Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State senior guard Jake Odum made his first free throw attempt of the night with just over 16 minutes remaining and moved past Sycamore legend Larry Bird with 543 career made free throws as part of an intense 59-54 victory over Evansville in front of 5,778 fans inside Hulman Center.
The Sycamores won their fourth in a row to improve to 21-6 and 12-3 MVC. Evansville fell to 11-17, 4-11 MVC. Indiana State's 12 Missouri Valley Conference victories ties this year's team with the 2010-11 squad for most league wins under fourth-year head coach Greg Lansing. This is just the fifth time in 38 seasons of MVC play that the Sycamores have won 12 or more league contests.
The victory also secured the No. 2 seed at next month's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis. That is the highest seed for the Sycamores since earning the No. 1 seeding in 2000. Indiana State's 12 league victories ties it with the 1991-92 and 2010-11 teams for the third-most MVC victories in a single season and was the 41st MVC victory for seniors Odum and Lucas Eitel -- second only to Michael Menser and Matt Renn's 44. ]
Odum entered the game with 542 career made free throws and was tied with Larry Bird for the school career record. Odum hit 10 and is the new record holder with 552. He broke Bird's record with a conventional 3-point play with 16 minutes left to go in the first half. Odum finished the game with a team-high 22 points to go with seven rebounds, five assists, one blocked shot and one steal. Odum was 6-of-11 from the field and 10-of-13 from the charity stripe.
No other Sycamore reached double figures but Jake Kitchell, Khristian Smith and Devonte Brown had seven each.
The Sycamores won the battle of the boards by a 31-29 margin. Gant paced the team with three of Indiana State's seven blocked shots.
Indiana State raced out to a 10-0 advantage on consecutive field goals from Kitchell and Smith before Gant buried a 3-pointer and Evansville called their first timeout. Kitchell added a trey at the 17:18 mark for the 10-0 lead. The Sycamores led by 11 twice on the record breaking conventional 3-point play from Odum (13-2) as well as a trey from Lucas Eitel with 14:12 on the clock for a 16-5 lead.
Evansville got within 16-10 on a free throw from D.J. Balentine before Smith drilled a trifecta and the Sycamore led 19-10. Evansville scored four in a row to draw within 19-14 before Odum hit two more free throws for a 21-14 lead with 9:29 left before the break.
Two more Odum charity tosses with 3:31 on the clock made it 29-21, but a jumper in the paint by Duane Gibson made it 30-27 with 26 seconds left. For the second time this season against the Purple Aces, Smith hit a jumper at the halftime buzzer for a 32-27 lead at the break.
Kitchell made it 34-27 on the second possession of the second half on a lay-up. Evansville got within 36-35 on a jumper by Ballentine before Devonte Brown buried a trey at the 14:18 mark for a 39-35 lead. After Gibson scored for Evansville, Eitel drilled his second triple of the game for a 42-37 lead with 13:37 remaining.
Evansville scored four in a row to get within a point before an Odum jumper made it 46-43. A lay-up from Mockevicius gave the Aces their first lead of the game at 47-46 at the 9:29 mark. Odum hit a pair of free throws to regain a 48-47 lead and then Cummings connected on a triple for a 51-47 advantage as the clock ticked under six minutes remaining.
Blake Simmons and Balentine scored the next five in a row for a 52-51 Evansville lead with 4:28 on the clock but Odum hit a jumper to push the Sycamores ahead 53-52. A Brown steal netted the defense a stop and Arop hit a driving lay-up for a 55-52 cushion with just over two minutes to go. After Mockevicius made it 55-54, Cummings hit a pair of free throws with 1:02 remaining for a 57-54 lead.
Balentine had a pair of 3-point looks inside the last 13 seconds but Arop came down with a defensive rebound and Odum hit a pair of free throws with two seconds on the clock for the 59-54 lead.
Balentine had 19 points for Evansville while Mockevicius tallied 17.
Indiana State returns to action at Missouri State on Saturday, February 22 inside JQH Arena. The game begins at 1:05 p.m. (ET) and will be televised nationally on ESPNU as well as ESPN3.
