SETTING THE STAGE
Indiana State continues year one of the Greg Lansing era on Sunday evening, January 9, when the Sycamores continue Missouri Valley Conference play at Drake. Tip-off is set for 6:05 p.m. (ET). The game can be seen live worldwide on the Sycamore Vision web stream subscription service available on GoSycamores.com. The game will also be broadcast live locally on the radio via ESPN Radio 92.7 FM & 1300 AM, as Brian Fritz describes the action with an internet broadcast available on GoSycamores.com. Additionally live stats for the contest can be found at GoSycamores.com.

THE DRAKE SERIES
Indiana State holds a 37-34 advantage in the all-time series against Drake and the Sycamores have won each of the last four meetings in the series, including a 60-46 victory at the Knapp Center last season which stopped a nine-game losing skid to the Bulldogs on their home court. ISU is 23-12 in Des Moines against Drake.

THE HEAD COACHES
INDIANA STATE: Greg Lansing (South Dakota, '90)
- at Indiana State: 8-7 (First Season)
- Overall: 8-7 (First Season)
- vs. Drake: First Meeting
- vs. Missouri Valley Conference: 3-1
DRAKE: Mark Phelps (Old Dominion, '96)
- Overall: 38-43 (Third Season)
- at Drake: 38-43 (Third Season)
- vs. Indiana State: 1-4

QUICK HITS
- Indiana State is looking to move to 4-1 in MVC play for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign.
- The Sycamores have not won two games in a row at Drake since winning in Des Moines in 1997 & 1998.
- The Indiana State defense has been strong this season, holding opponents to just 40 percent shooting which is the best field goal percentage defense mark in the Missouri Valley so far.

An Indiana State Win Over Drake Would ...
• Give Indiana State five consecutive victories over the Bulldogs.
• Give the Trees consecutive victories at Drake for the first time since winning in Des Moines in both 1997 & 1998.
• Give Indiana State a 4-1 start to MVC play for the first time since 2007-08.
• Be first-year Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing's first career MVC road victory.

The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing (South Dakota, 1990) is 8-7 (.533) overall in his first season as a head coach. He is 3-1 all-time in MVC games, including a 3-0 mark at home, a 0-1 mark on the road and a 0-0 record in neutral court contests. During his career, he is 6-0 in all home games, 1-5 on the road, 1-2 in neutral court contests and 2-2 in games decided by five points or less. Lansing is 0-0 all-time against Drake, including a 0-0 record at the Knapp Center. With the Trees, Lansing is 0-1 in overtime games, and 6-0 when holding teams to 60 points or less. Sunday's game is Greg Lansing's 16th as Indiana State head coach.

Television Particulars
The contest can be seen live on the Sycamore Vision web stream subscription service available via GoSycamores.com.

A Little History
Indiana State is currently in its 115th season of college basketball at the school. The Sycamores are 1,356-1,154 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.

Picking Up The Slack
With Jake Kelly and Dwayne Lathan missing from the Indiana State lineup due to injury against Illinois State on Tuesday evening, four Sycamores reached double figures scoring (Aaron Carter, Jake Odum, Jordan Printy and RJ Mahurin). For the second time since Kelly has been out (span of three games) Carter has led the team in scoring as he notched 14 points against the Redbirds and posted 19 versus Bradley. The duo also did not see action against Northern Iowa, but four Sycamores reached double figures scoring as Steve McWhorter led the way with 15 points. Joining McWhorter in double figures were Jordan Printy with 11 while Jake Odum and Myles Walker tallied 10 each.

Finding Success Against Northern Iowa
One season ago Northern Iowa wrapped up its second consecutive MVC Championship and reached the Sweet 16 Of The NCAA Tournament. On Friday evening, ISU held the Panthers to just 45 points and allowed them to make just 11 field goals in the contest. UNI shot just 23.9 percent from the field. ISU's 25-point victory over UNI was its largest since downing Evansville by the score of 72-42 in 2008.

More Than Just "O.K." For Odum
Redshirt freshman Jake Odum has been more than just OK for the Sycamores this season as he is averaging 7.6 points per game so far. Additionally, he is connecting on 54.9 percent of his shots from the field and leads the team with 54 assists and 29 steals. His 3.6 assists per game average is fourth in the MVC and is the best of any newcomer in the league so far this season while his 2.1 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. Odum is averaging 12.0 points per game in league play, which is tied for 15th best in the MVC, while his 6.0 assists and 3.8 steals per game is tops in the league.

Finding The Open Man
Through four 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 second in the league with a 16.3 assists per game average. In fact, ISU has posted double figure assist totals in each of the last seven games, including a Valley-best 19 in the opener against Bradley and again on Friday against Northern Iowa. Freshman Jake Odum is averaging 6.0 assists per game in league play which leads the league. He had a career-high eight against Bradley.

Getting To The Glass
The Indiana State basketball team has been extremely efficient on the boards through 15 contests this season as they are out-rebounding their opponents by a 35.8 to 32.6 margin. ISU has pulled down more rebounds in 10-of-15 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 7.1 rpg average, which is the second-best mark in the MVC so far this season just behind Southern Illinois' Mamadou Seck.

Perfect At Home
Indiana State has won all six of their home games during the Greg Lansing era and has won each of their last 11 home games overall. The 11 game home court winning streak is the longest for the Sycamores since posting 22 Hulman Center victories in succession from 1999-01.

Dwayne Lathan In Top 10 Valley Scoring
Indiana State's Dwayne Lathan currently is leading the team with a 14.8 ppg average, which is good enough for fourth-best in the league. Lathan missed the Illinois State contest on Tuesday evening after suffering a concussion against Evansville on New Year's Day.

Printy Moving Up Indiana State 3-Point List
Indiana State junior Jordan Printy currently has 121 career 3-pointers and past 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 four more triples to tie Marcus Howard & Marico Stinson for sixth on the all-time list (125).

63 Is The Magic Number
Indiana State is a perfect 6-0 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 Eastern Kentucky and another 64 point defensive showing at Evansville.

Isiah Martin Ranks Highly For Career Blocked Shots
Indiana State junior Isiah Martin now has 120 blocked shots in his career following his posting of one against Purdue. His current total of 120 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 seven more to catch Djibril Kante who 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 1.4 blocks per game average is second in the league while Martin's 0.9 is eighth. As a team, Indiana State is averaging 5.5 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.

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 returns to action on the road against Bradley this Wednesday, January 12 in Peoria, Ill. The game is slated to tip-off at 8:05 p.m. (ET). The game can be can seen live on WTWO-TV and can be heard on ESPN Radio 92.7 FM & 1300 AM as well as online at GoSycamores.com.