TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State welcomes Murray State to the Hulman Center Saturday for the first time since 2008. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. on CBS Sports Network as the Sycamores look to split the season series with the Racers after dropping the first meeting 82-73 Jan. 21 in Murray.
 
Saturday is ISU's Hall of Fame game where the five inductees of the 30th ISU Athletics Hall of Fame Class will be recognized throughout the game. Former player Jake Odum and former coach Royce Waltman represent men's basketball in this year's induction class.
 
The Sycamores are coming off an 83-75 win at Evansville Wednesday night where ISU came from a 10+-point deficit to win for the first time since Feb. 12, 2022 against Illinois State. Courvoisier McCauley posted his third double-double of the year (18pts, 11reb) in the game.
 
Wednesday night was ISU's first road Valley win since Jan. 4, 2023 at Illinois State. ISU has now won four Valley road games this season after winning just one last season.
 
Cooper Neese hit three triples Wednesday night to make 200 for his career and put him in the top-20 for career points in ISU program history.
 
Xavier Bledson has posted 33 points (20 vs UNI, 13 at Evansville) off the bench across the last two games after scoring 28 combined in his previous 11 games where he was averaging under 10 minutes per game.
 
At 15-9 (8-5 MVC), head coach Josh Schertz has surpassed last season's amount of total (11) and Valley (4) wins. Only four ISU coaches have improved win totals from year one to year two.
 
It's a tight race in the Valley down the stretch as eight teams are currently all within one game of first place. The top four teams are tied at 9-4 while the next four, including Murray State and Indiana State, are sitting at 8-5.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday will be the 11th all-time meeting between Indiana State and Murray State, and the second meeting this season after Murray State won 82-73 at home Jan. 21. The series dates back to 1945 and ISU leads 7-4 including 4-1 at home.
 
Before the previous meeting this season, the two teams had not met since 2008. Despite the Sycamores winning seven of the overall 10 meetings, Murray State has taken the last three of four games and the last two straight. Indiana State will be looking for its first win at home against Murray State since Dec. 3, 2001.

LAST GAME AGAINST THE RACERS
Robbie Avila posted a career-high 18 points, but the Sycamores saw their losing streak hit a season-high four games as Indiana State fell 82-73 to Murray State at CSFB Center.
 
The Sycamores rode an 11-0 run across the end of the first half into the second, including a buzzer-beating putback from Cade McKnight that tied things up at 36-all at the break. After opening the second half with three-straight buckets to take a 42-36 lead, the Sycamores gave up a 9-0 Racer run that turned the lead over to Murray State for the rest of the game.
 
Courvoisier McCauley paced all scorers in the game with 19 points, and Avila pulled down a tied team-high seven boards alongside his 18 points. Cooper Neese also hauled in seven rebounds, and Cameron Henry dished out a game-high six assists beside 16 points. McKnight rounded out the Sycamores in double-figures with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

LAST TIME OUT
Indiana State men's basketball completed the season sweep against Evansville Wednesday night by overcoming a double-digit deficit to defeat the Purple Aces 83-65 at the Ford Center.
 
Cooper Neese joined Evansville's Yacine Toumi to pace all scorers in the game with 19 points while Courvoisier McCauley posted an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double for Indiana State. Julian Larry also scored in double figures while dishing out a career-high seven assists.
 
Larry opened the scoring in the game, but the Aces spouted off a 12-0 run to force an Indiana State timeout with a 10-point lead less than four minutes in. The Sycamores came out of that timeout with back-to-back threes that sparked a 14-0 run for a 16-12 lead at 13:44. Indiana State shot 5-of-5 from the field including 3-of-3 beyond the arc in that span while forcing three Evansville turnovers.
 
Evansville reeled it in to 23-21 at 8:55, but shortly after that Neese took a charge and then drove all the way in through contact on the other end to make it 25-21. Xavier Bledson hit back-to-back threes to push Indiana State's lead to double figures at 31-21 with 6:09 to go in the opening frame. The Sycamores led 37-23 with 3:44 left in the first half, but Evansville closed out the half on a 13-0 run to make it 37-36 at the break.
 
After being tied up at 39-all early in the second half, Indiana State went on a 10-0 run to go up 52-41 and force an Evansville timeout at 15:34. Zach Hobbs checked in an applied pressure to force a Cameron Henry steal which Larry laid up to push ISU's lead to 63-51 with 9:27 to go. The Indiana State lead hit 72-53 at 6:17 thanks to a 9-0 run, and the Sycamores closed things out with back-to-back triples in the last minute of action.
 
Neese's season-high three triples on the night makes 200 career 3-pointers, and his game-high 19 points ties a season-high. Larry dished out a career-high seven assists while pulling down a season-high eight rebounds. Bledson posted double figures (13) off the bench in his second consecutive game. McCauley's 18-point, 11-rebound effort marks his third double-double of the season.
 
POWERED BY THE BENCH
Bledson posted a team-high 20 points against UNI for his second 20+-point outing this season, and Hobbs nailed four triples for a season-high 14 points. Those 34 points are tied for ISU's second-most bench points against DI opponents this season, even with 34 bench points against Drexel when Bledson had an ISU career-high 22 points off the bench and behind 38 bench points against Evansville when 12 different Sycamores made it on the scoresheet. ISU ranks second in the Valley in bench points this season.

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