TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State men's basketball fell to Evansville inside Hulman Center on Wednesday, 79-74. Indiana State fell to 13-15, 7-10 MVC while Evansville improved to 11-17, 8-9 MVC.
 
Samage Teel got the scoring underway for the Sycamores just over two minutes into the game with a right-wing three. A couple minutes later, Teel dished it off to Aaron Gray in the corner for a triple, and those were the only points for Indiana State through the media timeout, 9-6 Evansville's lead.
 
Indiana State took its first lead of the game with three free throws by Teel at the 12:50 mark. That was part of a Sycamore 9-0 run, starting down 11-8 and taking a 17-11 lead with 11:54 remaining in the half. Teel contributed on all nine points (five points, two assists).  
 
The Purple Aces responded with their own 13-2 run where the Sycamores shot 1-for-5 in the span. Indiana State called a timeout down five, 24-19, with 8:30 left on the clock.
 
Evansville extended the lead up to double digits, 38-27, at the final first-half media timeout at 3:43. The Purple Aces made their last 7-of-9 baskets. Daughtry kept the Sycamores in the fight with two-straight baskets in the paint for Indiana State.
 
Following the media timeout, both teams made only three field goals, for Indiana State it was none other than Teel and Daughtry. Daughtry drained a three-pointer a second before the halftime buzzer sounded to send Indiana State into the locker room down 10 at the break, 46-36.
 
Daughtry (15) and Teel (14) combined for 29 of the Sycamores' 36 first-half points on 11-for-17 shooting from the field. Teel had three rebounds and six assists through the first half. Indiana State shot 13-for-26 (50.0%) from the field at the break and 3-for-11 (27.3%) from deep. Evansville shot 18-for-38 (47.4%) from the floor and 30.8% (4-for-13) from three.
 
The Sycamores opened the second half with three different Sycamores finding the rim, starting with K'mani Doughty draining a three from the right side. Through the timeout at 15:19, the Sycamores found themselves still down 10, 54-44.
 
Jayan Walker got into the action by knocking down a pair of free throws and made a tough layup at the rim in the next possession. That got Indiana State within six with 14:18 to go, 57-51.
 
The next eight minutes of play saw Evansville use a 14-9 scoring span to lead 71-60 with 6:14 to play. Four Sycamores scored – Daughtry, Teel, Walker, and Derek Vorst.
 
From this point through the next four minutes, Indiana State used an 11-0 run to climb all the way back into the game.
 
Right with four minutes left in the game, Indiana State found themselves down six, 72-64, but it was Indiana State that scored four points in in the last two minutes leading up to the under-four media timeout. All four points came from the free throw line, courtesy of Vorst and Doughty.
 
Coming out of the timeout, the Sycamore defense forced a turnover and made both attempts at the one-and-one to again put the Sycamores down six, 72-66.
 
In the next offensive possession, Teel passed ahead to Doughty who knocked down a triple to put Indiana State within a basket. The Sycamore defense came up strong again in the trip down the court, forcing a shot clock violation by Evansville. Doughty made a pair of shots at the line and the Sycamores trailed 72-71.
 
After two free throws by Evansville, Teel drained a three-pointer from the right wing to tie the game at 74 with just over a minute to play.
 
Two free throws by the Purple Aces were followed by an Evansville defender blocking a Sycamore shot at the rim, only for Evansville to make a free throw at the other end to go up three. A three-pointer by Teel was off the mark, and Evansville went on to win, 79-74.
 
Jaden Daughtry led all scorers with 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field, knocking down two threes and grabbing a team-high six rebounds. Samage Teel scored 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting, playing all 40 minutes of the game. He dished out a game-high nine assists and recorded five rebounds. He made 7-of-8 from the line. K'mani Doughty scored 10 points, including making 4-of-4 from the line.
 
News & Notes

• Indiana State assisted on 14-of-22 made field goals, marking the second-straight game with 14 assists.
• The Sycamores gave up 16 second-chance points to Evansville in the first half, but stiffened up to not allow any in the second half.
• Every Sycamore that got into the game recorded two or more rebounds.
• The Sycamores made 22-of-26 (84.6%) attempts from the free throw line. In the last four games, the Sycamores' average is 84.5%.
• Samage Teel and Jaden Daughtry combined to score 44-of-74 Sycamore points.
• Samage Teel needed 21 points tonight to record 1,500 points in his career. He scored exactly that and now has 1,500 points, 350+ rebounds, and 350+ assists in his career.
  • His nine assists tie his MVC high, now done three times.
  • His 21 points mark the 14th time this season going over 20 points.
• Jaden Daughtry's 23 points marked the sixth time going over 20 points.
• The last time Indiana State had two players score 20+ points in a game happened on January 11 versus Belmont, which also was Daughtry (23) and Teel (20).
• Derek Vorst started his first collegiate game and played just over 16 1/2 minutes, recording four points, five rebounds, and an assist.
• Bruno Alocen recorded two blocks in the game, the first two in his debut season.

 
Postgame Press Conference Presented by Team Green Law


Up Next
The Sycamores in the road for a two-game swing trip south, first heading to Nashville on Saturday, February 22 to play Belmont at 6 p.m. ET.
 
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on Sycamore Basketball, visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the App Store and the Google Play Store.