Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Indiana State fell 70-52 at Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both schools in front of 5,401 fans at SIU Arena.
ISU's three-game winning streak ended as the Sycamores fell to 8-4 on the season, 0-1 in the MVC and SIU opened league play with a victory and improved to 8-2, 1-0 MVC.
The loss broke a two-year Missouri Valley Conference opener (both on the road) winning streak for the Sycamores under third-year head coach Kevin McKenna. The Sycamores have only opened league play with a victory when playing on the road twice since joining the MVC and both have come under McKenna's watch.
The Sycamores came out of the gate hot, hitting their first three shots from the field, including a lay-up by Brant Leitnaker and back-to-back scores by Lathan as he notched four of his first half-high eight points in the game's opening moments.
Southern Illinois raced out to a 20-11 lead, its largest at the 11:24 mark of the opening stanza on a pair of free throws by John Freeman and save a Kevin Dillard jumper over two minutes later, Indiana State controlled the remainder of the half.
When Dillard drained his jumper with 9:12 to go, SIU led 22-16, but the wells would run dry for the Salukis as they went scoreless until there was just over a minute left. In the meantime, the Sycamores got a 3-pointer by Jordan Printy as well as a pair of Lathan free throws to make it 22-21.
ISU took its first lead since the opening minutes of the contest on a Leitnaker dunk and Rashad Reed added to the cushion with a 3-pointer with three and a half minutes left before halftime for a 26-22 advantage. The Sycamores took their largest lead of the opening half on a contested jumper by Harry Marshall with two and a half to go for a 28-22 advantage.
The Salukis scored the final four points of the half as ISU led 28-26. The Sycamores entered the game a perfect 6-0 on the season when leading at the half (this loss proved to the ISU's first when leading at the break) and hit 11-of-22 shots (50 percent) from the field in the opening period.
Lathan led Indiana State with 11 points in the game, hitting double figures scoring for the tenth time this season in 11 games played. Harry Marshall added 10 off the bench.
The Sycamores continued their strong shooting throughout the contest, hitting 19-of-41 shots from the field (a 46.3 percent mark), but it was 21 turnovers which led to 26 SIU points that helped the Salukis secure the home court victory.
Indiana State and Southern continued their back and forth affair well into the second half as the score was tied eight times and the lead changed hands six others.
The score was knotted at 34 on a soft jumper by Carl Richard with 15:47 left in the game and Jordan Printy drained a 3-pointer to give ISU a 37-34 advantage.
SIU embarked on a decisive 14-0 run as ISU was held without a score for nearly the next six minutes of game action to take a 48-37 lead. With SIU clinging to a 41-37 lead, ISU had the ball in transition off a turnover. Junior Jake Kelly suffered an apparent knee injury which held him out of the rest of the contest with just over 12 minutes left.
The Sycamores drained their final bucket of the contest at the 5:31 mark of the second half on what ended up being a conventional 3-point play by Lathan to inch ISU closer 64-46.
ISU went a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line over the final moments of the game in falling, 72-50. The Sycamores finished the game 11-of-16 at the charity stripe, missing all five attempts in the first half.
SIU was paced by 19 points from Tony Freeman, who drilled five 3-pointers in the contest as well as 14 from Justin Bocot.
Indiana State returns to action on Friday, January 1 when the Sycamores ring in the New Year against Missouri Valley Conference foe Creighton. Tipoff at Hulman Center is set for 2:05 p.m. (ET). The ‘Jays were topped 60-52 on their home court in their league opener against preseason favorite Northern Iowa.
