TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State travels to Southern Indiana Sunday afternoon in its third game of a four-game road stint. It's the first-ever meeting between the two teams, and tip-off is set for 4 p.m. ET at Screaming Eagles Arena in Evansville.
 
At 9-1, the Sycamores are off to their best start since 1978-79 when ISU went 33-0 before falling to Michigan State in the NCAA Championship.
 
The Sycamores are coming off another resilient Valley win, defeating Southern Illinois 74-71 Wednesday night on the road. ISU was up by 14 in the first half and wound up down by two late in the second half but was able to hold off the Salukis to improve to 2-0 in MVC play for the first time since 2014-15 when the team started off 5-0. ISU has now knocked off two of the top three teams in the MVC preseason poll in Drake and SIU.
 
Cameron Henry nearly notched a triple-double in Wednesday's win, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since Jake Odum (10/10/12) against Fairfield Nov. 27, 2011. Henry posted 15 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists all while committing zero turnovers.
 
The Sycamores are 2-0 in true road games for the first time since 2005-06, and a win Sunday would continue their best overall start since 1978-79 and would be ISU's sixth straight win. The Sycamores have won six or more straight games just 15 times since joining the Valley in 1976.
 
Entering Sunday's game, the Sycamores are the only Valley team to not have trailed by double-digits this season. ISU trailed by a season-high eight points against Kansas City which turned out to be the lone loss of the season so far.
 
USI has some familiar faces on the bench as former Sycamores Sam Mervis and Nick Hittle now suit up for the Screaming Eagles. USI head coach Stan Gouard was an assistant coach at ISU for three seasons from 2005-2008.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday will be the first-ever meeting between Indiana State and Southern Indiana.

USI AT A GLANCE
USI was picked to finish seventh in the OVC preseason poll and most recently snapped a two-game skid with a 78-47 victory over Anderson University (Indiana) at home Wednesday night.
 
USI is 3-0 at home this season and is led by senior guard
Jelani Simmons, who is posting a 20.7 points per contest. Junior guard Tyler Henry follows with 16.0 points per outing, while the double-figure scorers are rounded out by graduate forward Trevor Lakes and junior guard Gary Solomon with 11.7 points and 11.0 points, respectively.
 
USI is averaging 78.7 points per contest and shooting 54.8 percent from the field (86-157). As a team, USI leads the OVC in 3-point field goal percentage (.396; 84-212 ) rebounding defense (32.9 per game), and is tied for first in 3-point field goals made per game (9.3).
 
Overall this season, senior guard Jelani Simmons leads the Eagles with 15.7 points per game, followed by graduate forward Trevor Lakes with 11.2 points per outing. Senior forward Jacob Polakovich leads USI on the glass with 9.1 rebounds per contest.

LAST TIME OUT
The Indiana State Sycamores finished off a Valley thriller in front of a rowdy crowd at Banterra Center Wednesday night, outlasting the Southern Illinois Salukis for a 74-71 road win. The Sycamores (9-1, 2-0 MVC) led by 14 in the first half and wound up down by two late in the second half but held off the late push from the Salukis (5-4, 1-1 MVC) to take their fifth straight win.
 
Cameron Henry was two assists shy of a triple-double, tying his career-high of eight assists alongside 15 points and a season-high 12 rebounds. He also swiped three passes in the game. Courvoisier McCauley led the Sycamores with 16 points in the game, and Robbie Avila and Jayson Kent each shot over 66 percent from the field for 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
In the last minute of the opening frame, Jayson Kent pulled down the offensive board and drew a shooting foul on the put back and knocked down both free throws to give the Sycamores their largest lead of the game at 39-25 with 57 seconds on the clock. The Salukis would answer with a buzzer-beating triple, and ISU led 36-28 at the break.
 
SIU opened the second half with five straight points and later went on a 17-3 run spanning over five minutes to take its first lead of the game at 58-56 with 8:54 to play. In that span, ISU shot 1-of-9 from the field with a lone triple from McCauley.
 
That lead did not last long as Robbie Avila laid in a basket and then set McCauley up for another triple at 6:22 that gave ISU a 61-58 lead. The Sycamores went on a 12-3 run in the last five minutes to get their lead back up to an eight-point cushion at 72-65 with 25 seconds remaining, which was enough to hold on for the win after two Saluki triples in the last nine seconds.

FOLLOW THE SYCAMORES
For the latest information on Sycamore Basketball, be sure to visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from both the App Store and the Google Play Store.

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