CARBONDALE, Ill. - Indiana State trailed 12-0 before scoring on Wednesday evening (Feb. 16) at the newly refurbished SIU Arena but ended the first half on a 34-13 run and never looked back as the Sycamores earned a 77-72 road victory over Southern Illinois in front of 3,267 fans.

Indiana State won its third straight league game to improve to 15-12, 10-6 MVC while the Salukis fell to 11-16, 5-11 MVC. ISU went over the 10-win mark in Missouri Valley Conference play for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign and have earned 10 league victories for the just the eighth time in ISU's 33-year membership in the league.

The Salukis held the hot hand early in the contest, earning a 12-0 advantage as the Sycamores were held without a point through the first two media timeouts. Jordan Printy got the Sycamores on the board with the 131st 3-pointer of his career as he moved into ISU's Top 5 all-time for career 3-pointers made to cut the SIU lead down to 12-3. It was the first of three consecutive triples for the Sycamores which trimmed the lead all the way down to 12-9 with 9:26 remaining before halftime. SIU hit 2-of-4 free throws to move the lead back out to 15-9 before the Sycamores scored eight unanswered over the next two minutes of play an took an 18-15 lead on a Carl Richard jumper as the clocked ticked near five minutes to go.

Indiana State outscored the Salukis 16-10 over the final minutes and raced into the locker room with a 34-25 lead. In the final two minutes, scored six consecutive points on four free throws by Dwayne Lathan and a lay-up by Myles Walker in going up nine points at the break.

Jake Odum made it a 8-0 run as he hit a running jumper just 10 seconds in the second half as the Sycamores held a 36-25 lead. SIU rattled off the game's next nine points to move closer at 38-36 with 16:43 on the clock.

Leading 40-38, Printy knocked down his second triple as ISU took a five point lead with 15:21 remaining and SIU posted a lay-up by John Freeman to make it 43-40 with 14:14 to go. Myles Walker scored back-to-back field goals over the next minutes to run the lea back out to 47-40. Isiah Martin converted a traditional 3-point play with 9:09 left to run the Sycamore cushion back out to 11 points at 56-45.

In the second half, the Sycamores led by as many as 14 points on two occasions, the first with 6:33 to go on Printy's third 3-pointer for a 61-47 lead and then again at 63-49 with just under five minutes to go on a Richard free throw.

Southern Illinois used a flurry of 3-pointers by Carlton Fay in the game's final two minutes (he hit five during the span), to cut the Sycamore lead all the way down to 71-67 with 49 seconds on the clock.

Odum responded with a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left to stretch the lead back out to 73-67 and then he hit two more with 25 seconds left for a 75-67 lead. Fay hit another jumper to make it 75-69 with 13 seconds left, but Odum hit two more for a 77-69 advantage in the final four seconds. Jack Crowder hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Sycamores earned a 77-72 victory.

Odum, the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week, paced the Sycamores with 16 points, as he hit all 12 of his free throws, which all came in the second half. He added four rebounds, three assists and three steals in the victory. Lathan posted 11 points, hitting 7-of-9 free throws as he paced the Sycamores with 10 first half points. Walker tallied eight points and four rebounds while Richard tallied nine points and eight rebounds.

Despite losing the turnover battle, 15-14 the Sycamores made more of the opportunities, using those 14 Saluki miscues to score 22 points while ISU's 15 turnovers resulted in just 12 Saluki points. In the first half, the Sycamores forced 10 SIU turnovers and converted them into 15 points. The Sycamore bench, paced by nine points from Printy held a 24-14 advantage over the Saluki reserves.

SIU placed three players in double figures, including a game-high 24 from Fay.

Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, February 19 when the Sycamores return home to face off against Morehead State as part of the Bracketbuster scheduling concept. Tip-off at Hulman Center is set for 1:05 p.m. (ET). Anyone that holds unused tickets to the Feb. 1 game against Wichita State may exchange those to attend Saturday's contest at the Hulman Center Ticket Office.