Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State put five Sycamores in double figures scoring and the defense was strong down the stretch in earning a 75-54 victory over visiting Drake on Saturday inside Hulman Center. The 21-point margin of victory was the Sycamores' largest in a MVC contest since a 70-45 win over Northern Iowa on January 7, 2011.
The Sycamores improved to 13-13, 9-5 MVC while Drake fell to 8-18, 5-9 MVC. Indiana State is now 62-6 under fifth-year head coach Greg Lansing when holding a team to less than 63 points. It was also the 50th Missouri Valley Conference victory for the program under Lansing -- which is the third most league wins among the current membership of the league over the last five seasons.
Devonte Brown paced a balanced Sycamore scoring attack as he posted 15 points on the strength of a 6-of-9 shooting performance to go with six rebounds, five rebounds and two steals. Khristian Smith broke out with 13 points and six rebounds while both Tre' Bennett and Grant Prusator added 12 points. Senior Jake Kitchell rounded out the double digit scoring attack with 10 points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.
Indiana State hit 54.9 percent of their shots (28-of-51), including 10 3-pointers while they held Drake to 43.5 percent shooting. The Sycamores won on the glass as well with a 28-21 edge. Indiana State forced 18 Drake turnovers and converted them into 22 points while forcing 12 steals.
The Sycamores have won six of their last seven meetings against the Bulldogs in Terre Haute and are 6-1 at home in conference play with two home games remaining on the slate.
Indiana State forced a Drake turnover to open the game and converted that into a Smith jumper 40 seconds in for the early lead. Devonte Brown then answered a Bulldog score with a triple which was followed by one by Grant Prusator for the 8-2 lead. The Bulldogs whittled the advantage down to three points, but the Sycamores answered with eight in a row on a Kitchell lay-up and consecutive trifectas by Prusator and Brenton Scott for the 16-5 lead.
Up 19-10 at the 10:32 mark, the Sycamores scored nine in a row over the next four minutes, which was capped by a 3-pointer from Bennett for a 28-10 lead with just over six minutes on the clock. Drake worked the Sycamore lead down to just seven points in the final two minute, but Smith closed out the Sycamore scoring with a lay-up at the 1:06 mark for the 34-25 lead.
Smith would record a conventional 3-point play on the first possession of the second half for a 37-25 cushion. An Ore Arogundade jumper with 9:21 to go cut the Indiana State lead down to only 52-47. But the Sycamores got back-to-back buckets from Brown and Smith as well as two points from Smith at the free throw line for a 58-47 advantage at the 6:58 mark.
It was all part of a 17-0 run which stretched out over nearly six minutes of scoreless basketball for the Indiana State defense which ended with a Prusator 3-pointer with 3:43 remaining for a game-high 69-47 lead. Trevor Berkeley hit a 3-pointer and then added a lay-up to get the Bulldogs within 69-52, but Brandon Murphy scored a nice reverse lay-up with 1:39 to go for the 71-52 lead.
Bennett added a lay-up and long jumper with 3.5 seconds to go for the 75-54 victory.
Drake was led in scoring by Trevor Berkeley with his 18 points.
Indiana State returns to action on Wednesday, February 18 when they travel to Missouri State. The game is set for an 8:00 p.m. (ET) tip-off and will be televised worldwide on ESPN3.
