ST. LOUIS -- Indiana State made it interesting late, but a rough first half sealed its fate in an 83-72 loss to Evansville in the opening round of Arch Madness to close out the 2016-17 season at the Scottrade Center on Thursday night.

Despite several Sycamores having to overcome illness throughout the week and including today, Indiana State (11-20) made a late charge to dismantle what was once a 26-point Evansville (16-16) lead into a six-point game with less than one minute to play. Brenton Scott -- one of the aforementioned Sycamores battling illness -- sparked a ferocious charge down the stretch, scoring 12 of his 17 total points in the final 10 minutes of action.

Evansville was able to hang on, though, concluding Indiana State's season at 11-20 overall and advancing themselves to a showdown with No. 1 seed Illinois State in the quarterfinals.
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Tonight marked the fourth time in school history that Indiana State squared up against the same foe in the tournament opener as they did in the regular season finale, but the first time that the loser of the finale did not end up winning at Arch Madness.

Scott, just a junior, now stands at 1,311 career points, which tonight passed Michael Menser for 13th on the Indiana State all-time career scoring list. He was but one of three Sycamores in double-digits, with seniors TJ Bell (15 points, five rebounds, two assists) and Everett Clemons (12 points, seven rebounds) adding with 27 combined to help the Sycamores down the stretch. Freshman Jordan Barnes was also key in the second half, scoring nine points in the game while also recording seven rebounds and four assists.

Indiana State got their first basket of the game when Niels Bunschoten drained a 3-pointer less than a minute into the game for a quick 3-2 lead while Matt Van Scyoc's triple at the 17:39 mark cut the Evansville lead down to 7-6. But the Purple Aces answered with 13 in a row as they took a 20-6 lead with 13:47 left in the first half which forced the Sycamores to burn their first timeout. Out of the break, Brenton Scott stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer as the clock ticked towards the 13 minute mark and trimmed the Purple Aces advantage down to 11 points.

Everett Clemons connected on a lay-up off the feed from TJ Bell with 10:34 remaining which got the Sycamores within 26-13. To answer an Evansville basket, Bunschoten drove the lane and dropped in a floater inside the paint at the 8:09 mark to cut the Evansville lead down to 28-15. Brandon Murphy came off the bench and scored inside at the 6:48 mark to once again get the Sycamores within 11 points. The Sycamore gave up six points in a row before the defense clamped down and Indiana State got two consecutive perfect trips to the free throw line as they trailed 34-21 heading into the final media timeout of the first half. After that timeout, Murphy hit a pair of free throws to make a 6-0 Sycamore run and the Evansville lead was 34-23. 

The Sycamores would only get a TJ Bell lay-up with 27 seconds left in the opening half which made the Evansville lead 44-25. The Purple Aces came down and were unable to score on the final possession before the half. Niels Bunschoten and Brenton Scott led the way with five points each at the break.

Bell scored again first after the half on a lay-up cut the edge their lead down to 17 points. But Evansville came right back with six in a row forcing the Sycamores to burn their first timeout of the second half. Jordan Barnes drained a 3-pointer with 14:44 remaining and then Niels Bunschoten followed it up with a triple of his own which cut the Evansville lead down to 53-33 before the Purple Aces burned a timeout. 

Bell hit a lay-up and then as the clock ticked under the nine minute mark, Scott drained a 3-pointer to cut the Evansville lead down to 62-44. Scott the added another score down low after a defensive stop and the Evansville lead shrunk to 62-46 to cap an 8-0 Sycamore run that started the race to the finish.

With 3:22 left to play, Scott pulled off a beautiful drop-back three that brought an Evansville defender to his knees to cut UE's lead to 70-58. Barnes followed that up with a coast-to-coast layup to bring the game within 10 points at 70-60 for the first time since 14:47 in the first half.

Scott nailed his fourth three of the game to cut the lead to 71-63 with 1:58 left to play, and then a TJ Bell layup and a three from far beyond the arc by Matt Van Scyoc cut the lead to six at 76-70, but that was as close as the Sycamores would get as the fouls started to mount in the final minute of play.

Jaylon Brown led the Purple Aces with 27 points and eight rebounds, with Duane Gibson adding 20 points and seven rebounds.