Date: February 9, 2008
Location: Wichita, Kan.
Site: Charles Koch Arena (10,478)
Tip-off: 8:05 p.m. EST
Radio: The Crock 92.7 FM
Talent: Brian Fritz & Matt Renn
Series: Wichita State leads 39-24
Last Time: WSU 61, ISU 45 (2/8/07)
The road has not been friendly to the Sycamores lately and tonight's matchup with Wichita State will be their last away from home for next three games, as ISU will head back to the Hulman Center to play four out of its last five conference games to wrap up the season.
ISU heads into the game on a four-game losing streak, including a 80-69 loss at Southern Illinois on Tuesday night. That loss brought the team's road record to 1-11 on the season and its conference record to 5-7. However, the team will be looking to bounce back tonight against a Shocker team that has lost eight of its last nine games and two straight.
Four players scored in double figures for ISU on Tuesday, with sophomore Marico Stinson leading the way 18 points. Gabe Moore also had a solid game with 15 points and six assists, while Jay Tunnell and Harry Marshall chipped in 13 and 11 points respectively.
The Shockers dropped a 64-56 decision at Evansville on Wednesday night to drop them to 9-14 overall and 2-10 in Missouri Valley Conference play. WSU has been bitten by the injury bug as of late, but got starting point guard Matt Braeuer back against the Aces.
Phillip Thomasson was the only player in double figures in the game for the Shockers with 10, while Braeuer added nine in his return.
Wichita State leads the all-time series between the two schools 39-24 and have won five out of the last six meetings overall. Last season, the two teams split the season series with each team winning on its 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 letter winners 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.
► P.J. Couisnard became the 38th Shocker to reach the 1,000-point plateau earlier this season, and has now become one of WSU's top 25 all-time scorers. He currently has 1,161 points, which is 25th on the WSU all-time list.
► Since the injury to Matt Braeuer, sophomore Gal Mekel has taken his place in the starting lineup and his production has been solid. Mekel leads the team with 92 assists and is averaging 4.8 assists per game since taking over for Braeuer. Braeuer made his return to the WSU lineup after missing 10 games following his fourth concussion.
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 42 blocked shots in 21 games for an average of 1.91 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 1.62 per game. In addition, his 25 blocks (2.08 per game) in the team's 12 league games are first in the conference, eight ahead of Drake's Jonathan Cox (17/1.42).
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 49 swipes rank and average of 2.23 per both rank second in the league behind SIU's Bryan Mullins (52/2.26). Moore also has 22 steals in conference games for an average of 1.83 per game, both of which rank are tied for first in the Valley with Mullins. In addition, the Little Rock, Ark., native has swiped 187 in his career, which puts him in fourth place on the all-time list at ISU. Moore needs just two more to take over third place, which is currently held by Michael Menser who collected 188 steals from 1997-2001.
The Sycamores did everything they could last 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 38.2 percent on the road which explains the home record of 9-1 and their road record of 1-11.
The Sycamores have tied their conference wins from last year in just 12 games, thanks to limiting their own turnovers and forcing more from their opponents. During conference play, ISU has a turnover margin of +2.50, which ranks first in the conference. ISU is forcing an average of 14.8 turnovers from their conference counterparts, but have only been turning the ball over 12.3 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 eight 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 to the best turnover margin in league play. The Sycamores have 90 steals in 12 league games, for an average of 7.50 per game. Both of those marks currently rank second among all teams in conference games, just behind Bradley, who ranks first with 92 swipes for an average of 7.67 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 12 out of his last 15 games. On the season, Stinson leads the Sycamores in points (289), points per game (13.1), field goals (109) and three-pointers (53).
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 Tuesday at Southern Illinois, as four players finished the game in double figures. Marico Stinson (18), Gabe Moore (15), Jay Tunnell (13) and Harry Marshall (11) each shared in the scoring duties to help ISU lead the game at halftime and keep it close late in the second half. With their performance against the Salukis, the squad has had four players score in double figures in back-to-back games and seven times this season overall, including both games against Evansville, on the road at Tulane, in back-to-back games at home early in the season against Northern Illinois and IPFW and last Saturday against No. 16 Drake.
When teams face off against the Sycamores, one thing will be constant: Gabe Moore will be in the starting lineup. On against Tuesday against Southern Illinois, Moore started his 105th 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 82 straight games. In his career to date, Moore has scored 1,079 points, grabbed 296 rebounds, dished out 407 assists and collected 187 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 1,079 points in his career, which puts him in 28th place on the all-time scoring list and he needs just 12 more to tie Travis Inman for 27th 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.
