Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- It was a tale of two halves for Indiana State, but in the end the story was all about the heroics of junior guard Devonte Brown as he scored a career-high 22 points and hit a trio of 3-pointers in the final two minutes as the Sycamores earned a 59-56 road MVC victory over Southern Illinois inside SIU Arena.
The outstanding start for the Sycamores continued as Indiana State improved to a perfect 4-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference as well as 8-8 overall. The Salukis fell to 7-10, 0-4 MVC.
Brown scored his career-high 22 points, including 19 in the second half, on the strength of a 7-of-9 shooting performance, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range. Brown hit all of his trifectas in the final two minutes and he scored 10 of the Sycamores' final 13 points. Gant's 3-pointer in the final minute was the other Sycamore points as he scored 12. Khristian Smith added 10 points and paced Indiana State with seven rebounds.
Indiana State struggled in the first half offensively, with a 6-of-20 shooting ledger. The lids on the buckets came off in the second half as the Sycamores hit 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) field goals after the break. For the fourth consecutive game, the Sycamores outgained the opposition in points off turnovers by an 11-10 margin. The Sycamores are now 59-5 when holding teams to under 63 points under fifth-year head coach Greg Lansing.
More importantly, the Sycamores are off to a 4-0 start in MVC play for the second consecutive season and just the fourth time since joining the league.
Southern Illinois would score two contested shots, but Devonte Brown came up big with back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Sycamores ahead for the first time in the game at 53-52 with just under two minutes remaining. After SIU answered, Gant hit the Sycamores third straight trifecta and the Sycamores led 56-54 as the clock ticked under a minute.
Beane came back with a jumper in the paint with 11 seconds remaining to knot the score at 56. Devonte Brown waved off the chance to call the Sycamores' final timeout and waited until the clock wound down and he drained his personal third consecutive 3-pointer and fourth overall by the team to take a 59-56 lead with 2.1 seconds left. A last second half court heave by the Salukis was not good and the Sycamores escaped with their first win in three seasons in Carbondale.
The Sycamores would not score until just under the 15 minute mark in the first half when a transition opportunity resulted in an open 3-pointer from Khristian Smith to answer SIU's first eight points of the game. Devonte Brown came out of the first media timeout with a driving lay-up to get Indiana State within three points, but it was the Salukis who scored the next five before Brenton Scott got going with a triple as the clock ticked under 10 minutes to force a 13-8 SIU advantage.
A free throw from Devonte Brown at the 6:23 mark of the first half trimmed the SIU advantage down to 17-11 before the Salukis scored seven points in a row over the next four minutes. A charity toss from Smith drew Indiana State within 12 points and a 3-pointer from Jake Kitchell positioned the Sycamores behind 26-15 with two minutes to go.
Brenton Scott would get loose for his second trifecta of the first half as the clock ticked towards 40 seconds to go to make it an eight-point deficit, but K.C. Goodwin answered with a trifecta of his own and the Salukis owned a 31-20 advantage at the half. Smith and Scott each had six points for Indiana State at the break, as the Sycamores were limited to just six field goals, which included four 3-pointers.
SIU scored the first three points out of halftime, but consecutive lay-ups by Brown and Justin Gant cut the Saluki cushion down to 34-24 with 17:07 on the clock. After each team traded defensive stops, Brenton Scott recorded a steal and fastbreak lay-up at the 13:22 mark to once again draw the Sycamores within 10 at 36-26. After a media timeout, Gant finished under the basket and then a steal and lay-up from Khristian Smith got the Sycamores within striking distance at 36-30 with 11:19 to go and forced Southern Illinois to call a timeout.
After Anthony Beane scored a jumper for the Salukis, the Sycamores hit four free throws in a row from Kitchell and Brown and SIU saw its lead cut down to just 38-34. The Salukis responded with scores on their next two possessions, around an Indiana State free throw to take a 43-35 lead with nine minutes to go. The Sycamores called a timeout and got a Brown lay-up out of it to cut the Saluki cushion down to six points.
After a defensive stop, the Sycamores continued to drive to the basket as Brown went right back in for a conventional 3-point play and Indiana State found itself down just 43-40 with 7:20 remaining.
The Salukis scored five in a row, but it was the Sycamores who answered with six in a row on consecutive baskets by Brown, Smith and Gant to get within 48-46. Southern Illinois countered with a jumper of their own, but Brown was fouled going to to the hoop with 3:16 on the clock. He hit a charity toss and the Sycamores were once again within a possession at 50-47.
Indiana State returns to action on Wednesday, January 14 when they return home to face Illinois State. Tip-off from Hulman Center is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET).
