Date: February 5, 2008
Location: Carbondale, Ill.
Site: SIU Arena (9,628)
Tip-off: 8:05 p.m. EST
Radio: The Crock 92.7 FM
Talent: Brian Fritz & Matt Renn
Radio: WTWO NBC Ch.2
Talent: Jason Pensky and Jim Waugh
Series: Southern Illinois leads 74-36
Last Time: ISU 64, SIU 62 (2OT) (1/12/08)
Indiana State continues a tough stretch of Missouri Valley Conference games where the team will play its fifth game out of the last seven on the road at Southern Illinois.
The Sycamores won the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season at the Hulman Center. It took two overtime periods to defeat SIU, but ISU got a game-winning three-pointer from Marico Stinson to earn a 64-62 win over the Salukis. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak to SIU at the Hulman Center.
ISU is coming off a disappointing 83-77 loss to No. 16 Drake last Saturday. The Sycamores held a 35-30 halftime lead and shot a season-high 55.6 percent from the field, but the Bulldogs outscored the Sycamores 53-42 in the second half to pick up their 19th straight win. The win also snapped a nine-game winning streak at home to start the year.
Four players scored in double figures, with senior Gabe Moore leading the way with 19 points. Todd McCoy (13), Harry Marshall (12) and Stinson (12) each scored in double digits, marking the sixth time this season that ISU has had four players in double figures in a game.
SIU is coming off 68-63 loss at UNI on Saturday, just their second loss in the last six games. Randal Falker led the way for the Salukis with a game-high 21 points.
Southern Illinois lead the all-time series 74-36 and has won 12 of the last 13 meetings against Indiana State. The only win in that stretch for ISU came on February 1, 2006, at SIU Arena which put an end to the Salukis' 33-game home winning streak, which was the nation's longest at the time.
► 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.
► Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery is in fourth season as the Salukis head coach. In four seasons, Lowery has amassed a 89-37 overall record and has led his teams to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. He has also been named the MVC Coach of the Year, earned two regular-season championships and one MVC Tournament title. He is assisted by Rodney Watson, Jack Owens and Brad Korn.
► Southern Illinois University is located in Carbondale, Ill., and has an enrollment of 21,003. The Salukis are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at the SIU Arena (9,628).
► The Salukis are led by head coach Chris Lowery. Lowery is in fourth season at SIU and has led the Salukis to a 89-37 record in that time and to three NCAA Tournament appearances. He has also been named the MVC Coach of the Year twice in his previous three seasons at SIU.
► SIU returns 10 letter winners and three starters from last year's team that finished 29-7 overall and 15-3 in the MVC, good for a first-place finish. The Salukis then went on to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16, where they were defeated by Kansas.
► The Salukis have lowered their team scoring defense to 59.8 ppg, which ranks No. 19 in the nation out of 341 Division I teams.
► Senior Randal Falker does it all for SIU, as he leads the team with 12.5 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game. In addition, his 32 blocked shots also lead the team and are tied for third in the Missouri Valley Conference. In addition, he leads the conference with 69 offensive rebounds and ranks tied for fourth in overall rebounds with 146.
► Junior Bryan Mullins is the leader at the point for SIU, as he averages 10.2 points per game and leads the Valley with 50 steals on
the season.
Heading into Tuesday night's game at Southern Illinois, the Sycamores can say they've done something that no other league member has done in over six seasons. Since the start of the 2001-02 season, the Salukis are 58-1 at home against Missouri Valley Conference opponents, with only loss during the six-plus year span coming to the Sycamores on February 1, 2006. The 63-54 victory put an end to the Salukis' 33-game home winning streak, which was the nation's longest at the time.
The Sycamores did everything they could on Saturday night to try to upset No. 16 Drake, including shooting a season high 55.6 percent from the field. ISU jumped out to a 35-30 halftime lead, thanks to a shooting percentage of 65.2 in the first half, also a season high. Shooting well at home is nothing new for ISU this season, as they are averaging 45.8 percent from the field at home, compared to 37.8 percent on the road which explains the home record of 9-1 and their road record of 1-10.
The paint has become freshman Isiah Martin's neighborhood and opponents are beginning to find out that it is not a very hospitable place. The forward from Chicago, Ill., has amassed 41 blocked shots in 21 games for an average of 1.95 per game. Both of those mark are tops in the league, with UNI's Jordan Eglseder in second with 35 blocks overall and Illinois State's Anthony Slack in second with 1.60 per game. In addition, his 24 blocks (2.18 per game) in the team's 11 league games are first in the conference, eight ahead of Eglseder (16/1.45).
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 47 swipes rank and average of 2.24 per both rank second in the league behind SIU's Bryan Mullins (50/2.27). Moore also has 20 steals in conference games for an average of 1.82 per game, both of which rank second in the Valley behind Mullins. In addition, the Little Rock, Ark., native has swiped 185 in his career, which puts him in fourth place on the all-time list at ISU. Moore needs just four more to take over third place, which is currently held by Michael Menser who collected 188 steals from 1997-2001.
The Sycamores have tied their conference wins from last year in just 11 games, thanks to limiting their own turnovers and forcing more from their opponents. During conference play, ISU has a turnover margin of +2.82, which ranks first in the conference. ISU is forcing an average of 14.7 turnovers from their conference counterparts, but have only been turning the ball over 11.9 times per game.
In 31 games as a freshman last season, Marico Stinson scored over 20 points just twice. He scored 24 points against Purdue (12/28/06) and then followed that up with a career-high 37 points against Drake (12/30/06). However, he's bested that mark with three 20+ point games this season, all of which have come in the team's last seven games. He scored 20 points in the team's double overtime win over Southern Illinois at home, scored 23 at Creighton and most recently scored 22 points at Illinois State last Sunday.
The Sycamores have turned up their defense in conference games and it has helped the team get five conference wins in 11 games, which ties their mark from all of last season. The Sycamores have 82 steals in 11 league games, for an average of 7.45 per game. Both of those marks currently rank first among all teams in conference games, just ahead of Bradley, who ranks second with 81 swipes for an average of 7.36 per game in league play.
Marico Stinson is known for being a dynamic scorer and three-point shooter for ISU. However, last Wednesday at Bradley he showed he could rebound the ball as well. Against the Braves, Stinson tied his career high by pulling down seven rebounds, including six on the defensive side of the court. Earlier this season, Stinson set the bar by grabbing seven rebounds against Butler, breaking his previous high of five set last year during his freshman season.
Wednesday's win over in-state rival Evansville 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 Todd McCoy flirted with a couple of double-double performances earlier in the season, but fell just short of the achievement. However, he got the job done on Wednesday against Evansville and recorded the first double-double of his two-year career at ISU with 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Purple Aces. The Philadelphia, Pa., native's 12 boards set a new career high and his two blocks also set a new career standard. His 12 points just missed a career high, as he scored 13 points against Evansville earlier in the season to set his high mark in that category. McCoy's double-double is the second of the season for ISU, joining junior Jay Tunnell who had 16 points and 10 rebounds against Ball State on Dec. 8.
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 11 out of his last 14 games. On the season, Stinson leads the Sycamores in points (271), points per game (12.9), field goals (103) and three-pointers (48).
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 did on Saturday against No. 16 Drake, four players finished the game in double figures. In Wednesday's win over Evansville, Gabe Moore (19), Todd McCoy (13), Harry Marshall (12) and Marico Stinson (12) shared in the scoring duties to help ISU to its best shooting percentage of the season at 55.6 percent. With their performance against Drake, the squad has had four players in double figures six times this season, including both games against Evansville, on the road at Tulane and in back-to-back games at home early in the season against Northern Illinois and IPFW.
When teams face off against the Sycamores, one thing will be constant: Gabe Moore will be in the starting lineup. On against Saturday against Drake, Moore started his 104th 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 81 straight games. In his career to date, Moore has scored 1,064 points, grabbed 290 rebounds, dished out 401 assists and collected 185 steals.
Somebody had to be the hero in ISU's double-overtime win over Southern Illinois and that player was Marico Stinson. The sophomore guard battled through 44 minutes of action on the court, but saved his biggest shots for when they counted the most. In the first overtime session, Stinson connected on a three-pointer with 1:33 left to tie the game at 52-52 and send it to the second overtime period. During the second OT period, his three-pointer with 1:22 left gave ISU a two-point lead at 59-57. However, after SIU got the lead back at 62-61, it was Stinson who nailed a three-pointer with just two seconds left to propel the Sycamores to a 64-62 victory at the Hulman Center.
Senior Gabe Moore joined a very exclusive club 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 1,064 points in his career and needs just one more point to pass Harry Morgan for 29th place.
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. Let's hope the same happens this year.
It had been almost a year since an ISU player last recorded a double-double, but Jay Tunnell put an end to that string with his 16 point, 10 rebound performance against Ball State on Dec. 8. Coincidentally, it was Tunnell and teammate Adam Arnold who last achieved the feat as both recorded double-doubles against Wagner on December 22, 2006. Tunnell recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Arnold chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
National Signing Day can be a very stressful time for coaching staffs, as they wonder whether or not their coveted recruits will sign on the dotted line. However, the Indiana State men's basketball staff now has nothing to worry about as Carl Richard Jr. (Chicago, Ill./Richards HS), Tyler Cutter (Murfreesboro, Tenn./Siegel HS) and Koang Doluony (Omaha, Neb./Bryan HS) have all signed National Letters of Intent to continue their basketball careers as Sycamores.
