TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Sycamores welcome Valparaiso to the Hulman Center Wednesday night for the second meeting between the two teams this season. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ as ISU looks to sweep the season series against the Beacons after defeating Valpo 68-50 on the road on Jan. 1 of this year.
 
Indiana State is coming off a dominant 99-56 win over Murray State at home Saturday. The Sycamores set two program records in the win, one for most threes in a game (19) and the other for largest margin of victory in a Valley game (43) while earning the season series split against the Racers. Julian Larry dished out a career-high nine assists while Courvoisier McCauley paced all scorers in the game with 23 points for his seventh 20+-point effort and his most points scored in a Valley game.
 
Saturday's 43-point win over Murray State is Indiana State's largest margin of victory against a Valley team in program history, breaking the previous margin of 36 points against Evansville Feb. 21, 2001. ISU improved to 7-0 in games decided by 20 or more points.
 
The Sycamores committed just four turnovers against Murray State Saturday, the least amount of turnovers against a Valley team since Jan. 18, 2012 when ISU committed four against Illinois State.
 
At 16-9 (9-5 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 five teams are currently all within one game of first place. The top four teams are tied at 10-4 while Indiana State holds lone possession of fifth place at 9-5.

SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday will be the 94th all-time meeting between Indiana State and Valparaiso dating back to 1936. The Sycamores lead the all-time series 56-37 and took the first meeting against the Beacons earlier this year, 68-50, on Jan. 1 to snap a three-game skid against Valpo. The Sycamores will be looking for their first win against Valpo at home since Feb. 29, 2020.
 
A WIN WOULD...

• Extend ISU's win streak to four games.
• Give the Sycamores their second season sweep of the year.
• Give ISU 17 overall wins for the second time in nine seasons.
• Give ISU 10 overall home wins for the second time in seven seasons.
• Give ISU 10 Valley wins for the third time in eight seasons including three of the last four.
• Give ISU six Valley home wins for the third time in seven seasons including three of the last four.

 
LAST GAME AGAINST THE BEACONS
The Indiana State Sycamores opened the 2023 calendar year with a 68-50 win against Valparaiso on the road behind a double-double effort from Cade McKnight. With the win, the Sycamores remained unbeaten in Valley play, at the time sitting atop the league standings at 4-0.
 
McKnight posted a Sycamore career-high 13 points and 11 rebounds en route to Indiana's State's second straight double-digit Valley win.
 
After starting the game off on a 6-0 run, the Sycamores did not trail the Beacons at any point in the game. Indiana State went on its biggest run of the day in the second half, scoring 13 straight points for a game-high 22-point lead at 16:38 in the frame.
 
The Sycamores shot 50 percent from the field for the seventh time at that point in the season while Valpo shot just 29.5 percent. ISU improved to 10-2 when shooting better than 40 percent and 8-2 when outshooting its opponent.
 
Indiana State hauled in 40 rebounds for just the third time at that point of the season and first time against a Division I opponent in regulation. The Beacons had just 32 rebounds, and when outrebounding their opponent, the Sycamores improved to 7-1.
 
The Sycamores had 12 assists on 15 buckets in the first half and finished the day with 16 assists.

LAST TIME OUT
The Indiana State Sycamores handed Murray State its worst loss since 1960 Saturday on national television with a 43-point victory over the Racers, marking ISU's largest margin of victory against a Valley opponent in program history.
 
The Sycamores also set a program record for 3-pointers in a single game with 19. Eight different Sycamores connected on a triple while six had two or more, led by Courvoisier McCauley with five. McCauley paced all scorers in the game with 23 points, and Julian Larry was solid on both ends of the court, shooting 5-of-5 from the field with 11 points, nine assists, and zero turnovers.
 
After leading by 12 at halftime, Indiana State outscored Murray State by 31 in the second half to earn the season series split against the Racers. Both teams opened the game shooting 3-of-3 with a 3-pointer to be tied at 7-7 two minutes into the game. The Racers led 11-9 with 15:18 to go in the first half, but after that, it was all Indiana State starting with a Robbie Avila triple to take a 12-11 lead at 15:19.
 
The Sycamores shot 56.9 percent from the field, their second-best shooting clip of the season behind shooting 60 percent at Illinois State Jan. 4. ISU held Murray State, which averages 71.6 points per game and 44.9 percent from the field, to just 56 points and 37.3 percent from the field.
 
The Sycamores had 13 assists on 16 buckets in the first half and finished with 27 assists on 37 buckets.
 
SHARING IS CARING
Indiana's State's 27 assists against Murray State Saturday is an all-time program second-best, behind the program record of 34 set in 1983 against West Texas State. Julian Larry led the way Saturday with a career-high nine assists in the game.
 
ISU leads the Valley in assists per game while Julian Larry and Cameron Henry rank top-10 in the Valley in assists, assists per game, and assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
The Sycamores are 13-0 this season when they dish out 15 or more assists.
 
RAININ' THREES
Indiana State set a single-game program record for 3-pointers in a game with 19 against Murray State Saturday, breaking the previous record of 18 against Arizona State Dec. 2, 1988. Those 19 3-pointers are also the most all-time in a game between two Valley teams.
 
Eight different Sycamores connected on a three in the game for the second time this season and first time against a Valley team in the Josh Shertz Era. ISU is 8-1 this season when six or more players hit a three in a game and 9-1 when making 10 or more threes as a team.
 
ISU is averaging over 14 3-pointers a game across the last three wins, and the Sycamores are 37 triples away from tying the season program record of 270 for the second straight season.
 
MCCAULEY EARNS SECOND NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Courvoisier McCauley was named the MVC Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season on Feb. 6. He averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds on the week to help the Sycamores to back-to-back double-digit wins. He posted an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double Wednesday at Evansville before scoring a game-high 23 points while hitting five of ISU's program-best 19 3-pointers against Murray State Saturday.
 
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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