Game 27 ► Indiana State (7-19, 5-10 MVC) at Southern Illinois (11-15, 6-9 MVC)

February 18, 2009  ►  8:05 p.m. EST  ►  Carbondale, Ill. ►  SIU Arena (9,409)

Game Day Central

Series:             Southern Illinois Leads 76-36

Streak:             SIU Won Last 4 Of 5 Games

Television:       WTWO (NBC)

Play-By-Play:  Jason Pensky

Analyst:           Jim Waugh

Radio:              The Crock 92.7 FM

Play-By-Play:  Brian Fritz

Analyst:           Matt Renn

Internet:           GoSycamores.com

Storylines     

            Indiana State (7-19, 5-10 MVC) will look to keep its current three-game winning streak alive on the road against Southern Illinois (11-15, 6-9 MVC) on Wednesday. Tip off is set for 8:05 p.m. EST at SIU Arena, with the game being televised live on WTWO in the Wabash Valley.

            ISU continued is strong play of late with a 76-71 win on Saturday at Missouri State.  The Sycamores had not won in Springfield since Jan. 6, 1976, when the Sycamores picked up a 60-59 win over the Bears.  However, after 18 straight losses at Missouri State and no wins since the Bears joined the Missouri Valley Conference in 1992, the Sycamores changed their fate in their maiden visit to JQH Arena.

            Junior Harry Marshall led all scorers with 19 points, 16 of which came in the second half, to go along with five assists and four rebounds for the Sycamores.  Junior Rashad Reed finished with 14 points and three rebounds and senior Jay Tunnell added 13 points and six rebounds to continue his strong play of late.  Redshirt freshman Jordan Printy rounded out a quartet of Sycamores in double figures with 10 points while adding seven rebounds and five assists. 

            The Salukis dropped a decisive 82-60 decision to Creighton on Saturday at SIU Arena in front of a season-best crowd of 9,081.  Creighton held a 23-point lead at halftime and it proved too much for SIU.

            Freshman Ryan Hare led the way for the Salukis with 15 points, while senior forward Tony Boyle added 12 points and four rebounds in the loss.

            ISU will be looking to split the season series with SIU, after the Salukis defeated the Sycamores 58-47 at Hulman Center on Jan. 21.

            Southern Illinois leads the all-time series between the two schools 76-36, with the Salukis winning the last four out of five games between the two squads and 14 out of the last 16 games all together.  ISU's last win at SIU Arena came on Feb. 1, 2006, a 63-54 win that snapped SIU's 33-game home winning streak.

About The Coaches

Kevin McKenna (Creighton ?93) is in his second season as the head coach at Indiana State (22-35).  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. 

Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois ?95) is in his 5th season as the head coach at his alma mater (107-56), his only stop as a head coach.  In each of his five seasons, the Salukis have made five straight post-season appearances including four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2004-07 and a Sweet 16 berth in 2007.  Last season, he led the team to an 18-15 overall record and an NIT berth.  The 2005 and 2007 Rawlings MVC Coach of the Year, Lowery spent three seasons as an assistant coach on Bruce Weber's staff at SIU and Illinois before taking over head coaching duties. 

Scouting The Salukis

►        Southern Illinois University is located in Carbondale, Ill., and has an enrollment of 20,673 students.  The Salukis are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at SIU Arena (9,409).

►        The Salukis finished with an overall record of 18-15 during the 2007-08 season.  In conference play, Southern Illinois posted a 11-7 record which placed the Salukis third in the league standings.  Their season ended with a 65-51 loss to Arizona State in the second round of the MasterCard National Invitational Tournament (NIT).

►        The Salukis return two starters and five lettermen from last year's squad.  Freshman guard Kevin Dillard has been a standout in his first season for SIU, averaging 11.9 points per game, including a .457 shooting percentage from three point range (43-for-94).  Sophomore Carlton Fay is also averaging double figures for the Salukis with 10.3 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per contest.

►        Senior Bryan Mullins was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right foot on Feb. 1 and is out indefinitely. The week before his injury, Mullins became just the second player in MVC history to accumulate 500 assists and 250 steals in a career.

►        Creighton led by 23 at the half and coasted to an 82-60 victory over Southern Illinois Saturday at SIU Arena in front of a season-best crowd of 9,081.  Freshman Ryan Hare led the way for the Salukis with 15 points, while senior forward Tony Boyle added 12 points and four rebounds in the loss.

Last Time Against The Salukis

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? Indiana State (4-15, 2-6 MVC) dropped a 58-47 decision to Southern Illinois (9-10, 4-4 MVC) at Hulman Center.

            In his first game back since injuring his hamstring back on January 10, Harry Marshall knocked down his first shot of the night to make it 6-4 in favor of the Salukis early in the first half.  A minute later, head coach Kevin McKenna was forced to call a timeout when Carlton Fay nailed a three-pointer to put SIU up 9-4 with 16:31 remaining.

            Out of the timeout, Rashad Reed made up for an earlier turnover by knocking down a three-point basket of his own to bring his team within two.  Wesley Clemmons was the next shooter to register a three-pointer and kept SIU perfect from three-point range (3-for-3) at the 12:36 mark, which gave the visitors a 15-7 advantage.  A Jordan Printy steal, his second of the game, led to a Josh Crawford fast break layup on the other end to cut the lead to 15-9 forcing the Salukis to call their first timeout of the game.

            It wasn't until the 8:14 mark that Justin Bocot broke the scoreless stretch by laying in the ball for a 17-9 Saluki advantage.  After an Isiah Martin second-chance layup, the Salukis went on a 5-0 run to widen the lead to 22-12 with just under five minutes remaining.  Indiana State was not ready to give in as they out-scored SIU 12-5 in the remaining minutes of the half.  After a layup by Kevin Dillard, Aaron Carter ended the half by nailing another three-point basket to bring the Sycamores within three at 27-24 at the break.

            The Salukis started the second half by scoring nine points in the first six-and-a-half minutes compared to just three for the Sycamores to widen their advantage to 36-27.  Isiah Martin put in a layup with 11:08 remaining on the clock to bring the Sycamores within eight points at 39-31, before the Salukis ripped off five straight points to take a 44-31 lead with 9:21 remaining in the game.  SIU held a 48-36 lead with 7:04 remaining before Marshall nailed a jumper to cut the lead back to 10 at 48-38. 

            Indiana State climbed to within nine points at 56-47 with 1:13 to go when Martin tipped in a missed Printy layup.  From that point on, the Sycamores tried to play catch-up but were unable to come back as they dropped a 58-47 decision to the Salukis.

Converting From The Charity Stripe

The Sycamores start and finish each practice by shooting free throws and it looks like that effort is paying off.  In the team's last three games, the Sycamores are shooting 88.4 percent (38-of-43) from the charity stripe including an astounding season high 21-of-22 from the free throw line on Saturday in the team's 76-71 win at Missouri State.  ISU shot 6-of-9 from the line in Wednesday's win against Drake and started the recent streak by shooting 91.7 percent (11-for-12) from the line at Illinois State on Feb. 8 at Redbird Arena.

JP Can Do It All

Redshirt freshman Jordan Printy has continued to improve throughout his first season on the court for the Sycamores and capped off a solid week for the Sycamores with the best all-around game of his career on Saturday at Missouri State.  The Marion, Iowa, native set new career highs with seven rebounds and five assists and added 10 points for ISU as the team picked up its third consecutive win.  It marked the seventh time in the last 11 games in which Printy scored in double figures, a major improvement from just one double-digit effort in the first 15 games of the season.

It's Finally Over

If there was one road trip on the schedule that the Sycamores did not look forward to each season, it had to be to Springfield, Mo., to take on Missouri State.  The Sycamores had not won in Springfield since Jan. 6, 1976, when the Sycamores picked up a 60-59 win over the Bears.  However, after 18 straight losses at Missouri State and no wins since the Bears joined the Missouri Valley Conference in 1992, the Sycamores changed their fate in their maiden visit to JQH Arena and picked up a 76-71 victory on Saturday.  The Sycamores shot 50 percent from the field in the game and finished the game 21-for-22 from the free throw line to propel them to the victory.

It's Finally Over

If there was one road trip on the schedule that the Sycamores did not look forward to each season, it had to be to Springfield, Mo., to take on Missouri State.  The Sycamores had not won in Springfield since Jan. 6, 1976, when the Sycamores picked up a 60-59 win over the Bears.  However, after 18 straight losses at Missouri State and no wins since the Bears joined the Missouri Valley Conference in 1992, the Sycamores changed their fate in their maiden visit to JQH Arena and picked up a 76-71 victory on Saturday.  The Sycamores shot 50 percent from the field in the game and finished the game 21-for-22 from the free throw line to propel them to the victory.

Tunnell Vision

Coming off a career performance on Feb. 8 against Illinois State, many would not have expected senior Jay Tunnell to rival it in the following game against Drake.  However, that's exactly what the Topeka, Kan., native did as he scored 25 points and shot 10-for-11 from the field, including a 5-for-6 effort from three point range.  After scoring a career-high 28 points on Sunday at Illinois State, it marked the first time that Tunnell had scored 20 or more points in back-to-back games.  In that two-game stretch, Tunnell shot 19-for-23 from the field (.826), 13-for-15 from three point range (.867) and scored 53 points.

Protecting The Rock

Turnovers have plagued Indiana State all season, but the team protected the basketball extremely well in last week's win against Drake as the Sycamores turned the ball over just six times to the Bulldogs.  That tied a season low for the team, who gave the ball away just six times in a loss to Arkansas State on Dec. 1.

No, You Take It!

Four players finished Wednesday's game in double figures against Drake, thanks to a season-best night distributing the ball around by the Sycamores.  ISU recorded a season-high 17 assists against the Bulldogs, topping the previous mark of 16 set a game earlier at Illinois State.  Junior Harry Marshall led the way with six assists, while junior Rashad Reed chipped in with five and freshman Carl Richard tied his career high with three dimes.

Extra Time Pays Dividends

Indiana State is no stranger to winning games in overtime, as seen in the team's thrilling 75-73 win over Illinois State on Sunday on ESPNU.  In fact, the Sycamores have won all three of their overtime games this season and their last five games in a row when needing extra time.  Head coach Kevin McKenna is now 5-0 in games decided in overtime in his time at Indiana State.  All five of those wins have come against Valley opponents as well, with wins over Southern Illinois (2 OT) and Wichita State last year and a win at UNI (2 OT) and in both games against Illinois State this season.  That last time ISU lost in overtime was on Dec. 2, 2006, when ISU dropped a 73-70 decision to in-state rival Ball State under head coach Royce Waltman. 

An Instant Classic on ESPNU

Indiana State's game against Illinois State was its first game ever televised on ESPNU and some were tabbing it as an instant classic following the game.  The Sycamores trailed by 12 points with 2:38 remaining in the game and came back to send the game to overtime and to an eventual 75-73 win on a buzzer beater by junior Harry Marshall.  Marshall finished with a career-high 24 points with that last second shot and senior Jay Tunnell chipped in with a career-high 28 points on 8-for-9 shooting from three point range to fuel the comeback for the Sycamores.

A Milestone Game For Tunnell

People know about sophomore guard Harry Marshall's ability to score on the court, but he shares the wealth with his teammates as well.  In just 16 games played for the Sycamores, Marshall ranks second on the team with 66 assists and is fourth in the conference with 4.2 assists per Valley game.  Marshall set a new career high with nine assists at Illinois State, topping his previous career mark of seven set at Creighton earlier this season.  The nine assists are the most in a game by a Sycamore player this season.

The Marshall Plan

When the game was on the line on Sunday at Illinois State in overtime, most knew that junior guard Harry Marshall would make something happen.  He did just that, as he rose up from just inside the three point line and hit the game winning shot at the buzzer to give the Sycamores a 75-73 win over the Redbirds.  With that bucket, Marshall achieved a new career high with 24 points to go along with his career high nine assists in the game.  Man of those assists went to teammate Jay Tunnell, who tallied a career-high 28 points against the Redbirds. 

The Dynamic Duo

Senior Jay Tunnell and junior Harry Marshall became the second pair of Sycamores to each score 20 points in a game this season with their career performances at Illinois State on Sunday.  Tunnell scored a career-high 28 points while Marshall finished with a career-high 24 points.  Tunnel and sophomore Aaron Carter were the other duo to achieve the feat, as each scored 20 points against Ohio on Dec. 8 in Louisville, Ky., at the Marques Maybin Classic.

Sharing The Wealth

People know about sophomore guard Harry Marshall's ability to score on the court, but he shares the wealth with his teammates as well.  In just 15 games played for the Sycamores, Marshall ranks second on the team with 61 assists and is fifth in the conference with 4.2 assists per Valley game.  Marshall set a new career high with nine assists on Sunday at Illinois State, topping his previous career mark of seven set at Creighton earlier this season.  The nine assists are the most in a game by a Sycamore player this season.

14 Threes For The Trees

Heading into Sunday's game at Illinois State, the Sycamores knew they would have to keep pace with the Redbirds who were one of the better three-point shooting teams in the conference.  ISU did just that, as the Sycamores tallied a season-high 14 triples in the game while shooting 46.7 percent from long distance.  That performance topped their previous season high of 12 made against Murray State on Nov. 26.  Senior Jay Tunnell led the shooting barrage, finishing 8-for-9 from three-point land in the game on way to a career-high 28 points.  Rashad Reed, Harry Marshall and Jordan Printy each chipped in with two makes apiece to round out the strong shooting night.

Sycamores To Host Toledo In ESPU BracketBusters

Indiana State will face Mid-American Conference opponent Toledo on February 21 as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters event.  The contest between the Sycamores (4-18, 2-9 MVC) and the Rockets (4-17, 2-5 MAC) will be the first between the two schools in the history of both programs.  ISU is 2-2 all-time in the BracketBusters series, with victories over Western Michigan in 2006 (59-57) and Murray State in 2008 (79-62). 

Martin To Miss Remainder Of The Season

Sophomore Isiah Martin will miss the remainder of the season due to an injury in his right knee that will require surgery this week.  The Chicago, Ill., native averaged 4.0 points and 2.9 rebounds in 23 games played this season while starting in three contests.  Martin also leads the team with 24 blocked shots, after leading the Missouri Valley Conference in blocks as a freshman last season with 59.  As a true freshman, Martin was named to the league's All-Freshman and All-Bench Teams and was twice named the league's Newcomer of the Week (Dec. 31 and Feb. 17).

A Six Pack Of Scorers

The Sycamores needed help from everyone on the floor in order to pull out a 75-70 win in overtime against Illinois State on Jan. 10.  In all, six Indiana State players scored in double figures marking the first time since 1999 a Sycamore team had achieved that feat.  Jordan Printy (15 pts.), Carl Richard (14 pts.), Harry Marshall (12 pts.), Aaron Carter and Rashad Reed (11 pts. Each) and Jay Tunnell (10 pts.) all chipped in double figures to help the Sycamores to their second conference win of the season on Saturday against the Redbirds.  The last six-pack of Sycamores who scored in double figures included Matt Renn (16 pts.), Matt Broermann (15 pts.), Kelyn Block (13 pts.), Michael Menser (11 pts.) and Nate Green and Terence Avery (10 pts. each) against Montana State at the Top Of The World Classic on Nov. 20, 1999, in Fairbanks, Alaska.

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.