SETTING THE STAGE
Indiana State Basketball returns home on Wednesday, November 30 at 8:00 p.m. (ET) to face Northern Illinois inside Hulman Center. The Sycamores are led by junior Brenton Scott who is averaging 20.2 points per game and has hit a team-high 16 3-pointers this season. Everett Clemons leads the team in rebounding at the point guard spot as he is averaging 6.2 caroms per game.
QUICK HITS
- Indiana State is 75-9 when holding teams to 63 points or less under seventh-year head coach Greg Lansing (and 17-0 when limiting teams to 53 or less).
- Indiana State has earned 60 close victories (five points or less) since 2005. Under Greg Lansing, the Sycamores are 34-23 in close games.
- Greg Lansing is just the sixth head coach in the history of the program to record at least 100 victories at the helm of the Sycamores. He needs nine more to tie John Longfellow for fifth on the ISU all-time victories list.
- Sophomore Brenton Scott owns 151 trifectas in his career which is fifth-best in the history of the program.
- Junior Matt Van Scyoc has scored over 1,000 career collegiate points as he tallied 807 in two prior seasons at The Citadel plus 304 with the Sycamores. He now has 1,116 career points scored during his career with the two institutions.
- The Sycamores opened the season with back-to-back overtime games. It is the first time Indiana State has played consecutive overtime games since the 1986-87 season. Of the Sycamores’ first six games, five have been decided by one possession or in overtime, including the opener at Northern Illinois.
- Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing owns four victories over nationally-ranked teams during his tenure, which is tied for the school record with Bill Hodges and Royce Waltman.
- The Sycamores own a 50-39 record in “bounce-back” games under seventh-year head coach Greg Lansing following a loss.
- Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing led the Sycamores for the 200th time against Missouri-St. Louis. He is one of just four head coaches at Indiana State to coach at least 200 games. Duane Klueh, Royce Waltman and Gordon Stauffer are the others.
An Indiana State Win Over Northern Illinois Would ...
• End a two-game skid against the Huskies and be the first win in the series for the Sycamores since a 75-65 win on November 20, 2007 inside Hulman Center.
• Improve the Sycamores to 7-3 all-time against the Huskies in Terre Haute.
The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing (South Dakota, 1990) is 111-92 (.547) overall in his seventh season as a head coach. He is 60-48 all-time in MVC games, including a 41-13 mark at home and a 19-35 record on the road. During his career, he is 64-22 in all home games, 31-52 on the road, 16-18 in neutral court contests and 34-23 in games decided by five points or less. Lansing is 0-1 against Northern Illinois and is 0-0 against the Huskies at home. With the Trees, Lansing is 8-8 in overtime games and 75-9 when holding teams to 63 points or less. Lansing led the Sycamores to the postseason in each of his first four seasons at the helm (2011 NCAA, 2012 CIT, 2013, 2014 NIT). Lansing is the second head coach to lead the Sycamores to the NCAA Tournament in their rookie campaign in the history of the program, with the other being Bill Hodges leading ISU to a 33-1 record and a Final Four appearance in the 1979 NCAA Tournament. Lansing was just the 14th rookie head coach in the history of the MVC to lead his team to 20 victories during their debut season. Lansing is tied with Bill Hodges and Royce Waltman for most victories over a nationally-ranked team (four) in the history of the program. Lansing is currently sixth on the Indiana State all-time coaching victories list and needs nine more to tie John Longfellow for fifth.
Television Particulars
The Sycamores’ game against Northern Illinois will be televised world-wide on The Valley On ESPN3.
A Little History
Indiana State is currently in its 121st season of college basketball at the school. The Sycamores are 1,458-1,259 all-time on the hardwood.
Close Game Alert!
Games involving Indiana State so far this season have, for the most part, come down to the wire. Five of the first six games have been decided by just one possession or have entered overtime. The Sycamores opened the season with back-to-back overtime games. It is the first time Indiana State has played consecutive overtime games since the 1986-87 season when they dropped extra time decisions against Saint Louis and Eastern Illinois. It is the fifth time in school history the program has played back-to-back overtime games and the first time it has happened in the first two games of the year. ISU began the year with road games against Northern Illinois and Ball State -- both of which went an extra five minutes. All three of the Sycamores’ games in Orlando were decided by one possession.
Laquarious Paige Breaks Through To Lead Sycamores Against Iowa State
Indiana State sophomore Laquarious Paige entered the Sycamores’ Thanksgiving Day contest against nationally-ranked Iowa State having scored 37 career points in 37 games played. He led ISU in the narrow loss against the Cyclones with a career-best 20 points on an 8-of-12 shooting effort, including a trio of 3-pointers. He also set a new career-high with two blocked shots and added three rebounds. Paige had just set his previous career high with eight points scored last Saturday in the home opener against Missouri-St. Louis.
TJ Bell Earns First Career Double-Double Against The Cyclones
Indiana State senior TJ Bell enjoyed a resurgence this week as the Sycamores participated in the Advocare Invitational. He averaged 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as she hit 15-of-24 shots from the field (.625) with six blocked shots and three steals. Bell opened the week with his first career double-double against No. 21 Iowa State with 11 points and 10 rebounds, both of which were career highs. He hit 5-of-7 shots from the field (.714 percent) in the narrow 2-point loss to the Cyclones. He went on to record eight points and six rebounds against Stanford before tallying a new career-high 14 points with six rebounds against Quinnipiac.
Brenton Scott Leading MVC In Scoring
Indiana State junior Brenton Scott posted 17 points and six rebounds against Iowa State as he hit a pair of 3-pointers in the narrow loss to the Cyclones. He had a clean look at the buzzer, just as he did in the season opener at Northern Illinois to force overtime. Scott also led the Sycamores with 13 points as they were edged by Stanford on Friday. Through six games, Scott is averaging 20.2 points per game which leads the Missouri Valley Conference.
Oh So Close! Everett Clemons Nearly Posts Triple-Double At Ball State
Indiana State senior guard Everett Clemons scored 11 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to record the Sycamores’ first double-double of the season as part of the overtime win over Ball State. He also posted a career-best nine assists (of the team’s 13) and narrowly missed his first career triple-double and the first by a Sycamore since Jake Odum did it in the 2011 Old Spice Classic (now Advocare Invitational). There have been just two triple-doubles in the MVC era with Odum owning one as well as Larry Bird in 1979. Currently, Clemons is averaging 6.2 rebounds per game which is tied for seventh-best in the league while he leads the MVC with a 5.8 assists per game average.
Scott’s 3-Point Shooting Moving Up ISU Career Ranks
Indiana State junior Brenton Scott is continuing to make his mark on the Sycamore Basketball Record Book in regards to 3-point shooting and points scored. Through 69 career games he has hit 151 3-pointers which ranks fifth-best all-time and is just three behind Travis Inman (1988-92) for fourth place. He has attempted 381 3-pointers in his career which ranks fifth and needs 36 more attempts to move past Chad Adkins (1996-99) for fourth place.
Sycamore Success Against “Power 6” Teams Under Greg Lansing
Under seventh-year head coach Greg Lansing, the Sycamores own five wins in 14 tries against teams from “Power 6” Conferences, and all 14 of those contests have either come on the road or on a neutral court. That trend continued this week at the Advocare Invitational inside the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla., as they began the week against nationally-ranked Iowa State and played Stanford of the PAC 12 on Friday. Coach Lansing has led the Sycamores to a school-record tying four victories against nationally-ranked teams during his time at the helm of the program. He is tied for Bill Hodges (head coach of the Dream Team in 1978-79) and Royce Waltman (head coach of the Sycamores during back-to-back NCAA Tourney trips in 2000 & 2001) for the most in program history. Indiana State’s last win over a nationally-ranked team came on the road against No. 21 Notre Dame on Nov. 17, 2013 (83-70 victory).
63 Is The Magic Number
The Sycamores win by the score of 96-55 on November 19 vs. Missouri-St. Louis was ISU’s first this season in which they held an opponent to 63 points or less and earned the victory. Under seventh-year head coach Greg Lansing, the Sycamores are 75-9 when allowing less than 63 points to the opposition (including a 17-0 mark when holding teams to 53 or less).
Good Starter On The Battery
Indiana State’s starting five outscored the opposition’s top five once this season and earned the win. Under seventh-year head coach Greg Lansing, the Sycamores are 71-22 when the ISU starting five scores more than their opponent’s starters after doing so in the win over Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday evening.
Sycamores Have Had Success In Bounce Back Games Under Head Coach Greg Lansing
In the last seven seasons, the Sycamores have been known as a team with the ability to bounce back from defeat. Since the 2010-11 campaign, the Sycamores are 50-39 in a game which follows a loss. Indiana State last rebounded from a loss at Northern Illinois to down Ball State by the score of 80-74 in overtime on November 15.
Brenton Scott Named To Preseason All-MVC First Team
Indiana State junior Brenton Scott was named to the Preseason All-MVC First Team as announced by the league office on October 25. Scott, who is the only returning first or second team all-conference selection from last season, picked up his first ever all-conference honor last year after being named The Valley’s Freshman Of The Year in 2015. The Sycamores have had at least one all-conference selection in each of the last nine years which is the third-longest active streak among the current membership of the MVC.
Sycamores Picked To Finish Sixth In Missouri Valley Conference Race
Indiana State was picked to finish sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference according to a preseason poll of league head coaches, sports information directors and a media panel. Defending league champion Wichita State was also picked to win the league. The Sycamores are coming a 15-17 record last year and a sixth place finish in the MVC race. Indiana State reached the semifinals of Arch Madness of the fourth time in the last six years last season.
Brandon Murphy An MVC Scholar-Athlete Selection
Indiana State sophomore Brandon Murphy carries a 3.25 GPA in Communications and was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team as an honorable mention selection. Murphy averaged 4.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. In MVC contests, Murphy averaged 5.3 rebounds per game to rank 12th in the league. He pulled down 2.0 offensive rebounds per game to rank third while his 2.4 offensive rebounds per MVC game was second in the conference rankings. Murphy posted his first career double figure scoring output with 10 points in a home court victory over Wyoming. He tallied a career-high 12 rebounds in an overtime contest at Missouri State.
Sycamores Own Third-Best Record In MVC Play Over Last Six Seasons
In the last six seasons under the direction of head coach Greg Lansing, the Sycamores have amassed a total of 60 Missouri Valley Conference victories. Those 60 MVC wins by coach Lansing are second-most in the history of the program as he trails only Royce Waltman who won 69 league games during his tenure. Additionally, the 60 MVC victories for the Sycamores since the 2010-11 campaign ranks third-best among current conference members. Wichita State’s 93 leads the league while Indiana State has 60 and Northern Iowa is second with 67. The next closest program behind the Sycamores in Evansville which owns 55 victories while Illinois State owns 53.
Greg Lansing Selected For Induction Into Iowa High School Basketball Hall Of Fame
Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Basketball Hall of Fame as part of their 2016 class. Lansing and the other selected inductees were honored individually at halftime of the Iowa Class 4A State Championship Game at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on March 12. The IHSAA Basketball Hall of Fame is the highest honor the Iowa High School Board of Control can bestow on a high school coach or former player. Lansing graduated from Harlan High School in 1986, where he was coached by his father Dave, who was inducted into the IHSAA Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 as a coach. The Lansing father/son combination of Dave and Greg are just the 10th father/son duo to both be inducted into the Hall of Fame since 1969.
Sycamore Success Inside Hulman Center Under Greg Lansing
The Sycamores are 63-22 (.741) inside Hulman Center under sixth-year head coach Greg Lansing. The Sycamores have won 53 of their last 71 home games. Additionally, the Sycamores have won 41 of their last 54 MVC games at home. The Sycamores were 10-4 at home last season. Indiana State owns a win in their last meeting with every MVC opponent at home with the exception of Wichita State and Southern Illinois. The longest stretch of consecutive home victories is against Illinois State which has now reached nine.
Up Next
Indiana State hits the road on Saturday, December 3 as they travel to Utah State for a 9:00 p.m. (ET) tip-off that is part of the Missouri Valley/Mountain West Conference Challenge. The game can be seen live world-wide on the Mountain West Network.
