TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The names and faces have changed over the years in the Missouri Valley Conference but one truth still remains. Teams win these games with a commitment on the defensive end coupled with execution on the offensive end. Indiana State put both of those together in front of a season-high 4,117 fans inside Hulman Center on Saturday afternoon and netted a 65-60 victory over Bradley.

The Sycamores improved to 9-5, 1-1 MVC while Bradley fell to 8-7, 0-2 MVC. The victory was the eighth for the Sycamores in their last nine tries over Bradley inside Hulman Center and was the 82nd MVC regular season and conference tournament win for the program over that same time span -- the third-best total among active league members. ISU improved to 90-10 when holding teams to 63 points or less under ninth-year head coach Greg Lansing.

"That was a heck of a gut check win for our guys," coach Lansing said. "Our team left it all out on the floor. We missed shots, we missed lay-ups, we missed free throws but this was a really gutsy win against a very good team. When you put in the work and invest in the preparation for an opponent you put yourself in a position to get the result you are looking for."

ISU forced 17 Bradley turnovers and turned them into 12 points and had 16 fast break points as well. The Braves who hit over 40 percent of their shots in the first 20 minutes, connected on just 10-of-36 after the half and finished the game with a 20-of-60 mark which is 33.3 percent. The Sycamores needed every defensive stop they received as they hit 16-of-51 from the field (31.4 percent) and were 3-of-17 from distance (17.6 percent). Bradley won the battle of the boards by a 48-42 margin.

Christian Williams led the Sycamores offensively with 18 points and 11 rebounds posting his second double-double of the season over his six games since becoming eligible. Williams hit 11-of-14 opportunities from the free throw line and drew seven fouls in the contest.

Barnes was equally effective as he scored 16 points and added eight rebounds with a pair of steals and assists. Barnes did see his streak of consecutive free throws made end late in the game at 30 -- a new school record in the Missouri Valley Conference era and the 20th-best mark in league history. He finished the game 9-of-12 from the charity stripe. He now owns 988 career points -- needed only 12 more to reach 1,000 for his career.



ISU hit 30-of-47 attempts as a team from the free throw line against the Braves as a total of 70 charity tosses were attempted between the two clubs. It was the first time the Sycamores made at least 30 free throws in a game since January 20, 2016 at Southern Illinois (30-of-42). The 47 free throw attempts are the fifth-most in school history and were the most since they made 49 trips to charity stripe on December 30, 1995 inside Hulman Center against in-state rival Ball State (ISU won that game 78-66).

Darrell Brown converted a conventional 3-point play with 19 seconds remaining to draw the Braves within 62-60 of the Sycamores. Barnes would hit a pair of free throws with 17 seconds to go which stretched the game back into two possessions at 64-60 and Brown missed a lay-up with 10 seconds to go where Barnes grabbed the defensive rebound. He was fouled immediately and hit 1-of-2 at the line for the 65-60 lead which salted away the victory.

The Sycamores led by as many as nine points during the last two minutes as Cooper Neese drilled a left corner 3-pointer with 1:39 remaining for a 57-49 advantage after a Nate Kennell lay-up at the 4:03 mark had cut the Sycamore lead down to five points. Emondre Rickman would hit 1-of-2 free throws with 3:47 remaining for the 54-48 lead and neither team would break through until Neese's triple. 

Lautier-Ogunleye hit two free throws with 6:51 remaining to cut the Sycamore advantage down to 47-46 before Bronson Kessinger scored inside to regain a three-point lead and Williams buried a pair of free throws on the next possession for a 51-46 cushion.

Leading 39-36 with just over 12 minutes remaining, Bradley head coach Brian Wardle was whistled for a technical foul and Williams hit both free throws and then Williams hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe on the initial foul call for a 42-36 lead. The game was tied at 25 at the half and Bradley scored the first six after halftime to take a 31-25 lead. Barnes connected on a pair of free throws and then Williams had a conventional 3-point play with 17:04 remaining to get ISU within 31-30. After Brown hit 1-of-2 free throws to regain a 32-30 lead, Williams drained a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 16:40 to go which put the Sycamores ahead 33-32. 

The game would be tied twice more but a conventional 3-point play from Rickman with 13:21 remaining staked the Sycamores to a 39-36 lead.

Bradley led 12-7 in the early going before the Sycamores went on a 7-0 run spurred by a Barnes trifecta with 6:54 remaining for the 14-12 lead. The Braves countered with a 7-0 run of their own late in the first half but the Sycamores swung back with five in a row to knot the game at 23 when Williams hit a pair of free throws with 1:31 to go. Kennell hit a jumper outside the paint with 21 seconds to go to push the Braves ahead by a pair and Barnes tipped in a missed free throw at the first half buzzer to knot the game at 25.

Barnes and Williams each owned seven points at the half as the Sycamores hit just 1-of-7 from distance and connected on 34.8 percent of their shots. The defense was still stout as they forced 11 Bradley turnovers.

Darrell Brown led Bradley with 32 points as he hit 8-of-17 from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers and was 13-of-16 from the free throw line.

The Sycamores stay at home for their next game when they host Missouri State on Tuesday, January 8 at 7 pm (ET) inside Hulman Center.