TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - » The Indiana State Sycamores begin their first postseason run since 2014 Saturday morning after accepting their invitation to the 2023 Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational as the top seed in the tournament. ISU will face No. 16 seed USC Upstate in the first round Saturday, March 18 at 11 a.m. ET on FloHoops.
 
» The winner will advance to face the winner of #8 Eastern Kentucky/#9 Cleveland State Monday, March 20 at 12 p.m. ET, also on FloHoops.
 
» This marks ISU's 10th postseason appearance all-time in the Valley era dating back to 1976-77 (4 NCAA, 4 NIT, 2 CBI, excludes CIT appearance in 2012). The Sycamores are looking for their first postseason win since 2001 and first-ever CBI win.
 
» Saturday will be the first-ever meeting between Indiana State and USC Upstate, but the Sycamores are no stranger to Upstate head coach Dave Dickerson who has faced the Sycamores twice as a head coach, both times during his tenure at Tulane. ISU holds a 1-1 record against Coach Dickerson.
 
» The Sycamores went from 4-14 in Valley play and a ninth-place finish in the Valley standings last season with a 2022-23 preseason ranking of seventh to a 13-7 record in Valley play with a fifth-place finish this year in Coach Schertz's second year at the helm.
 
» Indiana State shattered multiple MVC Tournament records while going 2-1 in Arch Madness this season, winning two Arch Madness games for the first time since 2014 and making their second semifinal appearance in three years after advancing to the semis in 2021 with just one win.
 
» Indiana State leads the MVC and ranks 17th nationally for team field goal percentage (48.2).  The Sycamores have led the MVC in team field goal percentage just one time in ISU history -- their 1978-79 MVC championship and Final Four season with Larry Bird.

SERIES HISTORY
» Saturday will be the first-ever meeting between Indiana State and USC Upstate
 
A WIN WOULD...
» Tie a program third-best 23 wins in a single season in the Valley era which dates back to 1976-77.
» Give ISU 23 wins for the first time since 2013-14. ISU has won 23 or more games just four times in the Valley era.
» Give head coach Josh Schertz his first Division I postseason win.
» Give ISU its first-ever CBI win and first postseason win since 2001 when the Sycamores defeated Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

LAST TIME OUT
» Indiana State's Arch Madness run came to a gut-wrenching close with a 71-70 loss to No. 1 Bradley in the semifinals. The fifth-seeded Sycamores overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half to take a one-point lead on a clutch 3-pointer from Courvoisier McCauley with 36 seconds to go but fell victim to a foul call in the last six seconds where Bradley sunk two game-winning free throws.
 
» Cameron Henry and Robbie Avila combined for 24 of ISU's 36 points in the second half and tied for the team lead of 16 points. Henry was 7of-6 from the free throw line in the second half while Avila was 5-of-6. McCauley pulled down a team-high seven boards alongside 14 points including four triples, and Cooper Neese was the fourth Sycamore in double figures with 11 points.
 
» The Sycamores made eight threes in the game, starting off 3-of-3 and shooting 7-of-14 beyond the arc in the first half before shooting just 1-of-8 from three in the second half. Indiana State held Rienk Mast to just two points in the game and allowed just two field goals from him and Malevy combined.
 
» With the Sycamores down 69-61 at 3:08 in the second half and their season on the line, Avila sparked a 9-0 run that saw back-to-back Henry layups that made it 69-67. Bradley called a timeout with a two-point lead, and on its next possession, turned the ball over to McCauley and ISU called its final timeout with 41.6 on the clock.
 
» Out of that timeout, McCauley drained a dramatic go-ahead three that put ISU up 70-69 with 36 seconds to go. Henry blocked a Bradley jumper at 19 seconds, and the Braves got a second chance, but missed the 3-point attempt with nine seconds remaining. On the rebound, Julian Larry was called for an unfortunate, ill-fated foul that sent Bradley to the line for a one-and-one. Leons knocked down both free throws and McCauley launched a desperate last-second shot that did not go in.
 
FOUR SYCAMORES EARN MVC ANNUAL AWARDS
» Courvoisier McCauley - Newcomer of the Year, All-Newcomer Team, Second Team All-Conference
» Cameron Henry - Third Team All-Conference
» Julian Larry - All-Defensive Team
» Robbie Avila - All-Freshman Team
 
MVC TOURNAMENT RECORDS SHATTERED
» The Sycamores recorded the largest margin of victory ever in the history of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with a 97-58 win over No. 12 Evansville in the first round of Arch Madness.
» In the quarterfinal game against Belmont, Cooper Neese set an MVC Tournament record for 3-pointers in a game (nine) and the Sycamores set an MVC Tournament record for team 3-pointers in a game (16).
» In the semifinal game against Bradley, Neese hit two threes to set a record for threes in an MVC Tournament with 16 across the three games.
» The Sycamores set an MVC Tournament record for most team 3-pointers in an MVC Tournament with 37 across the three games.
 
NEESE NAMED TO ARCH MADNESS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
» Neese set multiple MVC Tournament records as he led the Sycamores to a 2-1 record in the tournament with a semifinal appearance. He averaged 21.0 points per game with a season-high 33 points in a quarterfinal win against Belmont. He was the only player on the list who did not appear the championship game.
» He hit nine 3-pointers against Belmont to break the MVC Tournament record for 3-pointers in a single game while the Sycamores hit an MVC Tournament record 16 3-pointers as a team.
» Out of Neese's game-high 33 points, 28 of those came in the second half on a perfect 10-of-10 shooting clip from the field including a perfect 8-of-8 from three in the frame.
» Those nine threes also tied the Indiana State program record for threes in a single game that was set by Marico Stinson against Drake Dec. 30, 2006. His 28 points in his perfect second half tied Larry Bird's second half performance against Houston in the 1977 NIT for the most second half points in program history.
 
VOSS RACKS UP POSTSEASON RECOGNITION
» Courvoisier McCauley was named MVC Newcomer of the Year, Second Team All-Conference, and NABC All-District Second Team.
» McCauley becomes just the third Sycamore all-time to be named MVC Newcomer of the Year, joining John Sherman Williams (1983) and Eddie Bird (1988).
» The All-District honors are voted on by NABC-member coaches across NCAA Division I and McCauley becomes the first Sycamore to garner the honors from the NABC since Tyreke Key in 2021
 
OH CAPTAIN, OUR CAPTAIN
» Head coach Josh Schertz came in second for MVC Coach of the Year voting after leading the Sycamores to 20 regular season wins in his second year at the helm.
» He was named one of 25 finalists for the 2023 Skip Prosser Award which honors those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who display moral integrity off of it as well.
 
CLIMBING THE CAREER LADDER
» With an MVC Tournament record 16 triples through three games at Arch Madness, Cooper Neese now ranks fourth on ISU's all-time list of career 3-pointers at 228.
» Neese played in his 135th career game against Bradley March 4 which put him in front of Jake Odum as ISU's all-time leader in career games played.
 
FRESHMAN IN A BIG MAN'S LEAGUE
» Robbie Avila is just the sixth freshman to score over 300 points at ISU and the first since the 2014-15 season.
» His 16 points against Bradley in the Arch Madness semifinals put him at 338 points which ranks fifth on ISU's all-time list of freshman scoring.
» Going into Arch Madness, he ranked second in the Valley in freshmen scoring behind Belmont's Cade Tyson and ahead of UNI's Michael Duax.


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