Indiana State will take a small break from Missouri Valley Conference action tonight and will instead focus on an Ohio Valley Conference opponent in Murray State as part of the O'Reilly's/ESPNU Bracketbusters series.
The Sycamores head into the game on a three-game winning streak, after earning wins over Bradley, Illinois State and Wichita State at home over a seven-day span.
Tuesday's comeback win in overtime against Wichita State was one of the biggest in recent memory for the Sycamores. ISU erased a 21-point deficit to the Shockers with approximately nine minutes left in the game and later had to come back from a nine-point deficit with just a 1:22 left in the game. However, ISU forced the game into overtime and came away with an 83-73 win over the Shockers.
Senior Gabe Moore tied his career high with 29 points, including a 12-for-13 performance from the free throw line, while freshman Aaron Carter set a career-high 14 points to go along with five rebounds.
The Racers have not played since last Saturday, when they earned a 67-56 win over Eastern Illinois to extend their home winning streak to nine. Bruce Carter led the way for MSU with 22 points and five boards in the win.
ISU will take on take on Murray State for the seventh time in school history, with the series dating back to 1945. The Sycamores hold a 6-2 all-time advantage in the series, with the most recent action coming in a home-and-home series in 2001 (won 74-66 by ISU in Terre Haute, Ind.) and 2002 (won by MSU 85-39 in Murray, Ky.).
► 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.
► Murray State's Billy Kennedy is in his second season as the head coach of the Racers. Kennedy took over the reigns during the 2006-07 season and led the team to the program's 20th-consecutive winning season with a 16-14 overall mark and a second-place tie in the OVC at 13-7. Prior to taking over at MSU, Kennedy spent six years as the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana and one season as an assistant at Miami (Fla.). He is assisted by Isaac Chew, Steve Prohm and Jamall Walker.
► Murray State University is located in Murray, Ky., and has an enrollment of 10,350. The Racers are members of the Ohio Valley Conference and play their home games at the Regional Special Events Center (8,600).
► The Racers are led by second-year head coach Billy Kennedy. Kennedy took over the reigns during the 2006-07 season and led the team to the program's 20th-consecutive winning season with a 16-14 overall mark and a second-place tie in the OVC at 13-7. Prior to taking over at MSU, Kennedy spent six years as the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana and one season as an assistant at Miami (Fla.).
► MSU is currently second place in the Ohio Valley Conference at 12-6. The Racers are a game ahead of Morehead State in third place with an 11-7 mark. Austin Peay is at the top of the standings, with a mark of 14-4 and should secure the OVC regular season championship.
► Murray State will be trying to extend their home winning streak at the RSEC to 10 straight tonight when the Racers face off against the Sycamores. MSU is 11-1 at home this season with the only loss coming Dec. 5 against Eastern Kentucky. In addition, the Racers have won eight straight non-conference games at home dating back to their loss to Southern Illinois on Dec. 28, 2005.
► The Racers are led by Bruce Carter, who averages 13.6 points per game. Carter enters the ISU game with 16 straight double-figure scoring games.
When Indiana State faces off against Murray State tonight, it will be the fourth the team has played in the O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBusters series. The Sycamores are 1-2 all-time in the event, most recently playing Miami (Ohio) last year. ISU suffered a 70-57 loss to the RedHawks, but picked up its lone win in the series in 2006 with a 51-49 win over Western Michigan. The Sycamores did not participate in the series in 2005, but did participate in 2004, when they dropped a a 64-51 decision to Buffalo.
Indiana State's comeback on Tuesday night against Wichita State was not the only story, as the Sycamores set the bar with new team and individual season highs. ISU scored a season-high 83 points in the overtime win, besting the 78 points the team scored in the season opener against Oakland City. The team also improved its record in overtime games to 2-0 on the season. Senior Gabe Moore had an outstanding game by scoring a season-high 29 points to tie his career high, while freshman Aaron Carter's 14 points also set a season and career high. Senior Todd McCoy rounded out the individual performances with his three made three-pointers to set a new career high, one of which tied the game at 48-48 to cap off the amazing 21-point run.
When Wichita State took a 21-point lead over the Sycamores with 13:43 left in the game on Tuesday night at the Hulman Center, few could sense what was about to happen over the next five minutes. The Sycamores buckled down and went on an improbable 21-point run to tie the game at 48-48 with 8:53 left on the clock. WSU then went back up by 10 points with 2:32 left in the game and held a nine-point lead with 1:22 left. However, ISU rallied once again and a Gabe Moore layup with four seconds left tied the game at 67-67 to send the contest to overtime. From there, the Sycamores took over and cruised to an 83-73 win to improve their home record this season to 12-1 and extend their winning streak to three games.
During its recent three-game homestand, the Sycamores exploded on the offensive end of the court and posted three of its best scoring performances of the season. Against Bradley, the Sycamores out-shot the Braves and scored 76 points, their most since scoring 77 points in the Feb. 2 game at home against No. 16 Drake. ISU followed that with 76 points in a win over Illinois State last Saturday and then scored a season-high 83 points in the overtime win over on Tuesday over Wichita State. On the season, ISU is averaging 70.8 points per game at the Hulman Center compared to just 59.3 points per game on the road this season.
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 20.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Moore with 15 points at Southern Illinois and followed that with 16 points at Wichita State. However, he saved his best games for last, as he scored a season high 27 points against Bradley last week, added 14 points against Illinois State and then tied his career high with 29 points against Wichita State on Tuesday night to help the Sycamores to a 3-0 record at home during their homestand.
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 86, thanks to freshman Isiah Martin. Martin has 51 blocks in his first season at ISU, which broke the freshman single-season record, bested the entire team's mark from last season and now ranks as the second most in a season behind DeCarsta Wesbster's 77 during the 1975-76 season. Those 51 blocks and his average of 1.96 per game also rank first overall in the Missouri Valley Conference, ahead of Southern Illinois' Randal Falker who has 38 blocks for an average of 1.41 per game.
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 58 swipes are tops in the Valley, just ahead of SIU's Bryan Mullins with 57. His average of 2.23 per game also ranks first in the league list, just ahead of Mullins' mark of 2.11 per game. Moore also has 31 steals in conference games for an average of 1.94 per game, both of which rank first in the league.
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 +2.31, which ranks first in the conference ahead league-leading and No. 18 ranked Drake. ISU is forcing an average of 14.9 turnovers from their conference counterparts, but have only been turning the ball over an average of 12.6 times per game.
Defending the three-pointer has been a strong point for Indiana State this season, as they are allowing opponents to shoot just .343 from beyond the arc on the season, which ranks second in the league and have allowed a league-low 154 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, which helped ISU snap a five-game losing skid.
When teams face off against the Sycamores, one thing will be constant: Gabe Moore will be in the starting lineup. On Tuesday against Wichita State, Moore started his 109th 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 86 straight games. In his career to date, Moore has scored 1,165 points, grabbed 307 rebounds, dished out 424 assists and collected 196 steals during his stellar four-year career.
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 headed into Tuesday night's game against Wichita State with 1,136 career points, but his career-high 29 points against the Shockers increased that number to 1,165, which puts in him 22nd place all-time, just 10 points away from Lenny Rzeszewski (1947-50) in 20th place. The Little Rock, Ark., also passed former Sycamore great Michael Menser last weekend on the all-time steals list, as he now has 196, good for third place all-time. He is also right behind Menser (426, 6th) on the all-time assists lists with 424 in his career.
The Sycamores were ecstatic to return home for three games over the last seven days, 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 last week and then capped off the homestand with an 83-73 overtime win over Wichita State on Tuesday. The court at Hulman Center has been extremely comforting for ISU this season, as the team has posted a 12-1 record with the only loss coming to No. 14 Drake.
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 last 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.
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 13-13 in his first season at ISU, for a career mark of 102-46 (.689) in five seasons.
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 1,165 points in his career, which puts him in 22nd place on the all-time scoring list.
