Date: February 27, 2008
Location: Cedar Falls, Iowa
Site: McLeod Center (7,018)
Tip-off: 8:05 p.m. EST
Radio: The Crock 92.7 FM
Talent: Brian Fritz & Matt Renn
Series: Indiana State leads 18-15
Last Time: ISU 74, UNI 56 (1/2/08)
After a brief foray back into non-conference action last weekend, Indiana State returns to the familiar Missouri Valley Conference for an important road contest tonight at Northern Iowa.
A win for the Sycamores tonight would clinch no worse than a sixth-place finish for ISU in the Valley standing, which would assure the team that it would not play in the play-in round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the first time since 2001.
The Sycamores head into tonight's game on a roll as winners of four-straight games, three of which came in comeback fashion. The team's most recent thriller came on Saturday, when ISU overcame a 17-point first half deficit to eventually earn a 79-62 win at Murray State.
Four players finished the game in double figures for ISU, with Harry Marshall leading the way with 16 points to go along with four assists. Jay Tunnell also had a solid game with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Aaron Carter tied his career high with 14 points. Marico Stinson rounded out the all-around scoring effort with 12 points, including two three pointers.
UNI has not been as fortunate as of late, losing three games in a row and four out its last five overall. The Panthers head into the game after suffering a 70-58 loss to Illinois-Chicago last Saturday. Senior Eric Coleman led the way for the Panthers in the loss, as he recorded his 12th double-double of the season with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
The Sycamores hold an 18-15 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools and have won three out of the last four games, including the 74-56 win earlier this season.
► 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.
► Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson is in his second season as the head coach at UNI and has led the team to a 33-26 (.559) record during that time. Jacobson was 18-13 in his first season at UNI and posted a 9-9 record in Valley play. Prior to taking over as head coach, Jacobson served as the associate head coach at UNI during the 2005-06 season and was an assistant for the Panthers from 2001-05. He is assisted by Rich Glas, Kyle Green and P.J. Hogan.
► The University of Northern Iowa is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and has an enrollment of 6981. The Panthers are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at the McLeod Center (7,018).
► The Panthers are led by head coach Ben Jacobson, who is in his second season at UNI. During that time, Jacobson has led the team to a 33-26 (.559) record during that time, including an 18-13 record in his first season at UNI last year. Prior to taking over as head coach, Jacobson served as the associate head coach at UNI during the 2005-06 season and was an assistant for the Panthers from 2001-05.
► The team returns eight letter winners and three starters from last year's squad. The Panthers finished the regular season with a 18-13 record overall and a 9-9 record in the Valley, which earned them a No. 5 seed in the MVC Tournament.
► The Panthers have lost three-straight games heading into tonight's game. UNI also suffered a 74-56 loss to the Sycamores earlier this season at the Hulman Center.
► Senior Eric Coleman leads the way for the Panthers, as he is averaging 11.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. In UNI's last game against Illinois-Chicago on Saturday, Coleman posted a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
It's not a trend that head coach Kevin McKenna enjoys, but his team has become accustomed to falling behind by double digits in recent games and then coming back to earn thrilling victories. In the Sycamroes' last three games, the team has come back from at least double-digit deficits in each to pick up wins. The mini streak all started against Illinois State, when ISU was down 13 points to the Redbirds and came back late to earn a 76-72 win. The Sycamores followed that up with one of the most improbable comebacks in school history, where the team faced a deficit of 21 points in the second half and proceeded to then tie the game before falling behind by 10 later in the half. ISU overcame the late deficit as well and eventually earned an 83-73 overtime win over Wichita State. Most recently, ISU erased a 17-point deficit early in the first half and eventually earned a 79-62 win over Murray State on Saturday.
After Saturday's road win at Murray State, the Sycamores have now won four games in a row heading into the final week of the season. The winning streak is the second longest for ISU this season, as the team previously won five games in a row from December 22 to January 5. With a win tonight against Northern Iowa, the Sycamores would match their earlier streak and it would also mark just the second conference road win of the season for the Sycamores. In addition, a win against the Panthers clinches no worse than a sixth-place finish for ISU in the Missouri Valley Conference, assuring the Sycamores of not having to compete in the play-in round of the MVC Tournament for the first time since 2001.
Freshman guard Aaron Carter put himself in the spotlight last week, as he averaged 14 points and five rebounds per game in the Sycamores' two win over Wichita State and Murray State. For the week, the Cannelton, Ind., native shot 9-for-13 (.692) from the field including a 4-for-7 (.571) performance from three-point range. In Tuesday's come-from-behind overtime victory over Wichita State, Carter was an integral part in ISU's comeback and finished the game with a career high 14 points and five rebounds. On Saturday against Murray State, Carter was a big part of the Sycamores' first-half comeback and tied his career high with 14 points, all in the first half, to go along with five rebounds in the BracketBusters win on the road against the Racers.
During its recent four-game winning streak, the Sycamores have exploded on the offensive end of the court and posted four of its best scoring performances of the season. The streak began against Bradley, when the Sycamores out-shot the Braves and scored 76 points, their highest total since scoring 77 points in the Feb. 2 game at home against then No. 16 Drake. ISU followed that with 76 points in a win over Illinois State and then scored a season-high 83 points in the overtime win against Wichita State. They finished the week up with 79 points in a win on the road at Murray State to finish with an average 78.5 points per game during the streak, which is up nearly 13 points from the team's season average of 65.6.
Gabe Moore is wrapping up his career at Indiana State with a bang, as the senior point guard has been red hot during the team's recent four-game winning streak. During that stretch, the Little Rock, Ark., native has averaged 19.3 points, 3.5 rebounds,4.5 assists and 2.5 steals per contest. Moore began the streak by scoring a then season-high 27 points against Bradley, added 14 points against Illinois State and then tied his career high with 29 points against Wichita State to help the Sycamores to a 3-0 record at home during their home stand. He wrapped up the streak with a solid game against Murray State last Saturday, when he scored seven points to go along with five assists and three steals in leading the team to its third come-from-behind victory in a row.
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 just 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.
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 61 swipes tie for the top mark in the conference with SIU's Bryan Mullins. However, his average of 2.26 per game tops the league list in that category, just ahead of Mullins' mark of 2.18 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 Valley.
During the 2006-07 season, the Sycamores blocked just 42 shots as a team. This season, the team has more than doubled that mark at 88, thanks in large part to freshman post player Isiah Martin. Martin has 53 blocks in his first season at ISU, which has set a new freshman single-season record and now ranks as the second most in a season behind DeCarsta Wesbster's 77 during the 1975-76 season. Those 53 blocks and his average of 1.96 per game also rank first overall in the Missouri Valley Conference, ahead of Illinois State's Anthony Slack who has 37 blocks for an average of 1.42 per game. Eric Coleman of Northern Iowa and Randal Falker of Southern Illinois are tied in second in total blocks with 39 each.
The Sycamores are currently in line for the sixth 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 the league champion Drake Bulldogs. 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 .345 from beyond the arc on the season, which ranks second in the league and have allowed a league-low 159 treys. That defensive effort has been particularly strong during the team's four-game winning streak, as they have allowed opponents to shoot just 20-for-72 (.278) from three-point range.
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 87 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.
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 at Murray State, as four players finished the game in double figures. Harry Marshall (16), Jay Tunnell (15), Aaron Carter (14) and Marico Stinson (12) each shared in the scoring duties to help ISU win their second game of the season on the road. With their performance against the Racers, the squad has now had four players score in double figures nine times this season. Compare that to last season, when the team achieved that feat just six times.
Not only was the team's win over Bradley 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 14-13 in his first season at ISU, for a career mark of 103-46 (.691) in five seasons.
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 scored a career-high 29 points against Wichita State last week and then followed that with seven points at Murray State on Saturday. Those performances increased his career scoring number to 1,172, which puts in him 22nd place all-time, just three points away from Lenny Rzeszewski (1947-50) in 20th place. The Little Rock, Ark., also passed former Sycamore great Michael Menser recently on the all-time steals list with 199, good for third place all-time, and on the all-time assists lists with 429 in his career. With six more assists, more will tie the great Larry Bird (1976-79) for fifth on the all-time list with 435.
