Storylines
Indiana State (0-5) will begin a four-game road swing on Saturday, when they face off against No. 11 ranked Louisville (2-1) to begin the Marques Maybin Classic in Louisville, Ky. The three-game round robin tournament will continue for the Sycamores on Dec. 7 against Lamar (5-1) and will conclude on Dec. 8 against Ohio (3-1).
The Sycamores are coming off a very close 56-54 loss at home to Arkansas State on Monday at the Hulman Center. ISU battled back in the second half to tie the game, but strong shooting late in the game by ASU's Donald Boone helped the Red Wolves pick up the win.
The Sycamores were led by senior Jay Tunnell, who tallied 16 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes of action. He was joined in double figures by junior Rashad Reed, who scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds for ISU.
This weekend's tournament will be the first regular-season tournament the Sycamores will play in since the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2004. Louisville leads the all-time series with the Sycamores 5-1, while ISU and Lamar have split the all-time series between the schools 1-1 with both games taking place in the late 1960's. Monday's meeting with Ohio will be the first between the two schools in history.
All games will be held at Freedom Hall (18,865) in Louisville and can be heard online at GoSycamores.com.
Marques Maybin Classic Information
The 2008 Marques Maybin Classic will be played Dec. 6-8 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. The round-robin tournament will feature the host and No. 11 ranked Louisville Cardinals, the Indiana State Sycamores, the Lamar Cardinals and the Ohio Bobcats. Each team will play three games in the tournament, with the winner of the tournament to be decided after the final game on Monday evening.
The event is named for Maybin, the Cardinals' No. 13 all-time scorer who was paralyzed from the waist down in a motorcycle accident on Aug. 5, 2003. He is currently enrolled at U of L to complete his degree requirements. A portion of the proceeds from the event will be earmarked for the Marques Maybin Medical Fund.
Maybin led the Cardinals in scoring in his final two years at U of L, including averaging 17.7 points as a senior during the 2000-01 season. He completed his career with 1,624 career points while playing at U of L from 1997-2001, ranking 13th all-time at Louisville and eighth in Conference USA history. His career 156-three point goals is seventh all-time for the Cardinals and he is sixth in career dunks with 95.
Tournament Schedule:
Saturday, December 6
? Indiana State (V) at Louisville (H) 2:06 p.m. ET
? Lamar (V) vs. Ohio (H) 30 minutes after, or no sooner than 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 7
? Ohio (V) at Louisville (H) 4:06 p.m. ET
? Indiana State (V) vs. Lamar (H) 30 minutes after, or no sooner than 6:30 p.m.
Note: The Louisville women's team plays Ball State in Freedom Hall at Noon on Dec. 7 (WHAS-TV)
Monday, December 8
? Ohio (V) vs. Indiana State (H) 4:30 p.m. ET
? Lamar (V) at Louisville (H) 30 minutes after, or no sooner than 7:06 p.m.
Television:
WHAS-TV in Louisville (Channel 11; carried on local Insight cable TV on channel 4) will televise each game in which Louisville participates. The Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 telecasts will also be carried live by ESPN's Full Court and all three games will be on SportsNet New
York.
Awards:
Following the final game Monday night, a championship trophy will be awarded to the winning team of the round-robin event. An all-tournament team and Most Outstanding Player will also be selected and announced following the final game. Participants are encouraged to remain on the court for the presentations.
About The Louisville Coach
Rick Pitino (UMass ?74) is in his 23rd season as a collegiate head coach (523-192) and his eighth at Louisville(171-68). The only coach to take three different schools to the NCAA Final Four including his 2005 Cardinal team. He guided Kentucky to three NCAA Final Four appearances in eight seasons (1989-97), winning the 1996 NCAA Championship and reaching the national title game in 1997. He has also served as head coach at Providence College (1985-87, 1987 Final Four), Boston University (1978-83), as well as the NBA New York Knicks (1987-89) and Boston Celtics (1997-2001).
Scouting The Cardinals
► The University of Louisville is located in Louisville, Ky., and has an enrollment of 22,000 students. The Cardinals are members of the BIG EAST Conference and play their home games at Freedom Hall (18,865).
► The Cardinals finished with an overall record of 27-9 during the 2007-08 season and posted a 12-4 record in BIG EAST Conference play (Tie-2nd). Louisville lost in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament to Pittsburgh 76-69 in OT, but were selected for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection. In the NCAA Tournament, the Cardinals advanced to the Elite Eight where they dropped an 83-73 decision to North Carolina.
► Louisville (2-1) are coming off a stunning 68-54 upset at the hands of Western Kentucky on Sunday night in Nashville, Tenn. A.J. Slaughter had a career-high 25 points and Steffphon Pettigrew added 17 points and 12 rebounds for Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers out-rebounded Louisville 48-36, out-scored the Cardinals 24-18 in the paint and dominated the final 15 minutes to earn the victory. Terrence Williams had 19 points and Earl Clark added 11 points and 11 rebounds for Louisville, which shot just 27 percent from the field and made just six-of-30 3-pointers.
About The Lamar Coach
Steve Roccaforte (Lamar ?89) is in his third season as a collegiate head coach and in his second at Lamar (39-29). Last season, he led the Cardinals to a 19-11 overall record and first place tie in the Southland Conference. Roccaforte spent three years as an assistant coach at the Memphis before coming home to Lamar. During that time, he helped the Tigers advance to the NIT final four in 2001, win the NIT championship in 2002 and advance to the NCAA Tournament in 2003 for the first time in seven years. The Tigers also had Top 10 recruiting classes each of his three seasons at Memphis, including the No. 1 rated class in 2001.
Scouting The Cardinals
► Lamar University is located in Beaumont, Texas, and has an enrollment of 14,000 students. The Cardinals are members of the Southland Conference and play their home games at the Montagne Center (10,080).
► The Cardinals finished with an overall record of 19-11 during the 2007-08 season and posted a 13-3 record in Southland Conference play (Tie-1st). Lamar ended its season with a first-round loss to Texas-Arlington by a score of 81-75 in the Southland Conference tournament.
► Lamar (5-1) is coming off a 103-61 blowout defeat at the hands of Kentucky on Wednesday night. Patrick Patterson scored a career-high 31 points and Jodie Meeks added 19 and six assists as the Wildcats (5-2) rolled past the Cardinals. Coy Custer and Kenny Dawkins led Lamar (5-1) with 11 points apiece, but the Cardinals had trouble slowing Kentucky down. The Wildcats out-scored Lamar 46-24 in the paint and had a 20-2 advantage in fast break points.
About The Ohio Coach
John Groce (Taylor ?94) is in his first season as a collegiate head coach and at Ohio (3-1). Recognized last year by both Fox Sports and Rivals.com as one of the nation's top assistants, Groce has reached the postseason 13 times in his 14 years on the collegiate sidelines. Prior to his arrival in Athens, Groce spent four seasons on staff at Ohio State, the final two as associate head coach. During his tenure, he helped the Buckeyes to 105 victories, including a school-record 35 wins in 2006-07, a pair of outright Big Ten regular-season titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances, a berth in the 2007 NCAA National Championship game and the 2008 NIT title.
Scouting The Bobcats
► Ohio University is located in Athens, Ohio, and has an enrollment of 28,751 students. The Bobcats are members of the Mid-American Conference (East) and play their home games at the Convocation Center (13,080).
► The Bobcats finished with an overall record of 20-13 during the 2007-08 season and posted a 9-7 record in Mid-American Conference Play (3rd East). The Bobcats ended the season with a 79-73 loss to Missouri Valley Conference opponent Bradley in the second round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.
► Ohio (3-1) is coming off an impressive 75-63 win at home against Tulsa on Wednesday night. The win extended the Ohio's non-conference home winning streak to 23 games. The Bobcats made 20 of their last 22 free throws on the night, including 8-of-10 in the final five minutes, and finished 20-of-24 (.833) as a team from the charity stripe. Senior forward Jerome Tillman scored a game-high 21 points to lead a quartet of Bobcats with double-digit point totals, marking his second-straight 20-point performance, and the 13th of his career. Senior forward Justin Orr fell just two points shy of his career best with a season-high 18 on the night, while senior guard Michael Allen scored 13 of his career-high 15 points in the second half. Freshman Steven Coleman (Melbourne, Fla.) rounded out the balanced scoring effort with 12 points and a career-best eight assists compared to just one turnover.
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 13 blocks in his first four games in an ISU uniform. ISU has swatted 21 shots combined as a team, with Martin adding five and Jay Tunnell, Jordan Printy and Carl Richard each adding one to help the squad rank second in the league with an average of 4.2 blocked shots per game behind Creighton (4.5 bpg).
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 currently leads the Sycamores from three-point range on the season, shooting 14-for-18 (.500) in five games. That figures out to an average of 2.8 treys per game, which ranks Reed second in the conference behind Illinois State's Champ Oguchi (3.1). His .500 shooting percentage from three-point range is also tied for the second-best mark in the Valley, behind SIU's Kevin Dillard (.522).
A Tale Of Two Halves
One look at Saturday's box score against DePaul and you can see how the game was drastically different from the first to the second half. The Sycamores shot just 29.6 percent from the field in the first half and turned the ball over 11 times which resulted in a 39-19 lead for the Blue Demons at the half. However, the second half was dominated by the Sycamores, who held the Blue Demons to 29.4 percent shooting from the field and shot 52.9 percent from the field to out-score the Blue Demons by a margin of 51-36 to take the game to the wire.
Mr. Consistency
Sophomore Aaron Carter is quickly asserting himself as one of the most consistent Sycamores on this year's squad. Carter, who had four double-digit scoring efforts in 30 games as a freshman last season, was the only Sycamore to post double digits in points in each of the team's first four games. He opened the season with 15 points at Northern Illinois and then scored 12 points against North Texas and 10 points against Murray State in two-straight home games. However, he saved his best performance for DePaul as he collected a career-high 19 points to go along with six rebounds. Helping his scoring consistency is his performance at the free throw line, where he is 14-for-17 (.824) on the season and a perfect 10-for-10 in his last four games.
Barlow Provides A Boost Off The Bench
Redshirt freshman Keenan Barlow had a career night against Murray State on Nov. 26 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 shots. 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. In all, the Sycamores have five players averaging over eight points per game in five games this season and three players averaging double figures in points: Reed (14.4 ppg), Aaron Carter (11.6 ppg) and Tunnell (11.6 ppg).
Dialed In From Long Distance
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.
Welcome To The Show
Several Sycamore rookies saw their first action in a Sycamore uniform in the team's season opener against Nortern 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.
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.
Blocked Shots Piled Up For Martin In First Season
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.
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.
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. Led by consensus First-Team All-American and future NBA Hall of Famer Larry 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.
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 MVP and was an All-Wabash River Conference Selection.
Next Up For The Sycamores ...
After three competitive games this weekend, the Sycamores will return to action on Saturday, December 13, when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to face off against No. 9/10 ranked Purdue. Last season, the Sycamores were defeated by the Boilermakers at Mackey Arena by a score of 71-60 on December 1. Purdue leads the all-time series between the two schools 27-4, with the last ISU win coming in 2006 at the Hulman Center by a score of 89-70.
