TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State men's basketball accomplished something Saturday afternoon that has not been done since the Larry Bird Era. With an 80-60 win against UIC at home, the Sycamores have started off 6-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play for the first time since 1978-79 when Bird's team made it to the NCAA National Championship game.
 
Courvoisier McCauley notched a double-double and Julian Larry paced all Sycamore scorers with 18 points to help Indiana State win its fourth straight game and improve to 7-1 at home this season.
 
UIC (9-8, 1-5 MVC) opened the game with back-to-back triples, and after Indiana State (13-4, 6-0 MVC) caught up with a 10-2 run to take a 10-8 lead at 15:33 in the opening frame, the Flames and Sycamores went back-and-forth with neither team gaining more than a three-point lead until 7:17 when UIC hit three free throws and then a layup to take a 23-19 lead.
 
After UIC led 23-19 at 7:17, the Sycamores went off on a 20-2 run and never trailed again in the game. That run lasted nearly the last six minutes of the first half, and Indiana State shot 8-of-10 from the field in that span while holding UIC to 1-of-9 including 0-of-3 from three with two turnovers.
 
Larry launched a shot from the logo at the buzzer that went in to give Indiana State a 42-28 lead at halftime, and he was shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the field at the break.
 
McCauley pushed Indiana State's lead to 51-32 at 16:51 in the second half on back-to-back triples, and a Jayson Kent and-1 extended the lead to 20 at 63-43 with 10:49 left in the game. The Sycamores reached their largest lead of the game at 22 points with a Cooper Neese jumper at 9:20 that made it 67-45.
 
The lead hit 22 points once again on a 10-0 Sycamore run that was capped by a no-look pass from Robbie Avila to Kent who finished with a layup to get himself in double figures on the scoresheet. The Flames would get one bucket back a few seconds later to close out the scoring in the game.
 
Inside the Numbers

• The Sycamores outshot the Flames 52.7 percent to 41.2 percent and held them to over seven points below their average in the game.
• Indiana also won the battle on the boards, outrebounding UIC 39-24. The Sycamores have outrebounded their opponent three games in a row and are 9-1 when outrebounding their opponent.
• Julian Larry's game-high 18 points came off 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe. The junior point guard also dished out a team-high five assists in the game. He is 25-of-30 with 20 assists in his last four games, and he has scored in double figures in each game during that span, including leading the team in scoring in three of those four games.
• Courvoisier McCauley posted his second double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds, a high in a Sycamore uniform for the grad transfer. He hit three triples in a game for the fourth consecutive time, and he has posted double digits in nine straight games.
• Robbie Avila posted double figures in his second straight game, finishing the day with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting alongside seven rebounds and three assists.
• Jayson Kent contributed 11 points off the bench for his second-straight double-figure scoring game, and Cooper Neese rounded out the Sycamores in double figures with 10 points.
• Cameron Henry put out four assists and two blocks before he fouled out at 5:52 in the second half. 

News & Notes

• The Sycamores improve to 6-0 to start Valley play for the first time since Larry Bird's team in 1978-79.
• Indiana State gave up the first basket of the game for the first time since Southern Indiana Dec. 11. The Sycamores are 6-2 when their opponent scores first compared to 7-2 when scoring first themselves.
• When the Sycamores gave up two straight threes to open the game, that was the first time Indiana State has trailed in a Valley game since the 6:58 mark of the second half at Southern Illinois Dec. 7. It was also Indiana State's largest deficit in a Valley game this season.
• The Sycamores led at the half for the fourth game in a row, and they are 13-1 when leading at the half compared to 0-3 when trailing at the half.
• Indiana State is 8-2 when scoring 80 or more points, and the team is 8-0 in games decided by 11 or more points.
• Saturday is the first time five different Sycamores have scored in double figures since Nov. 12, 2022 against Ball State.

Up Next
The Sycamores stay in Terre Haute for a big matchup against Southern Illinois Wednesday, Jan. 11. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from Hulman Center as Indiana State wraps up its season series with the Salukis.
 
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For the latest information on the Sycamore Men's Basketball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  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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