TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Sycamores are set to ring in the New Year at Valparaiso this Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. ET. Indiana State has played on New Year's Day just three times since joining the Valley, and the Sycamores are 2-1 in those games. ISU has not played on New Year's Day since 2014.
 
Coming off a dominant win over Evansville at home Thursday night, Indiana State is the only remaining unblemished Valley team in league play this season. At 3-0, the Sycamores are in sole possession of first place in the Valley after being picked to finish seventh in the league's preseason poll. This is the first time the Sycamores have started off 3-0 in Valley play since 2014-15 when they started out 5-0.
 
Thursday night's 91-63 win against Evansville is the first time Indiana State has beat a Valley team by 25 or more points since beating Loyola by 29 points Feb. 5, 2020.
 
Junior guard Julian Larry made his first start of the season and 49th career start as a Sycamore Thursday night. He shot a perfect 100 percent across the board and assisted or scored each of ISU's first four baskets in the game. Larry finished his night with a career-high 21 points on 8-of-8 shooting with three triples, and he dished out four assists with two steals and no turnovers. He is the only Valley player to shoot 100 percent from the field with seven or more attempts against a Division I opponent this season.
 
The Sycamores lead the Valley with 16.07 assists per game and a 1.29 assist-to-turnover ratio. Additionally, ISU ranks in the top five of the Valley in field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage, rebounding, free throw percentage, steals, scoring margin, and turnover margin.
 
Indiana State's leading scorer Courvoisier McCauley is the only Valley player with multiple 30-point outings this season and he is one of eight Valley players with five or more 20-point outings. He paces all Sycamore scorers with 17.1 points per game this season.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday will be the 93rd all-time meeting between Indiana State and Valparaiso dating back to 1936. The Sycamores lead the all-time series 55-37 but have dropped the last three meetings against the Beacons including both games of last year's season series. Valpo has won 6 of the last 10 matchups and ISU is looking for its first win against the Beacons since Feb. 26, 2021 at Valpo.

LAST GAME AGAINST THE BEACONS
Cameron Henry set career highs in scoring and assists but it wasn't enough as Valpo grinded out a 79-72 double overtime victory over Indiana State Feb. 5, 2022 inside the Athletics Recreation Center on Valparaiso's campus. Neither team led by more than eight points in a game that saw 13 lead changes and remained tied for 16:38.
 
The Beacons led by one point in the second overtime with 1:31 when Sheldon Edwards hit a deep three to extend the VU lead to 74-70 and Valpo did not look back en route to the victory.
 
Henry scored a career high 28 points -- his fourth game of the season scoring 20 or more -- on 10-of-23 shooting, including two 3-pointers and a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. He also set a new high mark with eight assists while grabbing six rebounds.
 
Cooper Neese was the only other Sycamore to score in double-figures after putting up 17 points, including a 5-for-11 mark from deep. The sharpshooter moved into sole possession of sixth place in school history in career 3-pointers in the game (He has since moved into fifth place).
 
Xavier Bledson looked to score the go-ahead basket with 17 seconds left in regulation on an offensive rebound putback, but after an official review, the shot was waved off due to a shot clock violation. Valpo had a chance to win the game but Ben Krikke was called for a travel with two seconds remaining to force overtime.

VALPARAISO AT A GLANCE
Valparaiso was picked to finish ninth in the Valley preseason poll and is currently 0-3 in league play this season with losses to Belmont, Murray State in overtime, and Drake.
 
Valpo is coming off a narrow five-point loss to Valley preseason Drake Thursday night, falling 68-63 on the road. The Beacons put together a valiant effort in the game, leading Drake 26-24 at halftime and twice rallying from double figures down late to stay in the game until the final horn. The Bulldogs shot 26 percent in the opening half and MVC Preseason Player of the Year Tucker DeVries was limited to five points on 1-of-5 shooting before the break, but DeVries scored 13 after halftime. Ben Krikke led the Beacons with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor.
 
Krikke, Kobe King, and Quinton Green have started all 14 games for Valpo this season and each one is averaging double-digit scoring, led by Krikke with 18.1 points per game which ranks third in the Valley. He also leads the Valley in field goal percentage, shooting 53.6 percent from the floor. King is averaging 17.4 points while Green is putting up 10.6 points per game. Jerome Palm leads the Beacons on the boards with 6.1 rebounds per game.

LAST TIME OUT
Julian Larry shot lights out Thursday night and led the Sycamores with a career-high 21 points as Indiana State defeated Evansville 91-63 at the Hulman Center to remain perfect in Missouri Valley Conference play.
 
The Sycamores (10-4, 3-0 MVC) opened the game on a 13-0 run, shooting 5-of-5 from the field and forcing three Evansville turnovers during that span. ISU did not allow an Evansville bucket until 16:37 in the first half.
 
Larry hit back-to-back layups to push ISU's lead to 20-4 at 14:14, and the lead hit 16 points again with a Courvoisier McCauley layup at 9:45. The Aces cut their deficit down to 10 points at 28-18 with 4:19 left in the first half, but Cooper Neese later took advantage of an Evansville technical foul and knocked down a pair of free throws to get in double digits on the scoresheet and make it 32-20 at 1:06.
 
Zach Hobbs nailed a triple in the closing seconds of the opening frame to send the Sycamores into the halftime break with a 39-22 lead.
 
Indiana State was a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line in the first half and held Evansville to zero percent (0-for-3) from three in the frame.
 
McCauley hit back-to-back threes early in the second half to extend the lead to 47-24, and Neese stayed perfect at the free throw line with an and-1 at 15:37. Larry got up for a slam dunk just seconds later to surpass his previous career-high and later added to that career-high with a pair of treys, putting the Sycamores up 65-31at 12:18.
 
Evansville went on a 7-0 run to cut its deficit down to 76-51 at 4:39, but after that Masen Miller hit a triple before assisting a Kailex Stephens layup to make it 82-51 at 3:38. Miller would later close out the scoring for Indiana State in the game with his second trey of the night at 1:22.

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