards set a new career high and his two blocks also set a new career standard. His 12 points just missed a career high, as he scored 13 points against Evansville earlier in the season to set his high mark in that category. McCoy's double-double is the second of the season for ISU, joining junior Jay Tunnell who had 16 points and 10 rebounds against Ball State on Dec. 8.
Senior Gabe Moore and freshman Isiah Martin have each put together some of their best performances of the season all against the same team, Evansville. In the two games this season against the Purple Aces, Moore has 36 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and five steals. In two games against UE, Martin has scored 19 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked eight shots. Those performances helped the Sycamores to two wins against the Aces for the first time since 2004.
One look at the season statistics for ISU and one can see that the team has shared the scoring duties. In Wednesday's win over Evansville, Gabe Moore (14), Todd McCoy (12), Harry Marshall (10) and Jay Tunnell (10) shared in the scoring duties to lead the Sycamores to a season sweep over their rivals from the south. The squad has had four players in double figures five times this season, including both games against Evansville, on the road at Tulane and in back-to-back games at home early in the season against Northern Illinois and IPFW.
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 9-0 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 nine games at home, the squad is averaging 67.7 points per game while allowing opponents just 53.8 points per contest. In addition, the Sycamores are shooting .446 from the field, including .392 from three-point range, while posting a +34 turnover margin. Compare that to the team's numbers on the road, where they average just 59.6 points as compared to their opponent's 73.4 and are shooting just .374 from the field for a 1-8 record.
One reason for the Sycamores' 5-3 start in Valley play is their increase in defensive pressure. The Sycamores have 64 steals in eight league games, for an average eight per game. Both of those marks currently rank first among all teams in conference games, just ahead of Drake and Bradley, who are tied for second with 57 swipes for an average of 7.13 per game in league play.
When teams face off against the Sycamores, one thing will be constant: Gabe Moore will be in the starting lineup. On against Wednesday against Evansville, Moore started his 101st 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 78 straight games. In his career to date, Moore has scored 1,031 points, grabbed 278 rebounds, dished out 386 assists and collected 180 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 36 blocked shots in 18 games for an average of two per game. His 36 blocks are tops in the league, four ahead of Illinois State's Anthony Slack with 32. In addition, his average of two per game also ranks first in the conference. In addition, his 19 blocks in the team's eight league games are also first in the conference, five ahead of Drake's Jonathan Cox. Just as a side note, ISU only had 42 blocks as a team all last season.
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.
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 1,031 and needs just 33 more points to tie Harry Morgan for 29th place with 1,064 points.
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 11 games. The Memphis, Tenn., native has scored 20+ points in two of his last four outings, including a season-high 23 points at Creighton last Saturday. On the season, Stinson leads the Sycamores in points (227), points per game (12.6), field goals (88) and three-pointers (42).
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.
When the Sycamores earned a 74-56 victory over UNI at the Hulman Center on Jan. 5, 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 happens this year.
The Sycamores are 10-8 on the season, but those losses have not been due to teams beating them from beyond the arch. Through 18 games, ISU has allowed 106 three-pointers to its opponents. In addition, opponents are shooting just .349 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.
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 42 swipes this season for an average of 2.33 per game, both of which rank second in the league statistics behind Southern Illinois' Bryan Mullins. In addition, the Little Rock, Ark., native has swiped 180 in his career, which puts him in fourth place on the all-time list at ISU. Moore needs just 9 more to take over third place, which is currently held by Michael Menser, who collected 188 steals from 1997-2001.
The Sycamores are off to a 5-3 start in conference play, thanks to limiting their own turnovers and forcing more from their opponents. During conference play, ISU has a turnover margin of +4.50, which ranks first in the conference. ISU is forcing an average of 16.1 turnovers from their conference counterparts, but have only been turning the ball over 11.6 times per game. Overall, the team has a turnover margin of +2.44 in 18 games this season, which is third best.
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 on Dec. 8. 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.
