ST. LOUIS, Mo. ? Indiana State and Wichita State played two highly-competitive games during the regular season and Thursday's first game of the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament stayed true to the course. The Sycamores (15-15) and Shockers played each other close for 40 minutes, but ISU made some clutch free throws down the stretch to secure a 71-67 win over WSU to advance to Friday's quarterfinal round.
Wichita State jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, before jumpers from junior Jay Tunnell and senior Gabe Moore pulled ISU within one at 7-6. The Shockers went back up 11-6 quickly after, but sophomore Marico Stinson's 3-pointer and a layup by Moore tied the game at 11 with 12:19 left in the first half.
The Sycamores then went on a 9-2 run over the next three minutes, seven of which were scored by senior Todd McCoy, to take a 20-13 lead. However, the Shockers would not go away and went on a 12-4 run over the next five and half minutes to retake the lead at 25-24. After a free throw by Ramon Clemente, WSU had a 26-24 lead before a jumper by Tunnell knotted the score at 26-26 with 2:36 left in the half. Tunnell then scored the next five straight points for the Sycamores to give them a 31-26 lead and ISU maintained that five-point advantage and went to the locker room at halftime with a 33-28 lead over the Shockers.
ISU came out of the locker room on a roll and quickly jumped out to a 41-31 lead after a layup by Moore at the 16:18 mark. Wichita State fought back and cut the lead to 41-38, before Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall picked up his second technical foul of the game at the 12:22 mark and was ejected for the first time in tournament history. The Shockers were fired up and continued to cut the lead to 43-42 on a jumper by Phillip Thomasson with 11:24 to play. Indiana State eventually widened its lead to 61-53 after a thunderous dunk from Tunnell and extended the lead to 10 after two free throws by sophomore Harry Marshall with 3:34 left in the game.
Wichita State would not go away, though, as the squad chipped away at the lead and eventually cut the ISU lead to 66-65 on a three-pointer by Cousinard with just 1:31 remaining. McCoy then hit two free throws for the Sycamores to put ISU up 68-65 with 37 seconds left, but a layup by Couisnard cut the lead back to one at 68-67. Moore was then fouled and went to the line to put the Sycamores back up by three and after a missed jumper by Matt Braeuer, Marico Stinson hit the first of two free throws to close the game out and secure the 71-67 win for the Sycamores.
Each of ISU's five starters finished the game in double figures, with Tunnell and Moore leading the way with 18 points apiece. McCoy finished the game with 14 points after scoring 11 in the first half, while Stinson added 11 and Marshall finished with 10 points. Freshman Isiah Martin also had a solid game off the bench on the defensive end, with four blocked shots in the game. Aaron Ellis led the way for the Shockers in the loss with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Indiana State will now play the No.1 seeded and regular season champion Drake Bulldogs on Friday. Tip off is set for 1:00 p.m. EST at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.
