Game Day Central
Date: November 29, 2008
Location: Rosemont, Ill.
Arena: Allstate Arena (18,500)
Series: DePaul Leads 10-1
Radio: ESPN Radio 1130/1300 AM
Play-By-Play: Brian Fritz
Analyst: Matt Renn
Internet: GoSycamores.com
Storylines
Indiana State (0-3) will be looking for its first win of the 2008-09 season, when the Sycamores head to Chicago to face off against Big East Conference opponent DePaul (3-0) on Saturday. Tip off is set for 2 p.m. ET the Allstate Arena.
The Sycamores are coming off a 67-61 loss to Murray State on Wednesday night in a return game from last year's ESPNU Bracketbusters series. ISU held an eight-point lead during the first half and went into the locker room with a two-point lead at halftime, but they could not reign in the Racers and remained winless this season.
Senior Jay Tunnell led the way for the Sycamores with 12 points and seven rebounds in the defeat, while redshirt freshman Keenan Barlow recorded a career-high 11 points and five rebounds in the loss for ISU. Sophomore Aaron Carter also finished in double figures with 10 points to go along with three assists while junior Josh Crawford added four blocked shots for the Sycamores. Danero Thomas led all scorers with 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting for Murray State, including a 4-for-6 effort from three-point range.
The Blue Demons also played on Wednesday night and defeated Detroit by a score of 71-62 at Allstate Arena to remain undefeated on the seaons. Sophomore Dar Tucker scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half to lead DePaul to the win and scored 10 straight points during a stretch in the second half. Fellow sophomore Mac Koshwal finished with 18 points and nine rebounds and led DePaul with 11 points in the first half.
DePaul leads the all-time series between the two schools by a margin of 10-1, with the first meeting happening during the 1935-36 season. Indiana State's only win in the series came in 1979, when the Sycamores defeated the Blue Demons in the Final Four by a score of 76-74 to advance to the NCAA Championship game. The last meeting between the two squads took place during the 2003-04 season, when the Blue Demons defeated the Sycamores by a score of 78-66 at the Coca-Cola Classic in East Lansing, Mich.
About The Coaches
Kevin McKenna (Creighton ?93) is in his second season as the head coach at Indiana State (15-18). In his first season with the Sycamores, McKenna led the team to its highest win total since the 2000-01 season and an impressive 12-2 record at home in the Hulman Center. McKenna came to Indiana State after spending nine seasons as an assistant coach at Creighton, 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.
Jerry Wainwright (Colorado College ?68) enters his 15th season as a NCAA Division I head coach (232-192) and his fourth at DePaul (46-48). During his collegiate tenure, Wainwright has taken his teams to seven postseason tournaments including three NCAA berths and four NIT appearances. Last season, Wainwright helped engineer the program's best start in ever in conference play and for the third-straight season in his tenure with the Blue Demons, DePaul posted at least one victory over a Top 25 team.
Scouting The Blue Demons
► DePaul is located in Chicago, Ill., and has an enrollment of 23,401 students. The Blue Demons are members of the Big East Conference and play their home games at the Allstate Arena (18,500).
► The Blue Deamons finished with an overall record of 11-19 during the 2007-08 season and posted a 6-12 record in Big East Conference play (tie 12th place).
► DePaul returns five letterwinners and three starters from last year's team and has added six newcomers to the squad this season. Sophomores Mac Koshwal (13.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and Dar Tucker (10.7 ppg, 50 3pt. field goals) return for their second season after both were to the BIG EAST Conference All-Rookie Team and to the national All-Freshman team by The Sporting News.
► This is the 30th anniversary of DePaul's run to the 1979 Final Four and ironically the 2008-09 Blue Demons will face three of the five teams the 1978-79 squad played during its magical March run. This season DePaul will face Indiana State, UCLA and Marquette (the 1978-79 squad also faced USC and Pennsylvania).
► DePaul (3-0) is coming off a 71-62 win over Detroit on Wednesday night at the Allstate Arena. Sophomore Dar Tucker led all scorers with 22 points, including a 4-for-7 effort from three-point range, to go alon with seven rebounds and four steals. He was joined in double figures by sophomore Mac Koshwal, who tallied 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help keep the Blue Demons stay undefeated.
The Dream Season ... 30 Years Later
This season marks the 30th anniversary of Indiana State's historic 1978-79 season that saw the Sycamores advance to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament and eventually to the National Championship game. In order to get there, the Sycamores had to defeat today's opponent, DePaul, in the Final Four. ISU, led by Larry Bird's 35 points and 16 rebounds, defeated the Blue Demons by a score of 76-74 to advance to the championship game against Magic Johnson and the Michigan State Spartans. Led by consensus First-Team All-American and future NBA Hall of Famer Bird, Indiana State compiled a 33-1 overall record, including a perfect 29-0 record during the regular season with the only loss of the season coming in the championship game to Michigan State 75-64. The current Sycamores will wear commemorative patches on their uniforms and will wear throwback 1978-79 jerseys in selected games during the season to celebrate the anniversary.
Martin And Richard Return Home
For sophomore Isiah Martin and freshman Carl Richard, today's game against DePaul will be a bit of a homecoming. Both had successful prep careers in Chicago, with Martin playing at Morgan Park High School and Richard playing at Oak Lawn Richards High School. Richard averaged 15.9 points per game as a senior last season and helped lead his high school team to the IHSA Class 4A State Championship.
Barlow Provides A Boost Off The Bench
Redshirt freshman Keenan Barlow had a career night against Murray State on Wednesday and gave the Sycamores a much-needed boost off the bench. The Indianapolis, Ind., native played a career-high 22 minutes against the Racers and collected a career-high 11 points and five rebounds in just his third game in an ISU uniform. Barlow was particularly proficient from long distance, as he scored nine of his 11 points from behind the arc (3-for-4) while adding an assist and a steal on the night.
An Impressive Debut For Crawford
At 6-11, junior transfer Josh Crawford will no doubt pose a problem for opposing defenses for Indiana State this season. He gave Northern Illinois fits with his size and prowess in the paint in the season opener, as he scored 13 points and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds against the Huskies. He also made his presence felt on the defensive end, as recorded three blocked shots while altering several others in 29 minutes of play in his debut with the Sycamores. He followed that up with 16 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots against North Texas on Sunday to average 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in his first two games in an ISU uniform.
A Balanced Scoring Attack
The Sycamores have shown an ability to share in the scoring duties this season based on their performances in the team's first three games of the season. Against Northern Illinois four players finished in double figures, led by Rashad Reed's 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range. That became a trend for the Sycamores in their second game of the week on Sunday against North Texas, as once again four players tallied double-digit scoring efforts. Freshman Carl Richard led the way against the Mean Green with a career-high 17 points while Crawford posted another solid effort with 16 points and four blocked shots. On Wednesday against Murray State, three players scored in double figures led by Tunnell's 12 points and redshirt freshman Keenan Barlow's career-high 11 points.
Sycamore Block Party
Last season, Isiah Martin led all Missouri Valley Conference players in blocked shots with 59. This season, he has some help as junior transfer Josh Crawford currently leads the league with 11 blocks in his first three games in an ISU uniform. ISU has swatted 17 shots combined as a team, with Martin adding four and Jay Tunnell and Jordan Printy each adding one to help the squad lead the league with an average of 5.7 blocked shots per game.
Dialed In From Long Distance
In Wednesday night's game against Murray State, the Sycamores made a season-high 12 three-pointers score 36 of the team's 61 total points. Redshirt freshman Keenan Barlow led the way with a 3-for-4 effort to end up with a career-high 11 points, while fellow redshirt freshman Jordan Printy, senior Jay Tunnell, junior Rashad Reed and sophomore Aaron Carter each added two treys against the Racers. That performance upped the team's season effort to 27-for-64 (.422) from three-point range, which currently ranks as the third-best mark in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Welcome To The Show
Several Sycamore rookies saw their first action in a Sycamore uniform in the team's season opener at Northern Illinois on Nov. 18. In all, six players made their debuts at Indiana State during the game while four players made their collegiate debuts: Keenan Barlow, Tyler Cutter, Jordan Printy, Carl Richard. Two of those newcomers, junior college transfers Rashad Reed and Josh Crawford, both scored in double figures with 21 and 13 points respectively.
Reed For Three
Sycamore fans may get used to hearing Rashad Reed's name called a lot this year, especially with his prowess for shooting three-pointers. Reed was dialed in from long distance in the team's season opener against Northern Illinois and made 5-of-8 three-point attempts to finish with a team-high 21 points. Not only did Reed shoot well against the Huskies, but he has shot well since taking the floor at ISU. Reed connected on 4-of-7 shots from behind the arc in the team's fist exhibition game against Albion for 12 of his game-high 13 points and followed that up by shooting 3-for-5 from long distance for nine of his 14 points in the team's second and final exhibition game against Division II St. Joseph's College (Ind.).
Get That Outta Here!
Albion College found it very hard to score points in the paint against the Sycamores in the exhibition opener, as the team had 11 of its shots blocked by ISU defenders. Sophomore Isiah Martin, who led the Missouri Valley Conference last season with 59 blocked shots as a freshman, collected six by himself to start the season strong. Freshman Koang Doluony added three swats of his own thanks to his wingspan of over seven feet while junior Josh Crawford and Carl Richard each added a block apiece.
Taking Advantage of Mistakes
Last season, the Sycamores forced an average of three more turnovers from their opponents than they gave up at home. Based on the team's exhibition game against St. Joseph's, that trend may continue for the Sycamores this season. ISU forced 25 SJC turnovers and turned those miscues into 41 of the team's 93 points.
Pounding The Paint
Indiana State defeated St. Joseph's by a score of 93-71 during exhibition play, thanks in part to a strong effort in the post by the Sycamores. ISU scored 32 of its 91 points in the paint against the Pumas. In addition, ISU dominated SJC on the boards by a margin of 40-28, with junior transfer Josh Crawford leading the way with 10 rebounds to go along with 11 points for the first double-double of his career at ISU.
Martin Tops In Blocks
During his freshman season, Isiah Martin surprised many people with his ability to block shots and change shots in the paint. Martin ranked first in the conference in total blocks (59) and blocks per game (1.9) last season while ranking 54th nationally in blocks per game (1.9). In addition, his 59 blocks set a new ISU freshman record and were the second-most in a single season at ISU by any player. To prove it wasn't a fluke, Martin swatted six shots in the team's exhibition opener against Albion College to start the season.
The Man Everyone Looks To
Indiana State fields one of its youngest teams in years in 2008, with forward Jay Tunnell serving as the team's lone senior leader. Tunnell has played in 90 career games, with 84 starting assignments, while averaging nearly nine points and five rebounds per contest in his three seasons with the Sycamores. During his career, he's recorded four double-double performances, including 14 double-digit scoring efforts during the 2007-08 season. In addition, Tunnel has scored 767 points in his career with the Sycamores which leaves him just 233 points shy of becoming the 31st player in school history with at least 1,000 career points.
Honoring A True Sycamore Legend
Prior to the start of lSU's first exhibition game against Albion College, the floor at Hulman Center will officially be named the Nellie and John Wooden Court in honor of the legendary coach and his late wife, Nellie. Prior to achieving legendary success as the head coach at UCLA, Wooden began his collegiate coaching career and served two years as head men's basketball coach, baseball coach and athletics director at Indiana State from 1946 to 1948. While earning his master's degree at Indiana State, he compiled a 44-15 record as basketball coach while leading the Sycamores to post-season tournament appearances each year and two conference championships. In addition, coach Wooden will also be inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Athletic Hall of Fame in March.
Mahurin Signs On The Dotted Line
With just one senior on this year's roster, Indiana State men's basketball head coach Kevin McKenna needed to fill just one spot for next year's team. He filled that spot with the addition of local star RJ Mahurin (Rockville, Ind./Rockville HS), who signed a National Letter of Intent with ISU to continue his education and basketball career. Mahurin, a 6-foot-8 forward, has scored 1,404 points in his career for the Rox and is just 118 points away from becoming the top scorer in school history heading into his senior season. During his junior season, Mahurin led the Rox to a sectional championship and a spot in the regional finals with a 23-4 overall record. He averaged 25.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game, which earned him Honorable Mention All-State honors from the Associated Press and led to him being named the Tribune Star's Wabash Valley Player of the Year. Mahurin was also named the team's most valuable player and was an All-Wabash River Conference Selection.
