TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State basketball plays host to MVC rival Illinois State Saturday afternoon at Hulman Center. The game will tip at 1 p.m. ET and air on ESPN3. The game is also be broadcast on the radio on 105.5 The Legend as well as GoSycamores.com/Listen.
 
Fans wishing to purchase tickets can do so by clicking HERE, by calling 877-ISU-TIXS, or by visiting the Hulman Center Ticket Office.
 
*Indiana State University requires all campus visitors, faculty, staff and students to wear a mask while indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Full Hulman Center Guidelines can be found by clicking HERE.
 
THE FOREST INCENTIVES
The Culver's "Drive to 25" promotion for The Forest continues at Hulman Center this season. Students in The Forest will receive promo cards for a free butter burger from Culver's if ISU scores 25 points or more in the first half of action.
 
Labor Link has also teamed up with the Sycamores to provide gift cards to Forest members based on student attendance. Outlined below are the thresholds required and the number of gift cards given away to ISU students.
 
2 - $25 gift cards - 100 students attend
6 - $25 gift cards - 250 students
8 - $25 gift cards - 500 students
20 - $25 gift cards - 1,000 students
 
GAMEDAY SPONSOR
Our Gameday Sponsor is Toyota. For more information click HERE.
 
THE SERIES
» Saturday will mark the 128th meeting between the two programs with Illinois State leading the series 67-60. The Sycamores are 40-20 at home against Illinois State and have won the last two meetings in the series.
 
HEAD COACH JOSH SCHERTZ
» Indiana State basketball is under new leadership as first-year head coach Josh Schertz takes over the reins of the program. Schertz takes over after a 13-year run at NCAA Division II Lincoln Memorial University where he had a career record of 337-69 (.831) en route to four national coach of the year honors. Schertz led the Railsplitters to 10 NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, won 14 total conference championships and three Southeast Regional titles, and had five seasons of 30-or-more victories.
 
LAST TIME OUT
» Indiana State snapped a four-game losing streak Thursday night on the road at Evansville. The Sycamores walked away from the Ford Center with an 80-77 double overtime win to even the season series with UE. Cooper Neese played all but one minute in the game and scored a game and career high 35 points in the win. Cameron Henry (17) and Micah Thomas (11) also scored in double digits while Kailex Stephens scored five and tied a career high with 13 rebounds in the game.
 
NEESE GOES OFF
» Cooper Neese scored a career high 35 points during a double overtime win at Evansville (2/10). The guard tied a career high with five 3-pointers in the game while also pulling down six rebounds.
 
» Neese became the 14th Sycamore in program history to record 35 points or more in a single game, joining the likes of Larry Bird, Butch Wade, John Sherman Williams, Carl Nicks, Nate Green among others. It marks the highest scoring output for a Sycamore since Marico Stinson scored 37 against Drake in 2006.
 
LET IT RAIN
» Indiana State continues to shoot the ball from deep at a high rate, ranking tops in the MVC and 30th nationally in 3-point attempts with 638. ISU has hit at least five threes in each game this season and has hit 10+ shots from deep eight times. The Sycamores have come close to tying the single-game school record (18) on three occasions with 16 triples against Midway (12/29) and 15 3-pointers against Hanover (11/14) and Bradley (1/2).
 
MOVING THE ROCK
» Indiana State ranks third in the MVC behind Loyola and Bradley with 13.6 assists per game. Five players have recorded over 30 assists with Xavier Bledson leading ISU with 79. Two Sycamores rank in the top-10 in the MVC in assists per game with Bledson ranking third with 4.2 and Cameron Henry ranks 10th with 2.8 assists per game.
 
FREE THROWS
» ISU has improved its season average at the free-throw line to 76.7 percent -- good enough for third in the MVC and 25th nationally. Xavier Bledson leads ISU with an 86.2 percent (50-for-58) free throw percentage while Cooper Neese is shooting 80.8 percent (42-for-52) from the line. Five other Sycamores shoot 70 percent or better from the charity stripe. 
 
IRON MEN
» Both Cooper Neese and Cameron Henry played all 50 minutes in a double overtime loss at Valpo. Neese also played 49 of 50 minutes in a double overtime win at UE. Neese ranks second in the MVC in minutes per game at 35.9. His 50 minutes at Valpo were the most minutes for a Sycamores since Brenton Scott played 52 minutes in a four-overtime loss to Ohio during the 2017-18 season. Julian Larry also played all 45 minutes in an overtime loss at UNI earlier this season.
 
LINEUP LIMBO
» Due to injuries and COVID-19 protocols, the Sycamores have used 17 different starting lineups in 24 games this season. No starting lineup combination has been used more than three times.
 
HENRY IS A MATCHUP NIGHTMARE
» Cameron Henry has scored in double-figures in 17 of the 21 games he has seen action in, including nine MVC contests. He is averaging 15.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. His scoring output is sixth, rebounding ranks ninth and his assist mark puts him at 10th in the MVC. Henry posted a career high 28 points and eight assists in a double overtime loss at Valpo (2/5), surpassing his previous career high of 25 against the Beacons at home (1/22). 
 
MOVING UP THE BOARD
» Neese hit five 3-pointers at UE to move into sole possession of fifth place in school history in career 3-pointers. He has hit 162 triples in 96 games over his career.
 
» Neese has scored in double-figures in 14 games this season, scoring 15 or more in 12 games. His 2.5 made 3-pointers per game leads ISU and ranks fourth in the MVC.
 
PROTECT THE HOME COURT
» Indiana State is 7-4 inside Hulman Center this season. ISU finished 2020-21 with a 9-3 mark at home while going 12-1 in Hulman Center in 2019-20. 
 
ISU ONE OF THE MOST INEXPERIENCED IN NCAA
» Indiana State returns just two players that saw significant minutes a year ago in guards Cooper Neese and Julian Larry. With the addition of eight newcomers to the roster in 2021-22, ISU ranks 346 out of 354 teams in terms of Division I court experience according to Kenpom.com.
 
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.