SETTING THE STAGE
Indiana State continues year one of the Greg Lansing era on Saturday afternoon, December 18, when the Sycamores take on nationally-ranked Purdue as part of the Boilermaker Blockbuster at Conseco Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 4:06 p.m. (ET). The contest will be televised on the Big Ten Network with Eric Collins, Tim Doyle and Charissa Thompson on the call. The game will be broadcast live locally on the radio via ESPN Radio 92.7 FM & 1300 AM, as Brian Fritz and Matt Renn describe the action with an internet broadcast available on GoSycamores.com. Additionally live stats for the contest can be found at GoSycamores.com.

THE PURDUE SERIES
Purdue leads the all-time series against Indiana State by a 29-3 margin. The Boilermakers have won each of the last two meetings in the all-time series, taking a 76-62 decision in 2008 as well as a 71-60 victory in 2007, both at Mackey Arena. ISU downed the Boilers by the score of 89-70 on December 28, 2006 at Hulman Center.

THE HEAD COACHES
INDIANA STATE: Greg Lansing (South Dakota, '90)
- at Indiana State: 5-5 (First Season)
- Overall: 5-5 (First Season)
- vs. Purdue: First Meeting
- vs. Missouri Valley Conference: 0-0
PURDUE: Matt Painter (Purdue, '84)
- Overall: 146-62 (Seventh Season)
- at Purdue: 121-57 (Sixth Season)
- vs. Indiana State: 4-1

QUICK HITS
- Indiana State is playing a contest at Conseco Fieldhouse for the second time in three seasons as ISU appeared in the building against IUPUI on December 23, 2008, falling to the Jags by the score of 62-41.
- Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing and Purdue head coach Matt Painter are facing off their first time as head coaches, but have faced off as assistants in the past. Lansing was an assistant at ISU when Painter was an assistant at Eastern Illinois from 95-98 and at Southern Illinois in 98-99. Lansing also was an assistant at Iowa and ISU coaching against Painter as the Purdue head coach in 05-08.

An Indiana State Win Over Purdue Would ...
• Give Indiana State two victories over the Boilers in their last four attempts.
• Give Indiana State its first victory at Conseco Fieldhouse in two tries.
• Be Indiana State's fourth-ever victory over Purdue.
• Give Indiana State a 6-5 non-conference record heading into MVC play on Dec. 29 against Bradley.

The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing (South Dakota, 1990) is 5-5 (.500) overall in his first season as a head coach. He is 0-0 all-time in MVC games, including a 0-0 mark at home, a 0-0 mark on the road and a 0-0 record in neutral court contests. During his career, he is 3-0 in all home games, 1-4 on the road, 1-1 in neutral court contests and 2-1 in games decided by five points or less. Lansing is 0-0 all-time against Purdue, including a 0-0 record at a neutral site. With the Trees, Lansing is 0-1 in overtime games, and 4-0 when holding teams to 60 points or less. Saturday's game is Greg Lansing's 11th as Indiana State head coach.

Television Particulars
Saturday afternoon's game can be seen live on The Big Ten Network. In Terre Haute, the game can be seen on Channel 74 on Time Warner Cable, Channel 610 on Directv and Channel 439 on Dish Network.

A Little History
Indiana State is currently in its 115th season of college basketball at the school. The Sycamores are 1,353-1,152 all-time on the hardwood. Indiana State's game at Oral Roberts this season was the historic 2,500th game in the history of the program.

Better Lathan Than Never
Indiana State junior swingman Dwayne Lathan averaged 22.0 points and 5.0 rebounds this week as ISU evened its record at 5-5 with victories over BIG EAST Conference member DePaul as well as Oakland City at Hulman Center. For the week, Lathan hit 16-of-25 field goals (64 percent), including a pair of free throws as well as 10-of-14 free throws (71.4 percent). He added nine assists two blocks and two steals. Lathan scored a season-high 24 points versus the Blue Demons, hitting 8-of-14 shots from the field and was 8-of-12 at the free throw line. He tied a career high with six assists in the contest. Lathan led ISU with 20 points versus the Mighty Oaks, hitting 8-of-11 shots from the field, including two treys with five rebounds in each contest.

Odum Is OK!
Jake Odum averaged 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as ISU swept DePaul and Oakland City at Hulman Center this past week. Odum hit 6-of-9 shots from the field (66.7 percent), and was a perfect 2-of-2 from 3-point range in the two contests. He added seven assists, a blocked shot and four steals during the week. Odum had eight points versus DePaul, going 4-of-5 from the field with five rebounds. He added six more against Oakland City, hitting a pair of treys with a season-high tying five assists and three steals.

Powder Blues Were Back Last Week
Indiana State wore their powder blue uniforms on Wednesday night at the Sycamores earned a 73-51 victory over DePaul at Hulman Center. The victory over the Blue Demons was the second in 13 tries, with the other coming in the 1979 Final Four that gave ISU a berth into the National Championship Game against Michigan State.

Getting To The Glass
The Indiana State basketball team has been extremely efficient on the boards through ten contests this season as they are out-rebounding their opponents by a 35.5 to 31.6 margin. ISU has pulled down more rebounds in 7-of-10 contests this season and has been at least +10 in the rebounding category in four separate contests - Texas-Pan American, at Ball State, at Wyoming and against DePaul. Individually, junior Carl Richard owns an 8.6 rpg average, which is the best mark in the MVC so far this season.

Winning Big!
Indiana State 86-42 victory over Oakland City represents a 44-point margin of victory. That 44-point margin of victory is the largest since taking town Millikin by the score of 113-60 (43 points) on December 29, 1984. Additionally, the Sycamores earned 22-point victory over DePaul earlier this season (73-51) which is the largest for an Indiana State team over a member of a BCS Football Conference since taking down Purdue by the score of 91-63on November 28, 1977.

Perfect At Home
Indiana State has won all three of their home games during the Greg Lansing era and has won each of their last eight home games overall.

Return To The Fieldhouse Against Purdue
Indiana State's lone game this week is against Purdue as part of the Boilermaker Blockbuster at Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday. ISU has dropped each of its last two contests versus the Boilers, last earning a victory against Purdue by the score of 89-70 on December 28, 2006 at Hulman Center in former Southern Illinois skipper Matt Painter's first season as head coach in West Lafayette. ISU's 73-51 victory over DePaul was its biggest over a member of a BCS Conference since a 91-63 victory over the Boilers at home in 1977.

There's No Place Like Home
After opening the season with seven of their first eight games on the road, the Sycamores returned home for the first time since hosting Buffalo and DePaul and Oakland City this past week. The last time the Sycamores opened the season with 7-of-8 away from Hulman Center was in the 1993-94 campaign when the Trees opened the year with a 1-7 mark, winning its lone home contest during that stretch against Ball State. Additionally, the Sycamores have played only three of its first eight games inside the state of Indiana (one home game, at Ball State, at Notre Dame). This year's Sycamore team is one of just four Missouri Valley Conference squads all-time to play at least six of their first eight games away from home (the others are 1993-94 Indiana State; 2010-11 Drake and 1998-99 Northern Iowa).

Jake Kelly & Dwayne Lathan In Top 10 Valley Scoring
Indiana State's Dwayne Lathan currently is leading the team with a 15.2 ppg average, which is good enough for fourth-best in the league. Right behind Lathan is Jake Kelly, who has posted 11.7 ppg so far this season and is ranked in a tie for 13th in the MVC statistical rankings.

Printy Moving Up Indiana State 3-Point List
Indiana State junior Jordan Printy currently has 113 career 3-pointers and needs just two more to tie David Moss' 115 which is 10th on the ISU all-time list. Printy is one of just 14 Sycamores in the history of the program to hit at least 100 3-point field goals in a career. His march up the record book is currently on hold as Printy has missed action in each of the last two contests with an ankle injury.

63 Is The Magic Number
Indiana State is a perfect 4-0 on the season when allowing less than 63 points to the opposition. ISU's best defensive effort this season that was not rewarded with a victory came on the opening weekend when 64 points allowed in overtime against overtime showed up as a defeat. ISU has held four different opponents to 63 points or less this season.

Isiah Martin Ranks Highly For Career Blocked Shots
Indiana State junior Isiah Martin now has 117 blocked shots in his career following his posting of one against Wyoming. His current total of 117 blocks ranks third all-time in the history of the program as he recently passed Nate Green for third (109). The Indiana State school record is 168, set by DeCarsta Webster from 1975-78. Martin needs 10 more to catch Djibril Kante who for second place with 127. For the season, Martin is averaging 1.6 blocked shots per game and is one of two Sycamores to rank in the Valley's Top 5. Myles Walker's 1.6 blocks per game average is second while Martin's 1.0 is tied for seventh. As a team, Indiana State is averaging 5.1 blocked shots per game which is the best in the league. ISU had a season-high seven rejections against Buffalo and six more against DePaul.

King Of The Four-Point Play
Indiana State senior Aaron Carter has become known as the "King of the 4-Point Play" in the Sycamores circles. For the most part, converting a 4-point play is extremely rare, but for Carter it is becoming old hat. Carter converted a 4-point play, defined as being fouled in the act of shooting a successful 3-point field goal and then converting the free throw, six times in his Sycamore career. Carter posted a pair as a sophomore and had four last year, including one with 3:42 to play in the first half against Drake this past week. Carter converted two in one game earlier this season at Missouri State as part of a 24-point second half comeback for Indiana State.

Sycamores Sign Devonte Brown & Justin Gant
Indiana State basketball head coach Greg Lansing landed two in his first official recruiting class during the Early Signing Period as Devonte Brown & Justin Gant inked a national letters of intent and will join the Sycamore program next season as incoming freshmen.

Brown is a native of Killeen, Texas where he is a senior guard for Killeen Ellison High School. He is 6-3, 185 and averaged 15 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists per game at Ellison during his junior season, one year after he earned a starting role for the Screaming Eagles. Brown played shooting guard for 22-11 Ellison last season, leading it to the Texas 5-A playoffs as Killeen's best team in that class. Brown will switch and play point guard during his senior season at Ellison.

Gant is a 6-8, 210 power forward who has been a three-year starter for head coach Todd Woelfle at Terre Haute North Vigo High School. Gant was third in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference in scoring, averaging 17 points per game for the 17-7 Patriots. Gant averaged 17 on a team that scored 50 points per game, one of the best percentages among MIC leaders as far as percentage of points he provided for his team. He also averaged 8 rebounds per game. He played AAU basketball for the Spiece Select 2011 team. Gant averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds per game for Spiece. He also played for the Indiana Elite team between his sophomore and junior seasons at North.

Sycamores Return To Postseason In 2010
Indiana State made its first appearance in the postseason by accepting an invitation last year to the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) by traveling to Saint Louis since participating in the 2001 NCAA Tournament when the Sycamores downed No. 4 seeded Oklahoma in the first round by the score of 70-68 (OT). ISU is 38-20 all-time in postseason play. The Sycamores won the 1950 NAIB National Championship, downing Delta State, Arkansas State, Baldwin-Wallace, Tampa and East Central Oklahoma. The Sycamores have appeared in the 1942 & 1943 National Intercollegiate Tournament, the 1946, 1948, 1949 & 1950 NAIB National Tournament, the 1952, 1953, 1954, 1959, 1962 & 1963 NAIA National Tournament; the 1966, 1967 & 1968 NCAA College Division Tournament; the 1977 & 1978 National Invitation Tournament; and the 1979 & 2001 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship. ISU made a run to the 1979 NCAA Final Four behind the star power of Sycamore legend Larry Bird, falling in the national championship contest to Michigan State, 75-64 in a game that is still the highest rated television basketball broadcast of all-time.

Up Next
Indiana State breaks for the Holidays and then will jump into Missouri Valley Conference action on Wednesday, December 29 when they host Bradley at Hulman Center. Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. (ET).