Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Indiana State continues year one of the Greg Lansing era on Saturday afternoon, January 29, when the Sycamores continue Missouri Valley Conference and travel to Creighton. Tip-off is set for 3:05 p.m. (ET). The game can be seen live nationally on ESPN Full Court, which is a pay-per-view service from the world wide leader in sports with Travis Justice and Nick Bahe on the call. Additionally, the contest can be seen live online via ESPN3.com. The game will also 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 CREIGHTON SERIES
Creighton holds a 49-24 lead in the all-time series. ISU has dropped eleven consecutive contests in Omaha, dating back to a 70-69 victory on January 17, 1999 in the Omaha Civic Auditorium. ISU is 8-27 all-time against Creighton in Omaha.

THE HEAD COACHES
INDIANA STATE: Greg Lansing (South Dakota, '90)
- at Indiana State: 12-9 (First Season)
- Overall: 12-9 (First Season)
- vs. Creighton: 1-0
- vs. Missouri Valley Conference: 7-3
CREIGHTON: Greg McDermott (Northern Iowa, '88)
- Overall: 293-204 (17th Season)
- at Creighton: 13-9 (First Season)
- vs. Indiana State: 8-4

QUICK HITS
- The Indiana State defense has been strong this season, holding opponents to just 40.8 percent shooting which is the best field goal percentage defense mark in the Missouri Valley. In league play, the Sycamores are allowing just 40.0 percent from the field, which is tops in the conference.
- Indiana State has won a total of five games by five points or less this season, upping their total of close victories to 31 since 2005.
- Indiana State senior Aaron Carter and junior Carl Richard have both reached double digit point totals in each of the last six games.
- Against Evansville, Indiana State connected on 20 free throws which is the most for a Sycamore team since hitting 20 against Southern Illinois at home last season.
- Indiana State's triple overtime game at Wichita State was the first game in this history of the program to go exactly three extra periods.

An Indiana State Win Over Creighton Would ...
• Be Indiana State's first victory over the 'Jays inside the Qwest Center Omaha in eight tries and the first for the Sycamores in Omaha since 1999.
• Break the Sycamores' longest active road losing streak against a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, which currently stands at 11.
• Stop a two-game MVC losing skid, the longest for the Sycamores this season and avoid ISU's first three-game losing streak of the 2010-11 campaign.
• Give the Sycamores at least eight league victories for the third time in the last four seasons.

The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing (South Dakota, 1990) is 12-9 (.571) overall in his first season as a head coach. He is 7-3 all-time in MVC games, including a 5-0 mark at home, a 2-3 mark on the road and a 0-0 record in neutral court contests. During his career, he is 8-1 in all home games, 3-6 on the road, 1-2 in neutral court contests and 5-3 in games decided by five points or less. Lansing is 1-0 all-time against Creighton, including a 0-0 record inside Qwest Center Omaha. With the Trees, Lansing is 0-2 in overtime games and 9-0 when holding teams to 63 points or less. Wednesday's game is Greg Lansing's 22nd as Indiana State head coach.

Television Particulars
Saturday's game will be made available on a pay-per-view basis via ESPN Full Court, which is a popular subscription service from the world wide leader in sports. Additionally, the game will be broadcast free online via ESPN3.com.

A Little History
Indiana State is currently in its 115th season of college basketball at the school. The Sycamores are 1,360-1,156 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.

Aaron Carter Continues Hot Stretch Vs. Missouri State & Wichita State
Senior Aaron Carter helped Indiana State to a split as the Sycamores captured the a home court victory over Missouri State and then fell in triple overtime at league preseason favorite Wichita State. Carter averaged 17.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest, hitting 11-of-22 shots from the floor (50 percent) and was 7-of-14 from 3-point range (50 percent) as well. Carter hit all six of his free throw attempts to go with four assists and two blocked shots. Carter scored 19 points on the strength of a 6-of-12 shooting effort and hit 4-of-7 shots from long range as ISU downed league leading Missouri State, 70-69 to kick off the week. He then posted a team-best 16 points at Wichita State, hitting 5-of-10 shots from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers. Carter was fouled in the first half against the Shockers in the act of a successful 3-point field goal attempt and made the ensuing free throw as he converted his NCAA-best 8th career 4-point play. Carter has now posted a double figure scoring effort in each of the last five contests.

Odum Leads Sycamore Backcourt
Indiana State redshirt freshman Jake Odum helped propel the Sycamores to a split against league leading Missouri State and MVC preseason favorite Wichita State on the road. Odum averaged 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He hit 7-of-12 shots from the field (58.3 percent) and was 3-of-5 at the free throw line. Odum scored six points against Missouri State with a pair of rebounds, three assists and a steal. Odum hit a running jumper late in the contest as the game see-sawed back and forth. He added 11 points, a career-high eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals at Wichita State while hitting 4-of-7 shots from the field (57.1 percent).

Triple The Pleasure; Triple The Fun
Indiana State's triple overtime contest at Wichita State is believed to be the first in over 2,500 all-time Sycamore basketball contests to reach triple overtime. The Sycamores did play a four overtime contest against Butler on December 27, 1986, falling 95-92 -- which is a school record. The triple overtime contest versus the Shockers is first multiple overtime contest in league play for the Sycamores since taking an 85-84 double overtime victory at Northern Iowa in the 2008-09 conference opener. The game was the second overtime contest of the season for the Sycamores, with the other coming in the season's third game against Eastern Kentucky. Over the last five seasons, Indiana State is 10-6 in overtime contests.

Lotsa Boards
Indiana State recorded 51 rebounds in the triple overtime defeat at Wichita State, which is the most a Sycamore team has hauled in during one contest since tallying 54 caroms against Missouri State on Feb. 13, 1997 at home. The school record is 71 rebounds against Chicago State in December 1976.

Carl Richard's Buzzer Beater Against Creighton Featured On ESPN
Richard added 11 points and eight rebounds against Creighton, but saved his best for last as he hauled in a Jake Odum 3-point miss and hit a reverse over the shoulder lay-up as time expired to seal ISU's 61-59 victory over the Jays. The play has been featured this weekend on ESPN SportsCenter (garnering No. 2 status on the popular SportsCenter Top 10 Plays segment and was rated the No. 1 Fantastic Finish Of The Day). His play also was featured on ABC's Winner Bracket Program on Saturday, January 22.

Finding The Open Man
Through ten league games, Indiana State has shown an ability to find the open man and it is being reflected routinely in the box scores as ISU is currently tied for second in the league with a 14.3 assists per game average. In fact, ISU has posted double figure assist totals in 12 of its last 13 games, including a Valley-best 19 in the opener against Bradley and again against Northern Iowa. Freshman Jake Odum is averaging 5.5 assists per game in league play which leads the league.

Good Starter On The Battery
Indiana State is 9-1 this season when the Sycamores starting five outscores the opponent's starting five in a contest. ISU starters have bested their counterparts against UT-Pan American, Buffalo, DePaul, Oakland City, the home contest versus Bradley, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, at Drake and against Creighton. The Sycamores lone loss when the starters outscore the opponents starters came in a triple overtime defeata at Wichita State.

Valley Win Streak Reached Six
Indiana State rattled off six consecutive league victories over the past two weeks which is the most for the Sycamores since they tallied seven in a row during the 1999-00 MVC Championship season. ISU's 7-1 start to league play marked the first time the Trees have began MVC competition with as a good mark through seven games since that same season and is tied for the second-best start in Valley play behind the 1978-79 dream season which saw ISU start 7-0 en route to finishing the year undefeated.

Odum More Than "O.K." For ISU As A Freshman
Redshirt freshman Jake Odum has been more than just OK for the Sycamores this season as he is averaging 7.1 points per game so far. Additionally, he is leading the team with 85 assists and 39 steals. His 4.0 assists per game average is third in the MVC and is the best of any newcomer in the league so far this season while his 2.2 assist to turnover ratio is second in the league and is also the best mark of any Valley newcomer. Odum's 1.9 steals per game average is ranked first in the Missouri Valley Conference. In league games only, Odum's 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game are tops in the league. Odum set a new career high with nine assists (against just one turnover) in the 61-59 victory over Creighton.

Carter Top 10 In MVC Contests
In Valley play, senior Aaron Carter is leader for the Sycamores in scoring with a 13.5 ppg average which is ranked sixth-best in the MVC.

Printy Moving Up Indiana State 3-Point List
Indiana State junior Jordan Printy currently has 124 career 3-pointers and has passed Gabe Moore's 120 for eighth on the ISU all-time list with his trio of treys against Northern Iowa. 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. Printy now needs one more triple to tie Marcus Howard & Marico Stinson for sixth on the all-time list (125).

63 Is The Magic Number
Indiana State is a perfect 9-0 on the season when allowing less than 63 points to the opposition (including a 5-0 mark when holding teams to 53 or less). 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 Eastern Kentucky and another 64 point defensive showing at Evansville. The Trees have held each of their last five opponents below the magic number of 63.

Isiah Martin Ranks Highly For Career Blocked Shots
Indiana State junior Isiah Martin now has 124 blocked shots in his career following his posting of two against Wichita State. His current total of 124 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 three more to catch Djibril Kante for second place with 127. For the season, Martin is averaging 0.9 blocked shots per game and is one of two Sycamores to rank in the Valley's Top 10. Myles Walker's 1.2 blocks per game average is third in the league while Martin's 0.9 is seventh. As a team, Indiana State is averaging 4.7 blocked shots per game which is the best in the league. ISU had a season-best 10 blocked shots against Bradley, it most since recording 11 against Evansville during the 2008-09 campaign.

King Of The Four-Point Play
Indiana State senior Aaron Carter has become known as the "King of the 4-Point Play" in 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, seven times in his Sycamore career, including one against Purdue earlier this season which gave the Trees a brief 31-29 lead just before halftime. 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. Carter converted two in one game last season at Missouri State as part of a 24-point second half comeback for Indiana State. During his career, Carter has been fouled in act of shooting a 3-pointer a total of 14 times.

Prince Of Wales Of The Four-Point Play
Indiana State redshirt freshman RJ Mahurin may not be the Sycamores' King Of The Four-Point Play, but he is currently can be considered the Prince Of Wales. Mahurin has posted two 4-point plays this season, one each in ISU's last two games against Drake and Bradley. His two 4-point plays have each come in the first half of the two contests in which he has been fouled while stepping out for a 3-pointer, has been fouled and has converted the ensuing free throw.

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.

Up Next
Indiana State returns home to face off against Wichita State on Tuesday, February 1 when they host the Shockers in a rematch of last weekend's triple overtime thriller inside Charles Koch Arena. This time the Shockers visit Hulman Center where tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. (ET). The game is part of Sycamore Pride Day, presented by Fleschner, Stark, Tanoos & Newlin in which all tickets to the contest are free of charge, requiring just the donation of a canned food item to Catholic Charities of Terre Haute.