SETTING THE STAGE
Indiana State Basketball continues its 125th season as they begin play in the 30th edition of Arch Madness -- the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament -- on Friday, March 6 against Missouri State with tip-off set for 9:35 p.m. (ET) inside the Enterprise Center. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Midwest Plus, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Kansas City and NBC Sports Chicago (tape delay). The game will also be streamed on ESPN+ in all states but Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska as well as the Fox Sports Go app. The game will also be broadcast on WIBQ 97.9 FM as well as streamed (audio) on GoSycamores.com.
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QUICK HITS
Indiana State has hit at least one 3-pointer in every game since December 20, 2008 against DePauw -- a span of 372 contests, which is the third-longest active streak in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Sycamores' only 3-pointer against Evansville came mid-way through the second half by freshman Cobie Barnes.
Greg Lansing is just the second head coach in the history of the program to record at least 150 victories at the helm of the Sycamores as he owns 166. His career win total is second-best at ISU (and his 91 MVC wins is the most in the history of the program & tied for the 11th-best ever in the MVC). He also owns the school record with five wins over nationally-ranked teams.
A Win Missouri State Would ...
• Give the Sycamores their 9th win at Arch Madness under 10th-year head coach Greg Lansing and be the program's 6th trip to the tournament semifinals during his tenure.
• Be the Sycamores' first win at Arch Madness since a 2016 win at the No. 6 seed over No. 3 Illinois State.
• Improve the Sycamores to 2-1 all-time against the Bears in the MVC Tournament.
The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing (South Dakota, 1990) is 166-153 (.520) overall in his tenth season as a head coach. He is 91-89 all-time in MVC games, including a 62-28 mark at home and a 29-61 record on the road. During his career, he is 100-41 in all home games, 46-85 on the road, 21-26 in neutral court contests and 53-40 in games decided by five points or less. With the Trees, Lansing is 13-14 in overtime games and 105-10 when holding teams to 63 points or less. Coach Lansing is 8-12 all-time against Missouri State, and is 1-0 against the Bears on a neutral court. Lansing led the Sycamores to the postseason in each of his first four seasons at the helm (2011 NCAA, 2012 CIT, 2013 & 2014 NIT). Lansing is the second head coach to lead the Sycamores to the NCAA Tournament in their rookie campaign in the history of the program, with the other being Bill Hodges leading ISU to a 33-1 record and a Final Four appearance in the 1979 NCAA Tournament. Lansing was just the 14th rookie head coach in the history of the MVC to lead his team to 20 victories during their debut season. Lansing holds the school record for most victories over a nationally-ranked team (five) in the history of the program. Lansing is currently second on the Indiana State all-time coaching victories list with 166. His 91 MVC victories are a school record and is tied for 11th-most in the history of the league.
A Little History
Indiana State is in its 125th season of college basketball at the school. The Sycamores are 1,514-1,320 all-time on the hardwood. ISU is only the fifth Missouri Valley Conference team to record at least 1,500 all-time victories.
Television Particulars
The Sycamores game against the Bears will televised live on Fox Sports Midwest Plus, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Kansas City and NBC Sports Chicago (tape delay). The game will also be streamed on ESPN+ in all states but Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska as well as the Fox Sports Go app.
Arch Madness History
Indiana State is 25-35 all-time in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, including a record of 1-1 against Missouri State -- the Sycamores' opponent on Friday night in the quarterfinals. 2020 marks the fourth time that the Sycamores have entered the MVC Tournament as the No. 3 seed and have reached the MVC Tournament Championship Game in two of those occurrences. In the Sycamores' first trip to the MVC Tournament back in 1978, ISU won three games at Hulman Center before falling in the championship game on the road against Creighton. In 2011, the Sycamores rode the No. 3 seed to victories over Evansville, Wichita State and Missouri State to win the league title and advance to the NCAA Tournament. ISU's last time as the No. 3 seed came in 2015 when they dropped their quarterfinal matchup against Loyola. All told, the Sycamores are 6-2 in the tournament as the No. 3 seed.
Tyreke Key Named To All-MVC FIrst Team
Indiana State junior Tyreke Key was named to the All-MVC First Team becoming the Sycamores' first representative on the league's top postseason team since Jake Odum did it in 2014. Key averaged 15.3 points per game which ranked third-best in the league and his 1.9 3-pointers per game ranks ninth-best. Key ranked fourth-best in the league with an 84.6 percent mark from the free throw line while his 121 made free throws are third-most. He made 32 consecutive free throws from November 17 through December 3 to set a new school record in the MVC era and tie for the 14th-longest in MVC history. He joined the 1,000 point club in 73 career games which is the fourth-fastest to the mark in school history. Key led the team with 21 points as he hit 12-of-14 free throws in the season opener at Dayton and also paced the team with 20 points and four 3-pointers at No. 4 Louisville. He set new career highs with 18 free throws made on 22 free throw attempts to lead the team with 31 points in the home win over Tennessee State. Key went 10-of-11 from the free throw line, including a perfect 6-of-6 in the final two minutes to score 27 points and pull down nine rebounds in the road win over Missouri State. He went on to hit 7-of-11 shots from the field and scored 18 points in the home win over Loyola Chicago. Key tallied 20 points and went 9-of-15 from the field, with a pair of 3-pointers in the road win over Southern Illinois.
Jordan Barnes Up To No. 2 On 3-Pointers Made List; Named To All-MVC Third Team
Indiana State senior Jordan Barnes returned to the list of MVC postseason honorees by being named to the All-MVC Third Team in 2020. He was a second-team selection following his sophomore season. He now owns 1,544 points in his career – which makes him the active career scoring leader at Indiana State. Barnes now has 271 3-pointers in his career and he is in sole possession of second place on the Sycamore Basketball career 3-point chart. He needs 12 more trifectas to tie Michael Menser for the school record. His 1,544 career points ranks ninth in the history of the program and during the road win at Missouri State he passed two Sycamores who have their jersey retired at ISU -- No. 54 Duane Klueh & No. 22 Carl Nicks. With his first steal against Missouri State on Feb. 16, he became the first Sycamore in program history to reach the ISU all-time Top 10 in points, 3-point field goals made, assists and steals. Barnes is just the ninth Sycamore in program history to score at least 1,500 career points. His 1,544 career points scored is No. 9 at ISU (11 pts away from Eddie Bird), his 271 career 3-pointers is second, his 383 career assists are ninth and his 134 steals are also ninth. Barnes is one of three Sycamores to be in the Top 10 all-time for 3-pointers made in MVC history joining Michael Menser (283 is fourth) and Brenton Scott (270 is eighth). Barnes is seventh with 271.
Jake Is All The "LaRavia" For The Sycamores; Named To MVC All-Freshman & All-Newcomer Teams
Indiana State's Jake LaRavia has made it four consecutive seasons in which the Sycamores have been represented on the MVC All-Freshman Team and the first mention on the MVC All-Newcomer Team since 2016. LaRavia ranks ninth-best in the league in rebounding with a mark of 5.9 per game. He has hit 52 percent of his shots this season which is 10th-best in the Valley. His 34 blocked shots is fourth in the league and his 2.5 offensive rebounds per game are fourth. LaRavia was second in offensive rebounds per league game with an average of 3.4 per contest ... He was named the MVC Newcomer of the Week following his 12 and 21 point performances against Southern Illinois and at Drake to open conference play. He took the honor again following the decisive win over league champion Northern Iowa as well as Evansville. He set a new career-best with 21 points with a 9-of-12 shooting effort at Drake and then reached double figures scoring for the fourth consecutive game with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting at Northern Iowa. He recorded the team's first double-double of the season and the first of his career with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the home win over Illinois State. LaRavia tallied his second career double-double by posting 20 points and pulling down 10 rebounds with three assists, two steals and four blocked shots in the home win over Bradley. He went on to record his third career double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds in the home win over Loyola Chicago. He pulled down a career-best 13 rebounds to go with nine points at Bradley. He recorded 14 points and pulled down five rebounds in the road win over Southern Illinois.
Christian Williams Is ISU's First Member of MVC All-Defense Team SInce 2011
Christian Williams was named to the MVC All-Defensive Team. He hit 82 percent of his free throws on the season which ranked 8th-best in the league. His 1.2 steals per game ranks tied for ninth-best in the league. He was named the MVC Player of the Week following the Sycamores' win over Northern Iowa and Evansville. He scored 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the season opener at Dayton and then Set a new career-high with four steals at No. 4 Louisville. Williams connected on a career-best three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points in the home win over Bradley. He went on to hit the game winning lay-up as time expired to defeat Drake at home. Williams hit a pair of 3-pointers to score 10 points in the home win over Loyola. Williams scored 14 points in the home win over Northern Iowa and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the final 1:14 to help seal the victory. He finished 6-of-7 at the line and hit big charity tosses down the stretch to lead ISU with 16 points in the road win over Evansville. He posted 11 points and dished out a career-high tying six assists in the road win over Southern Illinois.
Eleven Is Heaven For Indiana State
Indiana State has reached 11 Missouri Valley Conference victories in a season for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign when ISU also went 11-7 and captured the No. 3 seed at Arch Madness. In 42 seasons of Missouri Valley Conference membership, this is just the eighth year in which the Sycamores have recorded at least 11 MVC victories.
Sycamores Second In The MVC (11th Nationally) in 3-Point FG Percentage
For the season, the Sycamores are ranked 11th nationally with a 3-point field goal percentage of .383 which is second-best in the league. BUY leads the nation with a mark of 42.3 percent.
Tyreke Key Reached 1,000 Point Club In Just 73 Games
Sycamore Basketball junior Tyreke Key posted 20 points on December 30, 2019 to go over the 1,000 career points scored milestone. Key reached the 1,000 point mark in just 73 career games which is the fourth-fastest pace in program history. Earlier this season, Indiana State junior Tyreke Key set a new school record in the Missouri Valley Conference era with 32 free throws made consecutively, which is also the 14th-best streak in the history of the league.
Tre Williams 1st Sycamore To Start 1st Game As True Freshman Since 2008; 2nd Ever To Start Em All
When he took the court as part of the Sycamore starting lineup at Dayton, Tre Williams became the first true freshman at Indiana State to do so since the season opener of the 2008-09 campaign when Carl Richard started his first collegiate game. Williams has taken off since that first start and has reached double figures scoring eight games this season, including five league games. Williams is just the second Sycamore to start every game as a true freshman with the other being John Sherman Williams who accomplished the feat in 1983 en route to an ISU Athletics Hall of Fame career.
Greg Lansing Second On ISU Wins List With 166
Greg Lansing became just the second head coach in the history of the program to record at least 150 victories when he picked that milestone win on Sunday, November 24 in the Bahamas against Air Force. His 166 career victories rank second in the history of the program. In 2018, with the Sycamores' victory at home over Illinois State, he earned his 73rd career MVC victory which is a school record. Coach Lansing now only trails Duane Klueh who owns the school record with 182 career victories. He currently holds the school record with 91 all-time MVC regular season victories -- which is tied for 11th-most in the history of the league.
63 Is The Magic Number
The Sycamores win by the score of 71-58 on February 29, 2020 against Valparaiso was ISU's 11th this year in which they held an opponent to 63 points or less and earned the victory. Under 10th-year head coach Greg Lansing, the Sycamores are 105-10 when allowing less than 63 points to the opposition (including a 25-0 mark when holding teams to 53 or less).
Good Starter On The Battery
Indiana State's starting five has outscored the opposition's top five 20 times this season and have earned the win 17 times in those situations. Under 10th-year head coach Greg Lansing, the Sycamores are 114-31 when the ISU starting five scores more than their opponent's starters.
Indiana State With A Pair Of Top 10 Career Scorers In Their Respective High School States
A pair of Indiana State players in Tyreke Key and Cooper Neese are in the Top 10 in career scoring in both of their respective home states. Key finished his career at Clay County High School in Celina, Tenn., with 3,287 points scored which is 10th most in the history of the state of Tennessee. As a senior, he set the Tennessee High School record for most points scored in a season, breaking a 25-year old record held previously by Kentucky legend Tony Delk. Cooper Neese, who will sit out the 2017-18 season serving his year-in-residence as a transfer, enters his Indiana State career having scored 2,496 career points at nearby Cloverdale High School which is seventh-best in the Indiana High School Basketball history.
Sycamores Tally School Record Fifth Victory Over Nationally-Ranked Team Under Lansing
Indiana State ended a skid of nine losses to nationally-ranked teams when No. 15/16 Butler fell inside Hulman Center on December 7, 2017 by the score of 72-71. Coach Lansing has led the Sycamores to a school-record five victories against nationally-ranked teams during his time at the helm of the program. He passed Bill Hodges (head coach of the Dream Team in 1978-79) and Royce Waltman (head coach of the Sycamores during back-to-back NCAA Tourney trips in 2000 & 2001) for the most in program history with the win over Butler. It was just the second victory for the Sycamores under Lansing at home against a nationally-ranked team and the first overall since a win at No. 21 Notre Dame in 2013.
Greg Lansing Inducted Into Iowa High School Basketball Hall Of Fame
Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Basketball Hall of Fame as part of their 2016 class. Lansing and the other selected inductees were honored individually at halftime of the Iowa Class 4A State Championship Game at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on March 12. The IHSAA Basketball Hall of Fame is the highest honor the Iowa High School Board of Control can bestow on a high school coach or former player. Lansing graduated from Harlan High School in 1986, where he was coached by his father Dave, who was inducted into the IHSAA Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 as a coach. The Lansing father/son combination of Dave and Greg are just the 10th father/son duo to both be inducted into the Hall of Fame since 1969.
Up Next
The winner of Friday night's game against Missouri State will move on to the Arch Madness semifinals to take the winner of Loyola/Valparaiso/Evansville on Saturday, March 7 at 6:05 p.m. (ET). That game will air live nationally on CBS Sports Network.
