TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Senior
Tyreke Key scored a career-high 34 points while sophomore
Tre Williams added a career-best 23 to lead Indiana State over Evansville 87-73 on Senior Night Wednesday, Feb. 17 in Hulman Center.
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Williams dominated the first half, scoring 20 of his points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and a 6-for-7 free throw performance. Though Key scored a quiet six points in the opening stanza, the guard erupted in the second for 28 points on 69 percent (11-of-16) shooting, including 5-for-7 from the three-point line.
ISU (13-8, 10-6 MVC) secures its 12
th 10-win Valley season in program history, while UE (8-12, 6-8 MVC) falls to two games below the .500 mark in league play.
Key's 34 points combined with Williams' 23 marked the second consecutive game that Sycamore teammates scored 20-or-more points in the same contest. Key now sits 53 points behind Butch Wade for No. 5 on the Indiana State all-time scoring list.
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Joining Key and Williams in double-figures was sophomore
Jake LaRavia, who dropped in 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor. Williams led Indiana State with six rebounds in the contest, while
Julian Larry,
Cooper Neese, LaRavia, and Williams each dished out three assists.
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The Sycamores' red-hot shooting from the floor continued from Sunday's contest with the Purple Aces, shooting a blistering 64.8 percent (35-of-54) from the floor and 50-percent (7-of-14) from the three-point line. Their shooting percentage and 87 points were both a new high for the season. Evansville had a strong shooting night overall at 50-percent (25-of-50) from the floor, but Indiana State was once again dominant in the paint (54 to 26), won the rebounding battle (29 to 17), and had more assists (17 to 13).
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Evansville held a 4-2 lead for 32 seconds and never led again, as Indiana State built up as big as a 14-point lead in the second half. The Purple Aces cut the Sycamores' lead to just one with 10 minutes to play in the game, but ISU finished on a 26-16 run to pull out the victory.
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UE had four players in double-figures with Jawaun Newton pouring in a team-high 18 points.
Indiana State has a nine-day break in its schedule, not set to play again until traveling to Valparaiso to finish the season Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27.