TERRE HAUTE, Ind.  – Indiana State limited Evansville to just 42 points – the lowest point total by a Sycamore opponent since 2011 and posted their second-best defensive effort in the Greg Lansing era with a convincing 65-42 win over the Purple Aces in front of 3,717 fans inside Hulman Center.
 
ISU won back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference contests for the first time since 2018 to improve to 10-6, 3-2 MVC while Evansville fell to 9-9. 0-5 MVC. The Sycamores are a perfect 7-0 at Hulman Center this season and improved to 9-1 at home against the Purple Aces under coach Lansing's leadership. Indiana State is now a perfect 23-0 when holding teams to 53 points or less and held both Evansville and Illinois State under that threshold in back-to-back contests.
 
The 42 points allowed is the fewest the Sycamores have allowed since giving up 35 to Louisiana-Monroe on December 21, 2011. That total is still the fewest points allowed by the Sycamore defense in the last 10 seasons. ISU limited Evansville to just 17-of-56 shooting (30.4 percent) and 5-of-23 from distance (27.1 percent). The Sycamores recorded double digit steals with 10 pilfers and came away with four blocked shots. Tyreke Key notched five steals in the game.
 
The Sycamores controlled the boards by a 43-33 margin and were paced by freshman Jake LaRavia who recorded 10 caroms in the contest. Indiana State held a 26-10 edge in points off turnovers.
 
Tyreke Key led the way with 13 points for the Sycamores while Cooper Neese reached double digit scoring for the second consecutive game with a trio of 3-pointers and 12 points. Freshman Tre Williams finished the game with 10 points and added five rebounds.
 
Christian Williams continued his development into a defensive specialist with five rebounds and a steal to go with six points and two assists.
 
ISU hit 27-of-59 from the field (45.8 percent) and were 4-of-18 from 3-point range (22.2 percent).




 
Evansville led 6-2 early before Neese drilled his first 3-pointer three minutes in to get within 6-5. After Sam Cunliffe scored off the drive to give the Purple Aces an 8-5 lead, the Sycamores scored 12 in a row and held Evansville without a bucket for nearly seven minutes to take a 17-8 advantage.
 
Cobie Barnes made a contribution off the bench as he scored nine points and scored on the fast break with 4:40 left before the half for the 24-16 lead. Evansville would draw within five points on a Cunliffe 3-pointer, but the Sycamores scored the final 10 points of the half to lead 34-19 at the break. Jordan Barnes would score inside with 34 seconds remaining to cap the run which also featured a Cobie Barnes 3-pointer.
 
ISU made it a 12-0 run around the half with a hook shot inside by Tre Williams with 19:25 remaining to stretch the lead out to 17 points. ISU's lead would hit 20 points at 41-21 with 18:18 to go on another bucket inside by Tre Williams off the feed from LaRavia. The 7-0 Sycamore run was capped by a steal and fast break dunk from Key with 17:26 remaining for the 43-21 cushion and forced Evansville to call a timeout. The lead would shrink back to single digits on a fast break 3-pointer from Artur Labinowicz at the 13:28 mark which whittled the Sycamore advantage down to just 43-34. ISU regrouped by recording a second-chance bucket from Cobie Barnes with 11:50 remaining to stretch the lead back out to 45-34.
 
Neese's jumper in the paint with 3:53 remaining regained a 59-38 lead for the Sycamores and Kessinger added another bucket inside with 3:02 to go for the 23-point advantage.
 
Freshman walk-on Keon Sellers posted a second-chance bucket with just over two minutes to go and Cam Bacote rounded out the scoring with a lay-up with 40 seconds remaining for the 65-42 victory.
 
Sam Cunliffe was the only Purple Ace to reach double figures scoring as he tallied 12 points on a 5-of-8 effort from the field.
 
Indiana State returns to the Valley road on Saturday, January 18 when the Sycamores travel to Valparaiso for an 8 pm (ET) matchup at Valparaiso. The game will air live nationally on ESPN+.