Game 15 ► Indiana State (3-11, 1-2 MVC) at Drake (11-4, 2-1 MVC)

January 7th, 2009  ►  8:05 p.m. ET  ►  Des Moines, Iowa  ►  Drake Knapp Center (7,002)

Game Day Central

Series:            Series Tied 33-33

STREAK:        Drake Has Won 4 Straight

Radio:             The Crock 92.7 FM

Play-By-Play:  Brian Fritz

Analyst:           Matt Renn

Internet:           GoSycamores.com

Storylines       

            After playing two-straight Missouri Valley Conference games at Hulman Center, Indiana State (3-11, 1-2 MVC) hits the road for mid-week showdown with the defending league champion Drake Bulldogs (11-4, 2-1 MVC) in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday night.  Tip off is set for 8:05 p.m. ET at the Drake Knapp Center.

            The Sycamores are coming off a disappointing 65-59 loss to in-state rival Evansville on Sunday in Terre Haute.  The Sycamores led for nearly 36 minutes of the game, before the Purple Aces went on a 12-3 run over the final four-plus minutes to snap a 16-game road losing streak against Missouri Valley Conference opponents.

            The Sycamores racked up 11 blocked shots against their in-state rivals from the south.  The 11 blocks by the Sycamores were just one short of the team's single-game record of 12, which was set in 1984 against SIU-Edwardsville.  Forward Isiah Martin, who led the Missouri Valley Conference last season in blocked shots with 59, had a season-high five swats to lead the way while center Brant Leitnaker chipped in with two of his own.

            Indiana State was paced on offense by junior Harry Marshall, who scored 16 points in the game, 11 in the second half.  Sophmore Aaron Carter had 11 points for Indiana State as well.

            Drake is coming off an important 67-60 road win on Sunday night at Southern Illinois.  Junior guard Craig Stanley broke out of a shooting slump by scoring a career-high 17 points as the Bulldogs team earned their first victory at Southern Illinois since 1996.

            Drake senior forward Jonathan Cox enjoyed his 16th career double-double and fourth this season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

            The all-time series between the two schools is tied 33-33, with Drake winning three times against the Sycamores last year including a win in the quarterfinals of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.  Overall, Drake has won four-straight games against the Sycamores and nine out of the last eleven contests.  ISU's last win in Des Moines was a 68-56 win over Drake on Feb. 23, 1998.

About The Coaches

Kevin McKenna (Creighton ?93) is in his second season as the head coach at Indiana State (18-27).  In his first season with the Sycamores, McKenna led the team to its highest win total since the 2000-01 season and an impressive 12-2 record at home in the Hulman Center.  McKenna came to Indiana State after spending nine seasons as an assistant coach at Creighton under head coach Dana Altman, 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. 

Mark Phelps (Old Dominion ?96) is in his first season as the head coach of the Drake Bulldogs (11-4).  Phelps served as associate head coach at Arizona State the past two seasons and served on the coaching staff at North Carolina State under head coach Herb Sendek from 1996-2006 before joining Sendek at Arizona State in 2006.  He was part of Sendek's staff that led North Carolina State to a 53-39 record (.576) in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament play in the final five seasons in Raleigh,N.C.  Phelps posted a 148-53 record (.736 winning percentage) in six years as a high school head coach in Virginia.

Scouting The Bulldogs

►        Drake University is located in Des Moines, Iowa, and has an enrollment of 5,336 students.  The Bulldogs are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at the Drake Knapp Center (7,002).

►        The Bulldogs finished with an overall record of 28-5 during the 2007-08 season under head coach Keno Davis.  In conference play, Drake posted a 15-3 mark in Valley play which led them to the regular season and conference championships in the league.  Drake ended its season with a heartbreaking 101-99 loss to Western Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Tampa, Fl., but finished the season ranked No. 14 overall according to the Associated Press.

►        Drake is led by a trio of strong scorers, including junior guard Josh Young at 17.7 points per game.  He is joined in double figures by senior forward Jonathan Cox (12.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and sophomore guard Josh Parker (10.4 ppg, 23 ast.).

►        Junior guard Craig Stanley broke out of a shooting slump by scoring a career-high 17 points as Drake (11-4, 2-1 MVC) earned its first victory at Southern Illinois since 1996 with a 67-60 win on Sunday night in Carbondale, Ill at SIU Arena.

Last Time Against The Bulldogs

ST. LOUIS, Mo.  ? Indiana State picked up a hard-fought over Wichita State to advance to Friday's quarterfinal round of the 2008 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, but their reward was having to face the No. 1 seeded Drake Bulldogs.  The Sycamores (15-16, 8-10 MVC) struggled from the field and the Bulldogs (26-4, 15-3 MVC) forced 13 turnovers to pick up a 68-46 win.

            Drake jumped out to an early 7-0 and then extended the lead to 10-2 on a three-pointer by Josh Young, before a layup by Harry Marshall and a jumper by Isiah Martin cut the lead to 10-6 at the 15:00 minute mark.  The Bulldogs later went on a 7-0 run to widen their lead to 22-12, before a jumper by Todd McCoy cut the lead to eight.  After a free throw from Marshall, Martin converted on a layup and Gabe Moore connected from 3-point range to cut the lead to 22-20 with 6:11 left, giving the team some much-needed momentum.

            After Drake scored the next seven points to go up 29-20, Marshall hit two free throws to cut the lead to seven before McCoy converted a three-point play after being fouled by Drake's Jonathan Cox to cut the lead to 29-24.  Drake held for the last shot and Emmenecker drained a jumper with just one second remaining to give the Bulldogs a 31-25 advantage at halftime.

            The Bulldogs opened the half with an 11-2 run that took 4:47 off the clock to take a 42-27 lead, after a free throw by Cox.  Drake then widened that advantage to 18 points at 48-30 after a free throw by Leonard Houston, before Marico Stinson connected from 3-point range to cut the lead to 48-33.  The Bulldogs held onto the big advantage and led by as much as 25 points at the 2:10 mark, but ISU scored the last points of the game on a three-pointer by Carter to bring the score to its final at 68-46.

            Moore led the way for ISU in the game with 12 points to finish with 1,223 points in his four-year career with the Sycamores, which ranks him 16th on the school's all-time scoring list.  He also finished his career with 444 assists, which ranks fifth all-time and with 203 steals, which puts him in third all-time.  Marshall and Carter each finished the game with eight points each for ISU, while McCoy added seven points and four rebounds in his final game in an ISU uniform.

Blocks-A-Plenty Against The Aces

The long arms of Indiana State's post defenders were busy on Sunday against Evansville, as the Sycamores racked up 11 blocked shots against their in-state rivals from the south.  The 11 blocks by the Sycamores were just one short of the team's single-game record of 12, which was set in 1984 against SIU-Edwardsville.  Forward Isiah Martin, who led the Missouri Valley Conference last season in blocked shots with 59, had a season-high five swats to lead the way while center Brant Leitnaker chipped in with two of his own.  Forward Jay Tunnell, center Josh Crawford and guards Rashad Reed and Jordan Printy each added a block apiece to round out the defensive effort for ISU.

Shutting Down The Three

Evansville came to the Hulman Center on Sunday averaging 71.2 points per game and nearly four three-pointer per contest.  However, the Sycamores shut down the Purple Aces' scoring from the perimeter, as Evansville finished 0-for-6 from three-point range against the Sycamores.  It marked the first time all season the Sycamores had held an opponent without a made three-pointer and it was the first time Evansville did not connect on a trey in 13 games this season.  Sharpshooter Jason Holsinger was 0-for-4 from three-point land for the Aces, while Shy Ely and Kaylon Williams each missed on their only attempts of the day.

Richard Doubles Up

Freshman Carl Richard put together the best game of his young career at Indiana State when the Sycamores needed it the most.  In the Valley opener at UNI, the Chicago, Ill., native recorded the first double-double performance of his career with 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.  Richard's double-double was the first of the season for the Sycamores and the first for ISU since Feb. 27, 2008, when Jay Tunnell also posted a double-double against the Panthers at the McLeod Center with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Leitnaker Earns First Career Start

Redshirt sophomore center Brant Leitnaker has battled injuries throughout his time at Indiana State and has played in just 18 games in three years on campus.  However, his size in the post was needed against Northern Iowa and the Lancaster, Ohio, native was put into the starting lineup for the first time in his career to match up with UNI big man Jordan Eglseder.  Leitnaker scored the team's first two points of the game, which turned out to be his only of the contest, and grabbed a rebound in 14 minutes of action.  In addition, he helped hold the 7-foot-1 Eglseder to just four points in 18 minutes of action after coming in averaging a team-high 12.6 per game.

McKenna Remains Unbeaten In Valley Openers

In each of his two seasons on the bench at Indiana State, head coach Kevin McKenna's teams have opened Missouri Valley Conference play on the road.  In those two contests, the Sycamores have earned big wins in both after the Sycamores defeated Northern Iowa in double overtime 85-84 on Sunday in Cedar Falls.  Last season, ISU opened Valley play with a 70-56 win at Evansville on Dec. 29 to pick up its lone conference road win of the season.

Double Overtime ... No Sweat

Indiana State's 85-84 double-overtime win at Northern Iowa was its second such win in two seasons.  Last year, the Sycamores defeated Southern Illinois 64-62 in double overtime on Jan. 12 at the Hulman Center thanks to a 3-pointer by Marico Stinson.

The Marshall Plan Is In Effect

Junior guard Harry Marshall made his return to the Indiana State lineup against No. 14 Purdue on Dec. 13 and since that time his presence has been very welcome for the Sycamores.  In his first game back after sitting out the team's first eight games of the season, Marshall tallied 16 points and dished out six assists against the Boilermakers.  He followed that up by scoring a game-high 18 points, including a 10-for-13 effort from the free throw line, in the team's win over DePauw.  However, he saved his best performance for his fourth game of the year, as he scored a team-high 23 points against UNI to help the team to a thrilling double overtime victory.  In his six games back, Marshall is averaging 16.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest.

Crashing The Boards

The Sycamores have struggled getting rebounds at times throughout the season, but that was not the case in the team's last two victories.  Indiana State won the battle on the boards at Northern Iowa on Sunday 37-35, which helped the team score 11 second-chance points.  ISU also out-rebounded DePauw by a margin of 42-27, including a 30-18 difference on defensive rebounds.  With that performance, it marked the second time this season the team had corralled 40 or more rebounds (40 at DePaul).  In total, ISU has out-rebounded opponents twice this season and are 2-0 in those games.

The Fantastic Four

The Sycamores have shared in the scoring duties through 13 games this season and that was very apparent in the team's double-overtime win at Northern Iowa.  Four Sycamores scored in double figures, led by junior Harry Marshall's 23 points.  Sophomore Aaron Carter chipped in 16 points, including two big 3-pointers in double overtime, while freshman Carl Richard recorded the first double-double of his career with 15 points and 11 rebounds.  Senior Jay Tunnell rounded out the balanced scoring effort with 14 points in the victory for ISU.  With those four players in double figures, it marked the fourth time this season that the Sycamores have achieved that feat.

JP For Three

Redshirt freshman Jordan Printy had a breakout day against IUPUI at Conseco Fieldhouse, connecting on a career-high five three pointers to finish with a new career-high of 15 points.  The Marion, Iowa, native was 5-for-7 from beyond the arch in the game and added two rebounds and a blocked shot in a career-high 25 minutes of action against the Jaguars.  Printy's previous career high was eight points, which he set earlier this season against Murray State.

Cutter Out With Ankle Injury

Freshman point guard Tyler Cutter will miss four to five weeks with a severe ankle sprain which he suffered in practice prior to the team's game against IUPUI.  The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native played in 10 games for the Sycamores, starting in two of those contests.  He was averaging 21.3 minutes per game for ISU and currently ranks second on the team with 28 assists.  Cutter played a strong game against No. 11 Louisville, as he scored a career-high eight points in 24 minutes and followed that up by dishing out a career-high eight assists against Lamar to help the team win its first game of the season.

Who Needs The Three?

Indiana State is averaging seven three-point baskets per game this season and are shooting 35.9 percent from long distance through 11 games.  However, in the team's win over DePauw, the Sycamores were ice cold from three-point range going 0-for-10 against the Tigers.  That snapped a streak of 252 consecutive games with at least one three-point field goal made.  The last time the Sycamores failed to make a three-point field goal was on February 9, 2000, when the Sycamores shot 0-for-7 against UNI.

Crawford Returns To Form

Junior transfer Josh Crawford averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in his first two games in an ISU uniform.  Over the next seven games, though, Crawford struggled to find his game and averaged just 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game while blocking just eight shots.  However, he broke out of that funk against DePauw with 10 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in 12 minutes of action to help the Sycamores to their second win of the season.  With that performance, Crawford is now averaging 5.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while adding 18 blocked shots.

Tunnell Plays In 100th Game Of Career At ISU

Indiana State fields one of its youngest teams in years in 2008, but senior forward Jay Tunnell provides the team some much-needed leadership on and off the court.  Against DePauw, Tunnell played in his 100th career game at Indiana State and finished with 10 points  and five rebounds in 17 minutes of action.  In those 100 games, the Topeka, Kan., native started in 94 games while averaging 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 24.9 minutes per game for the Sycamores.

Coming Through In The Clutch

Rashad Reed was Indiana State's leading scorer heading into the team's game against Lamar at the Marques Maybin Classic at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky.  When the Sycamores needed a go-ahead basket late in the game against the Cardinals, they went to Reed who connected on a floater in the lane with 0.2 seconds to propel ISU to its first win of the season.  Reed finished the game with 15 points and six rebounds for the Sycamores in the game and now leads the team with an average of 12.9 points per game in seven starts.

Kentucky Brings Out The Best In Cutter, Leitnaker

Freshman point guard Tyler Cutter and sophomore center Brant Leitnaker enjoyed playing over the weekend at the Marques Maybin Classic, as both set new career highs on the historic floor of Freedom Hall.  Cutter played a strong game against No. 11 Louisville, as he scored a career-high eight points in 24 minutes of action.  He followed that up by dishing out a career-high eight assists against Lamar to help the team win its first game of the season.  Leitnaker also had a career effort against Louisville, as he scored a career-high nine points while tying his career high with five rebounds in 15 minutes of action against the Cardinals.

Dialed In From Long Distance

Against Murray State, the Sycamores made a season-high 12 three-pointers score 36 of the team's 61 total points.  Redshirt freshman Keenan Barlow led the way with a 3-for-4 effort to end up with a career-high 11 points, while fellow redshirt freshman Jordan Printy, senior Jay Tunnell, junior Rashad Reed and sophomore Aaron Carter each added two treys against the Racers.

Honoring A True Sycamore Legend

Prior to the start of lSU's first exhibition game against Albion College, the floor at Hulman Center will officially be named the Nellie and John Wooden Court in honor of the legendary coach and his late wife, Nellie.  Prior to achieving legendary success as the head coach at UCLA, Wooden began his collegiate coaching career and served two years as head men's basketball coach, baseball coach and athletics director at Indiana State from 1946 to 1948. While earning his master's degree at Indiana State, he compiled a 44-15 record as basketball coach while leading the Sycamores to post-season tournament appearances each year and two conference championships.  In addition, coach Wooden will also be inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Athletics Hall of Fame in March.