TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State looks to extend its modest two-game winning streak as it welcomes Southern Illinois to Hulman Center for a two-game series to start the week, Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 25 and 26.
KEY MOVES INTO 10TH ALL-TIME
Senior Tyreke Key moved into 10th place on the Indiana State all-time scoring list with his 18 point performance at Illinois State Jan. 17. The Celina, Tenn. native has 1,447 points for his career and needs to average 10.3 points over the final 10 regular season games to catch No. 9 Eddie Bird (1987-91) with 1,555.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING
Indiana State has a modest two-game winning streak over Southern Illinois, and will look to push that to four with the pair of games in Terre Haute this weekend. Last year's season sweep of the Salukis snapped a eight-game losing skid for the Sycamores, which came off the heels of a four-game winning stretch. ISU's longest win streak over SIU was six games, from Feb. 15, 1918 to Jan. 24, 1941. The series between the Sycamores and Salukis started in 1916, and they have played every year since the 1978 season.
HOW SWEEP IT IS
The Sycamores' back-to-back wins over the Redbirds on the road is the Sycamores' first back-to-back wins in Normal since Jan. 12, 2000 and Jan. 6, 2001.
NEW STARTING FIVE
After using the same starting five for the first 11 games of the season, head coach Greg Lansing inserted graduate transfer Tobias Howard Jr. in the starting lineup for freshman Julian Larry on Jan. 16. Howard finished the game with eight points, three rebounds, and one assist, and started the Sycamores' next game against the Redbirds Jan. 17.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE SALUKIS
Indiana State swept the season series against Southern Illinois in 2019-20, snapping an eight-game losing skid against the Salukis.
ISU shot an eye-popping 63 percent (19-of-30) from the floor in the first half, including a 75 percent (6-of-8) mark from behind the three-point line. Indiana State also went a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line for the contest.
Tyreke Key put up 20 points in the contest, trailing only Jordan Barnes in points scored (21). Then-freshman Jake LaRavia added 14 points, five rebounds, four blocks and two steals, while Christian Williams added 11 points with a team-high six assists and four steals.
The Sycamores shot 57.4 percent from the field and were 6-of-10 from long range in the win. ISU limited the Salukis to just 38.5 percent shooting in the second half and were 12-of-24 after the break, and did not hit a 3-pointer in the second half.
CLOSE CONNECTION
Indiana State Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Tim McCaughan is a 2014 graduate of Southern Illinois. McCaughan worked for the Salukis' media relations department all four years as an undergrad.
NEXT UP
Indiana State continues MVC play in the friendly confines of Hulman Center when it welcomes Bradley to Terre Haute for a pair of games Sunday, Jan. 31 and Monday, Feb. 1.
