TERRE HAUTE, IND. -- The Indiana State University men's basketball team kicks off Missouri Valley Conference play against a Drake Bulldogs squad that leads NCAA Division I in wins at the Hulman Center Sunday, Dec. 27 for a 1 p.m. contest. The game is the first of a two-game series in Terre Haute, with the second played Monday, Dec. 28 at 5 p.m. Sunday's Valley showdown will be broadcast on ESPN+ and Monday's contest will air on ESPN3. Both games will have audio available via WIBQ 97.9.

KICKING OFF VALLEY ACTION
The Sycamores will try to start Missouri Valley Conference play with a win for the second year in a row after topping Southern Illinois in the opener in 2019-20. Playing the same opponent in back-to-back games in conference play is rare, but not unheard of. Indiana State played Evansville in the final game of the 2016-17 regular season, and then again in the first round of the MVC Tournament. The last time ISU played a Valley opponent back-to-back in the regular season? It took on Illinois State Jan. 25 and 31 in 1976!

DEFENSE SETTING THE TONE
In the last two games for Indiana State, the defense has set the tone for the game with dynamite first half performances. Against Ball State Dec. 19, the Sycamores allowed only 23 points while holding Ball State to a 37.5% from the floor. To follow that, ISU jumped ahead early against SEMO and allowed just 24 points on a season-low 32% Dec. 22.

KEY CONTINUES HIS CLIMB
Senior Tyreke Key moved up another spot in Indiana State laurels thanks to his 18-point performance against Southeast Missouri State, passing ISU Hall of Famer Ray Goddard (1959-62) on the Sycamores' all-time scoring list. The senior now has 1,323 points in his career and is vying to supplant another Hall of Famer, Indiana State ESPN color analyst Matt Renn (1977-81). Key currently trails Renn by 24 points.

WHERE THEY RANK
Senior Tyreke Key leads the Valley in free throw shooting (94.4%) so far in 2020-21, while freshman Julian Larry is making his presence known on the defensive end as he is tops in steals per game (2.6 per game).
Sophomore Jake LaRavia has his name etched near the top of both the Valley scoring and rebounding lists, coming in at No. 6 in scoring (15.0 per game) and tied for No. 7 in rebounding (5.8 per game). LaRavia is tied with fellow sophomore Tre Williams in rebounding, while

Donating to Charity
Indiana State cashed in at the charity stripe during its 2-1 week, getting 20-or-more attempts in all three games and shooting 75 percent or better each time. ISU shot 15-of-20 at Saint Louis and turned around to shoot 21-of-28 and 28-of-35 in its two home contests against Ball State and SEMO.

Remember When?
It had been over 18 years since Indiana State and Southeast Missouri State last faced one another in men's basketball. ISU won that meeting in New Orleans, La. by a 68-55 final, led by then-freshman David Moss who scored 26 points. The Sycamores are now 3-0 all-time against the Redhawks.

CLOSE CALL
Indiana State and Drake have had a number of close calls during the Greg Lansing era of Sycamore basketball. ISU has held the upper-hand at the Hulman Center, however, posting a 6-3 mark and a +55 point differential in those games. In fact, of the three losses in Terre Haute, only one (Feb. 2, 2019) came by more than three points... and it was four (68-62).

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