Setting The Stage:
Indiana State continues year three of the Kevin McKenna era on Wednesday, February 24 when the Sycamores travel to Illinois State for a MVC road contest. Tip-off is slated for 8:05 p.m. (ET) at Redbird Arena. On the radio airwaves, the game will be live on The Crock 92.7 FM as well as online at GoSycamores.com. Brian Fritz & Matt Renn will call the action live on the radio broadcast. GoRedbirds.com will stream the game live online via a pay-per-view service.

ABOUT THE COACHES:
Kevin McKenna (Creighton '93) is in his third season as the head coach at Indiana State (36-41 at ISU & 126-74 overall). 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. Last season, he led the Sycamores to six victories in their final seven regular season games, including three consecutive league road wins in the span of 10 days. 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. McKenna is one of just two NCAA Division I head men's basketball coaches who have won an NBA World Championship (with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1982). Florida International's Isiah Thomas is the other. He is the only NCAA Division I men's basketball head coach to earn both an NBA and CBA Championship and is the only person in the history of the Missouri Valley Conference to win a MVC Regular Season Title , MVC Tournament Championship, NBA Championship and CBA title. McKenna is 4-1 against Illinois State, including a mark of 1-1 versus the Redbirds in Redbird Arena.

Tim Jankovich (Kansas State, 1982) is 171-99 (.633) in his ninth season as a head coach, and 68-28 (.708) in his third season with the Redbirds. At Illinois State, Jankovich is 37-20 against teams from the Missouri Valley Conference, 31-8 versus non-conference opponents, 43-6 at home, 20-18 on the road, 6-4 on a neutral court and 1-4 against Indiana State.

SERIES HISTORY:
Illinois State holds a 55-46 lead in the all-time series against Indiana State. ISU has won each of the last four meetings in the series, including a 75-73 overtime victory at Redbird Arena this season.

A Little History:
Indiana State is currently in its 114th season of college basketball at the school. The Sycamores are 1,347-1,144 all-time on the hardwood. The Sycamores are nine contests away from playing their historic 2,500th game in the history of the program.

They're Free! Take Em!:
Indiana State has been hitting the freebies so far this season, as the Sycamores are ahead of Drake for top honors in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 77.4 percentage from the charity stripe. ISU has hit 427-of-552 while the Bulldogs are 402-of-527 (76.3 percent). ISU currently ranks second nationally in free throw percentage, one of three Valley teams to rank in the Top 25 nationally. BYU's 77.5 percent mark leads the nation. ISU has made 427 free throws this season while the opposition has made just 360. The Sycamores are 13-5 this season in games in which they make more free throws than the opposition.

Leavin' The "AC" On:
Aaron Carter began the week with a season-best 19-point performance against Bradley and then followed it up with 12 more in the annual Bracketbusters contest against Green Bay. Carter hit 10-of-18 shots from the field (55.6 percent), including a mark of 5-of-8 from downtown (62.5 percent) and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Carter recorded 6.5 rebounds per game as well in averaging 34 minutes per game. Carter's week began with his 19-point showing against the Braves as he hit 7-of-10 shots from the field, including a 3-of-4 mark long range. Carter added a career-high 10 rebounds as he posted the first double-double of his Indiana State career. Carter hit a key 3-pointer with 11 seconds remaining in regulation which gave the Sycamores a two-point advantage over Bradley and then connected again with 40 seconds left in overtime to put the Sycamores ahead to stay. Versus the Phoenix, Carter was 2-of-4 from downtown and 4-of-4 from the free throw line as he scored 12 points and hauled in three rebounds. Carter hit both of triples as the Sycamores built a second half advantage of double digits at Green Bay.

The Koang Show:
Koang Doluony averaged 11 points and six rebounds per game as the Sycamores split a pair of contests this week against Bradley and Green Bay. Doluony was 8-of-15 from the field (53.3 percent) and hit 4-of-10 (40 percent) of his shots from downtown. He added six rebounds, 1 block and 1.5 steals per game over the two-contest stretch. Doluony posted a career-high 14 points, hitting 5-of-7 shots from the field, and 2-of-4 from long range to go with six rebounds in 23 minutes of action as part of the annual Bracketbusters contest at Green Bay. Doluony hit a pair of 3-pointers as well in the MVC contest against Bradley earlier in the week to score eight points versus the Braves.

Richard On The Boards:
Indiana State sophomore Carl Richard recorded a career-high 14 rebounds at Green Bay, marking the third time this season that he has reached double figures rebounding this season. Richard's 14 rebounds were the most by a Sycamore since Matt Renn posted 15 against Southern Illinois in 2001.

Reed Moves Into ISU 3-Pointers Made Top 10:
With his trio of 3-point field goals made at Green Bay, Rashad Reed now has 111 career treys, which is the tenth most in the history of the program, passing over Matt Broerman's 109 triples he made from 1999 until 2003. Reed needs four to tie David Moss (2002-05) for ninth all-time and is just five behind Travis Inman (116) for eighth. Along those same lines, his 51 3-pointers made this season are ninth best all-time and he needs just two more to catch Mike Jovanovich who hit 53 during the 1994-95 campaign.

Over The Hump:
With the 76-66 victory over Bradley, the Sycamores have essentially assured themselves of finishing with a winning record for the first time since completing a 22-12 campaign in 2000-01. With a victory over Illinois State this week, ISU would improve to 9-8 on the season in league play, giving them an over .500 record in conference through 17 contests for the first time since that same season. ISU was 10-7 that season with one MVC contest to play, attained the No. 4 seed at Arch Madness and became the lowest seeded team to win the State Farm MVC Tournament.

Pickin Up The Pace:
Since losing Harry Marshall & Dwayne Lathan to injury during the Illinois State contest, the Sycamores are 2-3, including a perfect 2-0 mark at home and an 0-3 ledger on the road. ISU is still producing 66.4 points of offense per game, despite losing over half of their offensive production to injury with three of ISU's top four scorers out of action. Rashad Reed has taken over the biggest chunk of offensive production while Lathan, Kelly and Marshall have been sidelined. Reed has been averaging 14 points per game while Aaron Carter has tallied 12.8 points and 5.0 rebounds. Carl Richard has averaged 11.0 point and leads the team with 8.2 rebounds per game. The Sycamores have hit 38-of-100 3-pointers of the five-game stretch (38 percent) and continue to lead the Valley in free throw shooting by hitting 76-of-97 charity tosses (78.4 percent).

Trying To Make Thursday Night Not Be Must See For Sycamores Fans:
Indiana State is currently in a tie for fourth place with an 8-8 record in the conference play in a three-way deadlock with Creighton and Bradley in the Valley standings. ISU is just one game above another logjam as Missouri State and Drake are currently 7-9 in MVC play. The Sycamores likewise are narrowly behind 10-6 Illinois State for this place with two league contests remaining on all 10 MVC teams schedule following last weekend's participation in Bracketbusters. The Sycamores will likely secure a spot in the league's top 6 and will avoid the play-in Thursday night portion of next month's State Farm MVC Tournament with a victory either against the Redbirds or Bears next week. Indiana State has appeared in the Thursday night play-in portion of the conference tournament following every season since the 2000-01 campaign when the Sycamores finished fourth with a 10-8 league record and became the lowest seed to ever win "Arch Madness" and advance to the NCAA Tournament. ISU has appeared on Thursday night at the league tournament for eight consecutive seasons.

Six Times Four:
Indiana State junior 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 has 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 three-year Sycamore career. Carter posted a pair last season and has had four this 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.

We Don't Need A TO Baby!:
The Sycamores posted the most efficient offensive outing in the history of the program against Drake on February 13 when Indiana State committed an all-time low three turnovers versus the Bulldogs. It was the fewest turnovers for the Sycamores since only having five last season in the finale against Missouri State. Since the 1998-99 season, only on four instances has a Valley team committed just three turnovers in a contest, with one being ISU's 76-66 homecourt victory over Drake.

When The Starters Are Scoring ... :
When the Indiana State starting five scores more points than the opponents' starting five the Sycamores have put together a perfect 11-0 record this season. In fact in the eleven contests in which ISU's starting five has eclipsed the point total of their starting counterparts, the Sycamores are winning by an average score of 70.9-59.5 - an average margin of victory which equals 11.4 points.

Martin Hits Century Mark For Blocked Shots:
Indiana State junior Isiah Martin now has 107 blocked shots in his career after recording one at Green Bay. His current total of 107 blocks ranks fourth all-time in the history of the program and he needs two more to tie Nate Green for third (109). The Indiana State school record is 168, set by DeCarsta Webster from 1975-78.

Bringin' Out The Brooms:
The Sycamores have swept both Evansville and Drake this season, giving Indiana State a pair of MVC season series sweeps for the second consecutive season. In fact, ISU's sweep of Drake this year is its first since the 1999-00 campaign and gives the Sycamores multiple MVC season series sweeps of a league opponent in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1998-99 & 1999-00 seasons. Last season, ISU swept both Illinois State and Missouri State. A win on Wednesday night over Illinois State would give the Sycamores three league series sweeps this season, its most since sweeping three in 2000-01.

Three Or More In Double Figures Equals Sycamore Success:
Indiana State has had a least three players reach double digit scoring in 18 contests this season. When the Sycamores are able to accomplish that feat they are 12-6 in such situations. ISU is averaging an 6.6 point margin of victory when the Sycamores post at least three double digit scorers.

Ability To Bounce Back:
ISU is 21-27 under third-year head coach Kevin McKenna in games following a loss. This season, ISU is 7-4 in games which following a loss after redeeming themselves and will look to improve on that mark at Illinois State after falling at Green Bay.

Winnin' By A Whisker:
Indiana State has recorded five victories in close games this season, defined as a game decided by five or fewer points. Winning the close ones has been a staple of third-year head coach Kevin McKenna's career as he has already has 14 "close" wins while at Indiana State. In addition to the four already posted this season, his Sycamores' recorded five in 2008-09 and four more during his first season at the helm, 2007-08. In fact of McKenna's 91 games as head coach of the Sycamores, 22 have been decided by five points or less and ISU is 14-8 in those games, for a .636 winning percentage.

How Sweep It Is! & ISU One Of Top Three Winningest Road Valley Teams Over Last Two Seasons:
With its 63-56 victory over Evansville, Indiana State secured its first season series sweep of the year. It already gives the Sycamores at least one sweep of a conference opponent in each of head coach Kevin McKenna's three years at the helm of the program. Over the past two years, the Sycamores have secured a total of six road MVC victories, which is tied for third most in the conference over that span. The victory over Drake gave ISU multiple conference season series sweeps for the second consecutive season (swept Illinois State and Missouri State last year).

Marshall's Hits 1,000 Career Points & Milestone Game Against Wichita State:
Indiana State senior Harry Marshall currently has 1,015 career points, and is the 32nd member of the Indiana State 1,000-point club. He is believed to be the first initial walk-on in the history of the program to reach the elite group of Sycamores who have scored at least 1,000 career points. Marshall played his 100th career game against Wichita State and celebrated the milestone by scoring a career-high 29 points to become ISU's first 20-plus point scorer this season.

Close Call To Biggest Valley Rally EVER!:
Down 52-28 with 16:20 left at Missouri State, the Indiana State Sycamores faced their biggest deficit of the game and nearly completed the largest comeback in the history of the Missouri Valley Conference. No MVC team has ever come from down by as many as 24 points in a game to earn a victory. ISU fell in overtime, but a 3-pointer by senior Harry Marshall with one second left knotted the score at 83 and completed the 24-point comeback. MSU grabbed the victory in overtime by a 99-92 margin. ISU did complete the third largest comeback in the history of the league on Feb. 19, 2008 by coming back from 21 down to defeat Wichita State 83-73 in overtime.

Jake Kelly Suffers Season Ending Knee Injury Against Salukis:
Jake Kelly has been lost for the season following a knee injury that will require season ending surgery. The team learned of the severity of Kelly's injury following an evaluation conducted by team physician Dr. Tom Klootwyk at Methodist Sports Medicine in Indianapolis. Kelly was third on the team this season with a 9.0 ppg scoring average with 18 assists and six steals. He drained the game winning jumper in a 55-54 road victory over Toledo on December 19. Kelly was playing this season following his transfer from the University of Iowa as the NCAA waived the year in residence requirement and allowed him to compete this season.

Sycamore Signees:
Indiana State inked three student-athletes to national letters of intent as part of the NCAA Early Signing Period. Steve McWhorter, Myles Walker and Jake Kitchell comprised the Sycamores' 2009 Signing Class.

McWhorter, a 6-2, 185, point guard from Racine, Wis., won a Division 3 state championship last season at Saint Catherines High School as he averaged 10.0 points, 5.0 assists and shot 57.6 percent from the field for coach Bob Letsch. McWhorter took over as the starter at point guard when he was a sophomore. As a junior, he was on a team with nine seniors, and his talent shined in the state tournament. He had 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds in a 48-34 state championship victory against La Crosse Aquinas. In the state semifinals, McWhorter had nine points and nine assists.

Walker is a 6-8, 250, junior college post player from South Plains Junior College who averaged 7.4 points and 4.8 rebounds, while shooting 46.7 percent from the floor and 38.6 percent (32 for 83) from the free-throw line as a freshman last season for coach Steve Green. Walker's best game was a 24-point, 13-rebound performance on Jan. 1. He averaged 1.0 blocks per game with a season-high of five, and he twice had three steals in a game.

At Antonian College Prep in San Antonio, Texas he played for head coach Andre Walker. Myles was named to the all-state team three times and all-district four times. He was once named to the North-South All-Star tournament. As a middle linebacker for the football team Myles earned all-state recognition three times and played in the Army All-American Bowl. He also ran track, boasting a time of 48.07 seconds in the 400 meter dash.

Kitchell is a 6-9, 225, power forward from Union Mills, Ind., and played for coach John Steinhilber at South Central High School. Kitchell averaged 20 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and six blocks per game for a team that finished the 2008-09 season with a record of 17-5. He is expected to be a first team all-state selection later this month in the upcoming edition of the annual Hoosier Basketball Magazine. He was a member of the Indiana Junior All-Stars last spring.

Up Next:
Indiana State returns home on Saturday, February 27 to take on Missouri State in the annual SERVPRO Fan Appreciation Day. Tipoff is set for 2:05 p.m. (ET). The game will be the final home contest for seniors Harry Marshall, Rashad Reed and Josh Crawford.