RUSTON, La. – Indiana State men's basketball dropped the second-straight game, this one to Alcorn State, 81-74, on the campus of Louisiana Tech. The Sycamores fall to 4-4 on the season.
The Sycamores were led by
Sterling Young with 18 points.
Camp Wagner added 14 points while
Ian Scott and
Xavier Hall added 12 points each. Wagner,
Markus Harding, and Enel. St. Bernard all contributed five rebounds.
Jo Van Buggenhout, Wagner, Hall, and St. Bernard each tallied three steals.
The Braves jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but Young would make the first shot for the Sycamores to bring the score to 4-3 in the opening minutes. Harding would score in the paint to give the Sycamores their only lead of the game with 17:50 on the clock.
The lead would last just 26 seconds before the Braves would go on an 8-0 run to lead 12-5. The Sycamores would respond with their own 7-0 run to tie the game at 12 apiece with 11:41 left in the opening half. Alcorn State would end the half on a 24-4 run and go into the locker room at the halftime break, 36-16. The Sycamores ended the half shooting just 2-of-16 (12.5%) from the field after the 11:41 mark.
The Sycamores would come out of the half looking to make up some ground with a quick and-one conversation from Scott and a layup by Harding to cut the lead to 15, 36-21. The teams would trade baskets back-and-forth with the Braves holding about a 13-point lead nearing the halfway point in the second half. Indiana State would go just 2-of-6 (33.3%) from the field and 1-of-2 (50.0%) from beyond the arc from 11:43 to 7:33 on the clock.
Alcorn State took its largest lead of the game at the 8:22 mark (22 points, 66-44). Later, coming out of the under-eight media timeout, the Sycamores would score six straight to close the gap to 10 for the first time in the half. Those six points were the only points scored by either team from 7:33 through 4:51 when Wagner drained a three-pointer.
Trailing 70-56 with 3:28 remaining, Indiana State scored nine unanswered points in one minute, six seconds to cut the deficit to 70-65 with 2:17 to play. The run was ended with Scott recording a steal and knocking down a three, only for Wagner to swipe a pass and make a layup.
Alcorn State outscored Indiana State 6-1 over the next minute to lead by 10, 76-66, with only 50 seconds remaining. Wagner drilled a triple and Young made a layup from a Wagner assist to trail again by five, 76-71 with 29 seconds to play. After a Brave free throw, Hall took it the length of the court and converted an and-one layup, bringing the Sycamores within a bucket, 77-74, with 23 seconds left. Alcorn State made two pairs of free throws that sandwiched a Sycamore missed three-pointer to seal the victory, 81-74.
News & Notes
- Indiana State scored 16 points in the first half of today's game. According to stats on hand, it's the lowest mark in a half since January 2, 2019 when the Sycamores scored 12 at Loyola Chicago.
- Alcorn State picked up the first win of the season following an 0-7 start.
- All the Braves' opponents – at the time of writing – are above .500 on the season: Florida State (now 5-1), South Alabama (6-1), Minnesota (4-3), Maryland (4-3), Howard (4-3), LSU (5-0), and Oklahoma (5-2).
- Through the eight games, opponents are outscoring Indiana State 297-259 in the first half. In the second half of games, Indiana State outscores the opposition 324-282.
- Against Division I opponents, Indiana State has been outscored 254-200 in the first half, and in the second half Indiana State is ahead 279-252.
- Indiana State recorded 15 steals in the game. The last time the Sycamores had 15+ steals in a game was February 9, 2011 at Illinois State (16).
- Indiana State scored 58 points in the second half on 50.0% (18-for-36) shooting from the field.
- The Sycamores shot 23 free throws in the second half, compared to only two attempts in the first half. The Sycamore offense forced Alcorn State to commit only four fouls in the first half versus 14 in the second half.
- Shooting only 37.5% (24-for-64) as a team, this is the fourth time in this season's eight games that Indiana State has finished 39.9% from the field or worse.
- The team's 74 points are the third-most this season through eight games (104 vs. Illinois Tech, 76 at Charlotte).
- The Sycamores turned 12 offensive rebounds into 18 second chance points, compared to Alcorn State's seven second chance points.
- This marks the second-highest total of the year (23 vs. Illinois Tech).
- Alcorn State's 20 team turnovers are the most forced by the Sycamores this season (Illinois Tech 17, SIUE 15).
- Indiana State finished 6-for-29 from deep (20.7%), the lowest mark of the season.
- The Sycamores were beaten on the boards for the third time in four games (-10 margin). Over the last four games, the team's average rebounding margin is -5.75.
- The Sycamores were led in scoring by Sterling Young (18) and Camp Wagner (14), and both combined to shoot perfect from the free throw line (Young 7-for-7, Wagner 4-for-4).
Up Next
The Sycamores return to action at home on December 2 at 7 p.m. ET to take on Eureka for Baby Blue Night. Following that game, Indiana State hosts Southern Indiana on Sunday, December 7 at 1 p.m. ET.
