Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State put three different scorers into double figures as the Sycamores earned a 68-54 victory over Trine in front of 4,875 fans inside Hulman Center.
While exhibition victories do not count against official won-loss records, the Sycamores improved to a perfect 9-0 under fifth-year head coach Greg Lansing in exhibitions (counting three wins in 2012 Bahamas tour).
Khristian Smith led the Sycamores 21 points as he hit 7-of-10 shots from the field, including a 3-pointer and six free throws. Justin Gant added 18 points, as he went 6-of-10, with a trio of 3-pointers to go with eight rebounds. Freshman Brandon Murphy was impressive in his Sycamore debut as he scored 13 points of the bench and was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field.
The Sycamores owned a 40-26 edge in rebounding, including a 9-5 mark in second chance points. For the game, Indiana State hit 20-of-45 shots from the field (44.4 percent) and were 24-of-34 from the free throw line (70.6 percent). Indiana State made 24 free throws while Trine had just nine total attempts from the charity stripe.
Khristian Smith recorded the Sycamores' first basket of the game just over a minute in with a long jumper to stake Indiana State to a quick 2-0 advantage. After Trine leveled the score two possessions later, Justin Gant stepped out with a 3-point basket to push the lead to 5-2.
A personal 5-0 run by Justin Gant included a driving lay-up and then his second 3-pointer of the contest with 13:20 left in the first half to run the lead out to 12-6. Gant then grabbed a defensive rebound and Tre' Bennett found TJ Bell down low as the lead swelled to 14-6 which forced the Thunder to call a timeout.
A thundering dunk from freshman Brandon Murphy with 11 minutes remaining in the half, came off an assist from Devonte Brown as Indiana State score nine out of 10 points in a row and then Kitchell made it an 11-1 run and the 18-7 advantage on the next possession. Murphy stayed hot with two free throws and another lay-up in succession as the cushion grew to 23-9 with 9:30 on the clock.
Leading 26-12, sophomore Grant Prusator hit a pair of free throws at the 5:28 mark stretch the Indiana State lead to 16 points. Brown answered a Trine 3-pointer with a driving lay-up as the clock ticked under four minutes remaining for the 31-15 advantage. Smith's driving lay-up with 44 seconds on the clock followed by a Brandon Murphy steal and dunk with 28 seconds remaining pushed the lead out to 36-15 before Trine's Ben Syroka scored before the buzzer as Indiana State held a 36-17 lead at the break.
Murphy led the Sycamores with nine points at the half while Smith and Gant added nine. Indiana State hit 12-of-24 shots in the first half (50 percent) while limiting Trine to just 7-of-29 (24.1 percent) shooting.
Trine scored first after the break but Smith answered with a free throw and field goal to run the lead out to 39-19. Smith and Gant made it a 7-0 Sycamore run with 17:39 remaining in the game the Sycamores led 43-19.
The Thunder whittled the Sycamore lead down to just 48-34 as they scored 15 of the next 20 points before Gant drained a pair of free throws at the 11:17 mark and Smith connected on a trifecta to run the lead out to 53-36.
After surrendering five points in a row, Gant answered the call with a triple as the clock ticked under eight minutes and the Sycamores regained a 56-41 lead. The cushion grew to 59-41 on Gant's conventional 3-point play at the 7:45 mark. Bennett's defensive rebound and quick outlet to Smith was the counter to a Trine field goal and Indiana State led 62-43 with 6:13 to go.
But the Thunder would not go away as they scored nine of the next 10 points until Murphy hit a pair of free throws with 2:06 on the clock to restore a 65-52 advantage. Tre' Bennett rounded out the Sycamores scoring with a lay-up at the 29 second mark to secure the 68-54 win.
Indiana State begins the regular season on Friday, November 14 when the Sycamores travel to IUPUI. Tipoff from the Fairgrounds Coliseum is set for 8:00 p.m. (ET).
