VALPARAISO, Ind. – Indiana State heads to northern Indiana on Wednesday night to take on the Valparaiso Beacons at 8 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
Wednesday night's matchup is set to be the 96th meeting between Indiana State and Valparaiso. Indiana State leads the series 59-37 and holds a 27-21 record when playing in Valparaiso. The Sycamores have won four straight against the Beacons.
In the last time on the court, Indiana State men's basketball got back into the win column on Saturday afternoon with a road victory against the Evansville Purple Aces.
Jaden Daughtry came off the bench to lead the Sycamores with a game-high 26 points on 9-for-17 shooting in 24 minutes. The sophomore finished perfect from the line, 8-for-8. He was the only Sycamore in double figures, though
Aaron Gray,
Jahni Summers, and
Samage Teel all scored eight points apiece. Teel finished with team highs in rebounds (five), assists (seven), and steals (three). The Sycamores made all six free throws within the final minute to overcome closing out the final 2:48 without a field goal, in combination with holding Evansville to only one field goal in the final 4:40 of the game. Indiana State scored 16 points in the last 9:15 of the game, where eight points came from field goals and eight from the free throw line.
Valparaiso is coming off an 80-73 home victory against preseason No. 2. Northern Iowa on Saturday. Jefferson Da La Cruz Monegro scored 20 points to lead the team, followed by Tyler Schmidt with 15. Valpo led the final 35 minutes of the game.
Jaden Daughtry leads the Sycamores in scoring through the last five times on the court, scoring 17.2 points per game. He set a career high on December 29 at Ohio State with 25 points, then set another career high two games later at Evansville with 26. The sophomore is shooting 60.9% from the field in the last five games with a 30-for-40 mark from the free throw line.
Samage Teel is scoring 16.8 points per game in the last five games and still leads the team in season scoring with 17.1 per game. Teel is joined by
Markus Harding (52.0%),
K'mani Doughty (50.0%) and
Jahni Summers (50.0%) that rounds out five Sycamores shooting 50% or better from the field in the last five games (min. 20 field goal attempts).
Coach Graves and Co. appear to have found their starting rotation as the Sycamores ran out the same starting five in each of the last five games:
Samage Teel,
Camp Wagner,
K'mani Doughty,
Bruno Alocen, and
Markus Harding.
After Wednesday's game, Indiana State returns home on Saturday. January 11 to host Belmont at 1 p.m. ET. Indiana State will honor its Hall of Fame inductees during the game. The 2024 Hall of Fame Class features Dr. Daniel Bradley (President), Mike Eberle (Baseball),
John Gartland (Cross Country/Track & Field), Kelsey Luna (Women's Basketball), and Peter Magnusson (Men's Tennis).
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