Date: February 19, 2008
Location: Terre Haute, Ind.
Site: Hulman Center (10,200)
Tip-off: 7:07 p.m. EST
Radio: The Crock 92.7 FM
Talent: Brian Fritz & Matt Renn
Series: Wichita State leads 40-24
Last Time: WSU 65, ISU 60 (2/9/08)
Indiana State will wrap up its three-game homestand tonight against Wichita State. The Sycamores (12-13, 7-8 MVC) are winners of two straight games, while the Shockers (10-16, 3-12 MVC) have lost two-straight games, both in overtime.
ISU is coming off a hard-fought 76-72 win over Illinois State last Saturday. The Sycamores withstood an early barrage from the Redbirds and guard Osiris Eldridge, who finished the game with 34 points, and picked up their 11th home win of the season.
Four players scored in double figures for ISU, with junior Jay Tunnell leading the way with 14 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Gabe Moore added 14 points and seven assists in the win as well, with Harry Marshall (14) and Marico Stinson (12) rounding out the balanced scoring attack.
Despite a career-high 23 points from senior Matt Braeuer, Wichita State could not hold off a late rally and fell to Southern Illinois in overtime, 74-67, on Saturday night inside Charles Koch Arena. It was the second-straight OT loss for the Shockers, after previously dropping a 77-75 decision at Northern Iowa on Wednesday.
The Sycamores will be looking to gain some revenge against the Shockers, who picked up a 65-60 win over ISU in Wichita, Kan., just 10 days ago.
Wichita State leads the all-time series 40-24 between the two schools. However, the Sycamores lead the series in Terre Haute 16-13, including a win at Hulman Center last year. The teams split the season series last year, with each team winning on its own home court.
► 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.
► Wichita State's Gregg Marshall is in his first year as the head coach of the Shockers. Marshall came to WSU via Winthrop, where he spent the last nine seasons as head coach. During that time, he led the team to a 194-83 (.707) record, six Big South regular season championships, seven Big South Tournament championships and seven trips to the NCAA Tournament including a second-round loss to No. 3 seed Oregon last year. He is assisted by Earl Grant, Chris Jans and Marty Gross.
► Wichita State University is located in Wichita, Kan., and has an enrollment of 14,298. The Shockers are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at the Charles Koch Arena (10,478).
► The Shockers are led by first-year head coach Gregg Marshall. Marshall came to Wichita State via Winthrop, where he spent the last nine seasons as head coach. During that time, he led the team to a 194-83 (.707) record, six Big South regular season championships, seven Big South Tournament championships and seven trips to the NCAA Tournament including a second-round loss to No. 3 seed Oregon last year.
► WSU returns six letterwinners and two starters from last year's team that finished 17-14 overall and 8-10 in the MVC, good for a sixth-place finish.
► Despite a career-high 23 points from senior Matt Braeuer, Wichita State could not hold off a late rally and fell to Southern Illinois in overtime, 74-67, Saturday night inside Charles Koch Arena. It was the Shockers' second-straight overtime loss.
► The Shockers head into tonight's game as the top rebounding team in the Missouri Valley Conference. WSU has 950 total rebounds in 26 games this season for league-high 36.5 rebounds per game. The Shockers also have the best rebounding margin in the league at +6.5.
Freshman Isiah Martin returned to form last week and averaged 6.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game in ISU's two wins last week over Bradley and Illinois State. Those performances earned the Chicago, Ill., native State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week honors on Monday. In Tuesday's win over the Braves, the Chicago, Ill., native scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds and added three blocks in the paint for the Sycamores. On Saturday, grabbed five rebounds, blocked two shots and added three points in 22 minutes of work in the team's win over the Redbirds.
Gabe Moore is wrapping up his career at Indiana State with a bang, as the senior point guard has been red hot over his last five games. During that stretch, the Little Rock, Ark., native has averaged 18.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. Moore began the streak with 19 points against then No. 16 Drake and followed that up with 15 points at Southern Illinois and 16 points at Wichita State. However, he saved his best games for last week, as he scored a season high 27 points against Bradley and added 14 points against Illinois State to help the Sycamores to two big wins.
In last week's wins over Bradley and Illinois State, the Sycamores out-rebounded both team. ISU had not done that since the first two games of the season against Oakland City and Butler, and with those wins, the Sycamores are now 6-1 on the season when they grab more rebounds than their opponents. Prior to the last two games, ISU had been out-rebounded in 14 out of their last 15 games which resulted in a 6-9 record overall.
One advantage to head coach Kevin McKenna's new offensive system is that multiple players will have a chance to score. That's exactly what the Sycamores in Saturday's win over Illinois State, as four players finished the game in double figures. Gabe Moore (14), Harry Marshall (14), Jay Tunnell (14) and Marico Stinson (14) each shared in the scoring duties to help ISU win their 11th game of the season at home. With their performance against the Redbirds, the squad has now had four players score in double figures eight times this season. Compare that to last season, when the team achieved that feat just six times.
Gabe Moore took the ball to the hoop more than usual on Tuesday night against Bradley and the formula seemed to work out well for the senior point guard. Moore scored a game-high 27 points, just two shy of his career-high, including a perfect 14-for-14 performance from the free throw line. That mark ties teammate Harry Marshall for the most made by a Sycamores this season, as Marshall posted a 14-for-19 performance in the team's double-overtime win over SIU.
Not only was last Tuesday night's win a big one for the Sycamores, but it was also a big one in the career of head coach Kevin McKenna. The team's 76-66 win gave McKenna 100 in his career as a head coach during his time spent at Nebraska-Omaha and Indiana State. McKenna posted an 89-33 overall mark in four seasons at UNO and is now 12-13 in his first season at ISU, for a career mark of 101-46 in five seasons.
Defending the three-pointer has been a strong point for Indiana State this season, as they are allowing opponents to shoot just .347 from beyond the arc on the season and have allowed a league-low 150 treys. That defensive effort shone through last Tuesday when Bradley, which entered the game seventh nationally with 233 three pointers this season, made just 4-of-27 (.148) attempts from behind the arc against the Sycamores. That helped the Sycamores to a 10-point victory and snapped a five-game losing skid.
The Sycamores were ecstatic to return home last week, after losing five straight games in row with four of those happening on the road. They returned home triumphantly, by earning wins over Bradley and Illinois State. The court at Hulman Center has been extremely comforting for ISU this season, as the team has posted a 11-1 record with the only loss coming to No. 14 Drake. In those 12 games at home, the Sycamores are averaging 69.8 points per game and are shooting 45.7 percent from the field while forcing 29 more turnovers than their opponents. Compare that to the road, where the team is averaging just 59.3 points and shooting just 38.4 percent from the field.
As Gabe Moore prepares to play the last few games of his career at Indiana State, his name continues to climb several career lists. Moore's season-high 27 points on Tuesday against Bradley and his 14 points on Saturday against Illinois State raised his career total to 1,136 points, which puts him in 23rd place on the all-time scoring list at ISU. The Little Rock, Ark., also passed former Sycamore great Michael Menser last weekend on the all-time steals list, as he now has 193, good for third place all-time. He is also in the top 10 on the assists list with 419, which currently ranks 7th behind Menser's 426 in 6th place.
During the 2006-07 season, the Sycamores blocked just 42 shots as a team. This season, the team has improved that mark to almost double at 82, thanks to freshman Isiah Martin. Martin has 48 blocks in his first season at ISU, breaking the freshman single-season record and besting the entire team's mark from last season. Those 48 blocks and his average of 1.92 per game also rank first overall in the Missouri Valley Conference, ahead of Southern Illinois' Randal Falker (38/1.46 bpg).
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's 55 swipes are tops in the Valley, just ahead of SIU's Bryan Mullins. His average of 2.20 per game also ranks first in the league list, just ahead of Mullins' mark of 2.08 per game. Moore also has 28 steals in conference games for an average of 1.87 per game, both of which rank first in the conference.
The Sycamores are still in hunt for a top-six seed in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, thanks to limiting their own turnovers and forcing more from their opponents. During conference play, ISU has a turnover margin of +1.93, which ranks second in the conference behing league-leading and No. 18 ranked Drake. ISU is forcing an average of 14.4 turnovers from their conference counterparts, but have only been turning the ball over an average of 12.5 times per game.
When teams face off against the Sycamores, one thing will be constant: Gabe Moore will be in the starting lineup. On Saturday against Illinois State, Moore started his 108th 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 85 straight games. In his career to date, Moore has scored 1,136 points, grabbed 304 rebounds, dished out 419 assists and collected 193 steals.
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 15 out of his last 18 games including the last seven in a row. On the season, Stinson leads the Sycamores in points (327), points per game (13.1), field goals (120) and three-pointers (60).
ISU's win over in-state rival Evansville on Jan. 23 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 Gabe Moore joined a very exclusive club at in the team's Jan. 9 game 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 1,136 points in his career, which puts him in 23rd place on the all-time scoring list.
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.
