Game 29 ► Indiana State (8-19, 6-10 MVC) at Wichita State (14-14, 7-9 MVC)

February 24, 2009  ►  8:05 p.m. EST  ►  Wichita, Kan. ►  Koch Arena (10,478)

Game Day Central

Series:             Wichita State Leads 42-26

Streak:             WSU Has Won 6 of 8

Radio:              The Crock 92.7 FM

Play-By-Play:  Brian Fritz

Analyst:           Matt Renn

Internet:           GoSycamores.com

Storylines     

            Indiana State (9-19, 6-10 MVC) won its fifth  consecutive game on Saturday and will look to keep the streak rolling on Tuesday, when the team travels to Wichita, Kan., to face off against Wichita State (14-14, 7-9 MVC) in a very meaningful Missouri Valley Conference match up.  Tip off is set for 8:05 p.m. EST at Charles Koch Arena.

            Indiana State sits just one game behind Wichita State, Evansville and Drake (all 7-9) in the Valley standings with just two games left to play in the regular season.  The Sycamores dropped a tough 64-58 decision to the Shockers earlier this season at Hulman Center on Feb. 4.

            The Sycamores are coming off a 69-62 win over Toledo on Saturday as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters series.  Both teams shot nearly 45 percent from the field in the game, but it was ISU's prowess at the free throw line with a 20-for-23 effort that proved to be the difference in the game.

            Jay Tunnell led all scorers with 17 points and seven rebounds, which included a 7-for-7 performance from the free-throw line.  Harry Marshall added 16 points and five assists, which also included a strong 6-for-8 effort from the charity stripe.  Rashad Reed and Jordan Printy chipped in with 15 and 13 points, respectively, to mark the fourth straight game in which the quartet of Tunnell, Printy, Marshall and Reed finished in double figures for the Sycamores.

            The Shockers defeated Cleveland State by a score of 70-59 as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters series on Saturday in front of 10,443 fans inside Charles Koch Arena.  The Shockers shot 54.2 percent from the field in the game, and nailed 10 of 16 treys to finish with a 62.5 percent mark from long range.

            Toure' Murry's 17 points led all scorers in the game, while Clevin Hannah added 13 points in the win for the Shockers. J.T. Durley added 11 points as well, while A.J. Hawkins and Ramon Clemente each tallied 10 points in the game.

            Wichita State leads the all-time series between the two schools 42-26, with the series beginning during the 1977-78 season.  ISU has won three of the last six meetings overall but have not won in Wichita since 2004, a 64-63 win over the Shockers.

About The Coaches

Kevin McKenna (Creighton ?93) is in his second season as the head coach at Indiana State (24-36).  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, 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. 

Gregg Marshall (Randolph-Macon ?85) is in his second season as the head coach at Wichita State (25-34) and his 10th overall as a collegiate head coach (219-117).  Last season, Marshall took over the program when former head coach Mark Turgeon left to take the head job at Texas A&M and led the team to an 11-20 overall record and a 4-14 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play.  Marshall came to WSU after completing his ninth season at Winthrop, where he led the Eagles to six 20-win seasons and seven NCAA tournament appearances.

Scouting The Shockers

►        Wichita State is located in Wichita, Kan., and has an enrollment of 14,442 students.  The Shockers are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at the Charles Koch Arena (10,478).

►        The Shockers finished with an overall record of 11-20 during the 2007-08 season.  In conference play, WSU posted a 4-14 record which put the Shockers in 9th place in the Valley standings.  The team ended its season with loss in the opening round of the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament to Indiana State.

►        Wichita State returns just one starter and six letterwinners from last year's squad.  Newcomer Toure' Murray leads the way for the Shockers with 11.3 points per game, while Clevin Hannah sits right behind with 10.8 points per contest

►        Wichita State is coming off an impressive 70-59 victory of over Cleveland State on Saturday as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters series.  The Shockers shot 54.2 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from three point range to pick up the victory.  Five WSU finished in double figures, led by Toure' Murry's 17 points.

Last Time Against The Shockers

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? The Sycamores (4-19, 2-10 MVC) battled with the Shockers (11-12, 5-7 MVC) and held a three-point lead at halftime, but a second half surge gave WSU its first road win of the season by a score of 64-58.

            ISU began the game with a high level on the defensive end, limiting Wichita State to just two baskets in the first six minutes and 52 seconds while taking an 8-4 lead.  Wichita State later pulled even at 10-10 before Aaron Carter continued his hot shooting with a three pointer half to put Indiana State up by three points at 13-10.

            Aaron Ellis answered the Carter three with a jumper to pull the Shockers within one and David Kyles converted another jumper to give the Shockers their first lead of the game at 14-13 with 7:08 left in the first half.  Harry Marshall answered the challenge with a dunk of his own to retake the lead for the Sycamores at 15-14, but could not convert the three-point play from the free throw line.

            The Shockers then took the lead at 18-15 with four straight points before Jay Tunnell tied the game at 18-18 with a three pointer from the top of the key with four and half minutes left till halftime.  ISU was next to score when Isiah Martin made an aggressive drive to the basket and got two free throws from the play.  Clevin Hannah answered the Martin free-throws with a jumper of his own before Martin and Marshall added back-to-back layups to put ISU up 24-20. WSU clawed back to within one point at 24-23, but Marshall finished off a fast break layup on a stellar pass from Reed to take a three point lead into the locker room at halftime at 26-23.

            With the game tight in the second half, Wichita State went on a 17-6 run to take a seven point lead at 48-41 with 7:52 remaining on the clock.  Neither team scored a point till the 5:12 mark when Wichita State's Aaron Ellis converted two free throws and Marshall answered with two of his own to make the score 50-43 with 4:53 left in the game.

            However, ISU was not done as Marshall made a layup to cut the lead to 60-56 with 1:26 remaining.  ISU got the ball back on a turnover by Hannah and Carter had a wide-open look from three-point range but the shot did not fall Marshall hit another jumper to cut the lead to three at 61-58 with just over a minute remaining, but that would be as close as the Sycamores would get as the Shockers held on for a 64-58 victory.

The Drive For Five

With its 69-62 win over Toledo on Saturday in the ESPNU BracketBusters series, Indiana State extended its season-long winning streak to five games.  The last time the Sycamores won five games in a row was during the 2006-07 season, when the team picked up five straight wins from Dec. 28 to Jan. 10.  During the current streak, the Sycamores are averaging 73.4 points per game (up from 62.5 season average) and are shooting 47.8 percent from the field (up from 40.8 season average).  In addition, ISU is protecting the ball better as they have posted a 1.2 turnover/assist ratio (up from 0.8 season average).

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 18 games played for the Sycamores, Marshall leads the team with 77 assists and is second in the conference with 4.4 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, and set a new team season high as well.

Movin' On Up

With his 17 point effort in Saturday's win over Toledo at Hulman Center, senior Jay Tunnell moved into a tie for 27th place on ISU's all-time scoring list with 1,095 points.  The Topeka, Kan., native is currently tied with John Robbins, who played for the Sycamores from 1960 to 1963.  With five points on Tuesday in Wichita, Tunnell will move ahead of Dan Bush (1,099 points) into sole possession of 26th place and he could pass Jayson Wells (1,106) in 25th place by scoring 11 points or more against the Shockers.  In addition to his scoring numbers, Tunnell needs just 19 rebounds to collect 600 in his stellar four-year career at ISU.

Sycamores Win Second Straight ESPU BracketBusters Game

With Indiana State's 69-62 win over Toledo on Saturday, ISU is now 3-2 all-time in the BracketBusters series, with victories over Western Michigan in 2006 (59-57), Murray State in 2008 (79-62) and now Toledo.  However, the Sycamores have not been as successful in return games from the series, as they are 1-3 including a 67-61 loss to Murray State at Hulman Center this season.

Who Should We Guard?

Opposing defenses have had a hard time defending the Sycamores' balanced scoring attack during the Sycamores' recent winning streak.  Over the last four games, the quartet of Jay Tunnell (25-13-20-17), Harry Marshall (10-19-14-16), Rashad Reed (15-14-15-15)and Jordan Printy (11-10-13-13) have all scored in double figures which resulted in four wins for the Sycamores.  ISU has now had at least four players score in double figures 11 times this season and currently have three players averaging double figures in scoring on the season in Marshall (14.7 ppg), Tunnell (11.7 ppg) and Reed (10.6 ppg).

The Road Warriors

Normally, playing on the road in Missouri Valley Conference play has not been kind to Indiana State, which won no more than one MVC road game in each of its last five seasons.  However, in a year when road wins are up throughout the league, ISU earned its fourth win on the road in league play and its third in the span of 10 days on Wednesday with its 78-72 win at Southern Illinois.  The Sycamores won their first conference game of the season on the road at UNI (85-84 OT) and also picked up an overtime win against Illinois State at Redbird Arena (75-73 OT) before defeating Missouri State at the new JQH Arena (76-71) last Saturday.

20 Point Games Piling Up For Tunnell

Through 97 career games, senior forward Jay Tunnell scored 20 points or more in a game just once.  However, that number has gone up significantly in his last five games, as he has topped the 20 point plateau three times.  The scoring barrage began with a career-high 28 points on 8-of-9 shooting from three point range in the overtime win at Illinois State on Feb. 8.  He followed that up by scoring 25 points in a win at home against Drake on Feb. 11 and then tallied 20 points in Wednesday's win on the road at Indiana State.  Tunnell has scored in double figures in six on his last seven games and has raised his scoring average from 9.9 points to 11.7 points per contest during that stretch.

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 five games, the Sycamores are shooting 85.2 percent (75-of-88) from the charity stripe including an astounding season high 21-of-22 from the free throw line in the team's 76-71 win at Missouri State.  ISU started the recent streak by shooting 91.7 percent (11-for-12) from the line at Illinois State and capped off the recent run with a 20-for-23 performance against Toledo on Saturday.

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 last week with the best all-around game of his career at Missouri State on Feb. 14.  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.  In his recent shooting hot streak, Printy has scored in double figures in four straight games and nine times in the last 13 games.  That's a major improvement from just one double-digit effort in the first 15 games to start 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.

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.  The Sycamores turned the ball over just six times to the Bulldogs, which tied a season low for the team.  That previous mark was set in a loss to Arkansas State on Dec. 1.  The Sycamores have started a new trend in limiting turnovers during their five-game winning streak, averaging just 11 turnovers per game which is down from the team's season average of nearly 15 per game.

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.  Since dishing out just eight assists on Jan. 21 against Southern Illinois, the Sycamores have posted double-digit assist efforts in nine straight games.

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 Feb. 8 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.  In addition, head coach Kevin McKenna is now 5-0 in games decided in overtime in his time at Indiana State with all five of those wins coming against Valley opponents.  The 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

Heading into Sunday's game at Illinois State, senior forward Jay Tunnell needed just eight points to become just the 31st player in school history to score 1,000 points.  The Topeka, Kan., native scored those eight points plus 20, as he finished with a career-high 28 points to give him 1,020 in his four seasons at ISU. In addition, he connected on a career-high eight three-pointers and finished 8-for-9 overall in the game from long distance.  Tunnell also recorded the fifth double-double of his career, as he pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds in the overtime win of the Redbirds as well. 

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.