It’s a conference crossroads for ISU men at Drake

Sycamores hope to learn from recent slips, take on Bulldogs today

By Todd Golden

TERRE HAUTE — The Indiana State men’s basketball team is at a precarious point in their schedule. More important, it is at a crossroads as far what direction the team goes in mentally.

The precarious schedule begins tonight when the Sycamores travel to play at defending league champion Drake. It is followed by home games against unbeaten Illinois State on Saturday and unbeaten-in-the-league Bradley next Tuesday. The Redbirds and Braves hooked up on Tuesday in Peoria, Ill., to break their deadlock atop the conference. Bradley won 56-52.

The Sycamores will not likely be favored to win any of those games, which brings ISU’s mental approach into play, especially where its first-year players are concerned.

Losing has its lessons, have they been absorbed in a positive way? Are the Sycamores (3-11, 1-1) recognizing their problems and working to solve them? Or, has the losing taken on a life of its own, taking down the confidence and desire of the Sycamores to improve their Missouri Valley Conference lot?

“I look back to my own college experience. During my junior year [Creighton was 16-12 in 1980], we lost a lot of close games. That following year, we won them [Creighton was 21-9 in 1981 and made the NCAA Tournament]. We learned the lessons. You hope it doesn’t happen that they lose confidence, they lose their drive, they lose their enthusiasm for the game. We’ve tried to guard against that,” ISU coach Kevin McKenna said.

“We want to give our players confidence, but we don’t want to let them off the hook, we can’t be too soft on them either. There’s a fine line between being negative all the time and not being able to feel like you’re not progressing,” McKenna added.

ISU guard Jordan Printy, returning home to Iowa for the second time this season, can’t quite put a finger on why the Sycamores have struggled to conjure a 40-minute stretch where they avoids turnovers and/or dominance by their opponent on the boards.

“I’m not really sure what it is, but we’re going to try and bounce back as best we can. We played really well at times against Evansville [a 65-59 loss on Sunday], but we need to move on and do better against Drake,” Printy said.

Drake’s fortunes contrast ISU’s. While the Bulldogs (11-4, 2-1) are not the all-conquering phenomenon they were last season, they are still basking in the afterglow of their championship season with returning experience and the confidence gained in a surprise run. After a conference-opening loss at Evansville, Drake defeated Missouri State at home and won at Southern Illinois

Former point guard svengali Adam Emmenecker moved on with one of the unlikeliest MVC Player of the Year campaigns in tow and Drake is playing a more balanced style without him, but there’s plenty in the Bulldog cupboard. With veterans Jonathan Cox and Josh Young leading the way, Drake expects to win at the Knapp Center.

“These guys have been through tough games, home and away over the last two seasons. They’ve won games they were behind in and they don’t get fazed if they do fall behind,” said first-year Drake coach Mark Phelps during Tuesday’s MVC coaches teleconference. “They’ve given me confidence with the way they’ve played.”

ISU will once again don its 1979 jerseys. The Sycamores are 1-1 in the uniforms, claiming a win at Northern Iowa on Dec. 28 in their debut appearance.

Today’s probable lineups

Indiana State Sycamores (3-11, 1-1)

Pos Player Ht Yr Rpg Ppg

G Harry Marshall 6-0 Jr. 3.2 16.0

G Rashad Reed 6-1 Jr. 3.5 10.4

F Aaron Carter 6-4 So. 3.9 10.0

F Jay Tunnell 6-8 Sr. 6.1 10.8

C Brant Leitnaker 6-10 So. 1.3 3.1

Coach — Kevin McKenna (18-27 in his 2nd season at ISU, 107-60 overall)

Drake Bulldogs (11-4, 2-1)

Pos Player Ht Yr Rpg Ppg

G Craig Stanley 5-11 Jr. 1.3 7.5

G Josh Young 6-1 Jr. 3.7 17.7

F Brent Heemskerk 6-8 Sr. 5.7 5.3

F Jonathan Cox 6-8 Sr. 8.5 12.8

F Adam Templeton 6-5 Jr. 4.3 6.2

Coach — Mark Phelps (11-4 in his first season at Drake)

* assists per game

Game at a glance

Tipoff — 8 p.m. today at Knapp Center, Des Moines, Iowa.

Broadcasts — Radio: WSDM (92.7-FM). Internet: gosycamores.com

Injuries — For ISU, G Tyler Cutter (ankle) is out; G Harry Marshall (ankle) and F Jay Tunnell (knee) are probable.

Last games — ISU to Evansville 65-59 and Drake won at Southern Illinois 67-60 on Sunday.

Series — Tied 33-33. Drake defeated ISU three times last season, including a Bulldog win in the MVC Tourney. ISU last won in 2007 and has not won in Des Moines since 1998.

Next games — ISU plays host to Illinois State on Saturday. Drake plays host to Wichita State on Sunday.

— Todd Golden