St. Louis — Indiana State ended the 2009 season with its worst won-loss record (11-21) since 2004. The Sycamores had two losing streaks of seven games or more. ISU was in the play-in round and failed to make it to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals for the eighth season in a row.
Yet with the way ISU ended its season — seven wins in nine games, including an impressive four wins away from Hulman Center — and with ISU losing just one player from the current roster, there’s an optimistic outlook for the future after a season that was alternately nightmarish and exhilarating.
“The finish gave us motivation going into next season. We felt like we played with anyone, no one wanted to play us late.
“We return everybody but Jay, it can only go up from here,” ISU guard Aaron Carter said.
Carter’s words ring true for ISU coach Kevin McKenna. He acknowledged that it was a hard year, but credited the Sycamores for not getting too down in the face of a record that bottomed out at 4-19 early in February.
“I think it wasn’t a successful season in one sense, but you look at how the team came along from where we were and how we finished, the level we were playing at in the end was at a high level, I give the players a lot of credit for sticking with it,” said McKenna on Saturday, one day removed from ISU’s exit from the MVC Tournament.
“They stuck together, they kept competing and made something of the season. Was it successful? No way. But we had some mild success at the end, success we need to build on. We did prove one thing, we can make some things happen. ISU was one of the most dangerous teams in the last third of the season, but it contrasted with the first two-thirds of the season when the Sycamores stumbled badly. Rebounding woes, occasional shooting slumps — and worst of all ... turnover problems — were all on-floor issues that contributed.
McKenna pointed to the side-effects of the departure of Marico Stinson just before the season as well as Harry Marshall’s ineligibility. Young players (Jordan Printy, Carl Richard, Tyler Cutter) were forced to play major minutes and they struggled.
“You can point to a lot of different reasons and things. When we made our nonconference schedule, we planned on having those guys [Stinson and Marshall], and not having those guys, it played into some of it,” McKenna said.
“We were inexperienced at the guard spots. Jordan, Rashad [Reed], Tyler, Aaron [Carter] ... they were all relatively inexperienced, Aaron was the only one who had played a lot,” McKenna added. “Then Rashad breaks his hand. It made it really difficult to get organized, to be organized to play smooth basketball. It was pretty overwhelming and we really struggled, it got us off on the wrong foot.”
ISU gradually corrected the rebounding, shooting and turnover woes and played very well in the final nine games, winning at Illinois State, Missouri State and Southern Illinois along the way.
“Our team can hang its hat that in this season, it could have gone down the drain, but we never quit, we never gave up, we can use that [for next season],” Marshall said.
Based on exhausted eligibility, ISU will lose just one player. Forward Jay Tunnell departs leaving the Sycamore fans begging for more. Tunnell came on in his last nine games, averaging 19.6 points in that stretch. Not only will Tunnell’s loss of production be felt, but ISU does not have a big who has proven that they can score on a regular basis. McKenna is confident, however, that Brant Leitnaker, Isiah Martin and Josh Crawford can fill the roles.
“You’re always looking for big guys, but I really feel if Brant can get healthy, if Isiah improves and if Josh gets stronger — he had flashes of doing some things on the court — if they put all that stuff together and work hard in the off-season, they will be fine,” McKenna said.
ISU should have no problems finding bodies elsewhere on the floor. Marshall, Reed, Printy and Carter form an experienced backcourt and are joined by Tyler Cutter as well as incoming freshmen Jake Odum, Logan Eitel and Lucas Eitel.
Louisiana Tech transfer Dwayne Lathan will be added to the mix and could play anywhere from the two to the four spot. Koang Dulouny will also be able to play after his redshirt year and can play both guard and forward. Carl Richard showed big promise as a rebounder and ISU hopes to make him more of a perimeter and ball-handling threat if he can be moved back to his more natural three-spot. True freshman R.J. Mahurin will also factor into the mix.
“What we can look forward to is our defense will get a whole lot stronger and quicker. It’s a good thing to change up your defense — go big, go small, we can speed up the game — we can use our tempo the way we want it to,” Marshall said.
McKenna, who said at various times that the second season of a coaching stint can be harder than the first, said refinement is the key for ISU returning players and coaches.
“They all have deficiencies in their games, the coaches have deficiencies too. We just need to keep working at it and it all needs to be refined,” McKenna said.
McKenna offered specifics.
“Harry can improve on his ball-handling and his shooting, Rashad can improve his ball-handling and decision-making, Jordan can slide his feet better defensively, Aaron can get better defensively, Josh can get stronger, Brant needs to get healthy, Isiah needs to get stronger, get committed, Carl can improve his ball-handling and perimeter shooting, the incoming guys are going to need to get stronger,” McKenna explained.
“There are things to do, things to work on. It’s easy to think, ‘I’m going to be a year older, and a year better.’ I doesn’t work that way, but we have some kids who want this to happen,” McKenna added.
ISU is on spring break this week. When the players return, McKenna and the coaching staff plans to meet with each of them one-on-one to discuss the future and what needs to be done.
College
Strong finish to 11-21 season helps ISU men's basketball look forward
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ISU's Webb wins heptathlon
Indiana State’s Robert Webb captured the heptathlon Saturday at the Grand Valley State Big Meet as he totaled the second most points in ISU history while dominating the event. Webb scored 5,140 points, which is second only to former Sycamore Anthony Bertoli’s 5,189 points in 2008.
Webb, a senior, established three more personal best efforts enroute to the overall victory as he ran 8.45 in the 60 meter hurdles and 2 minutes, 50.73 seconds in the 1,000 meters while also clearing 13-1 1/2 in the pole vault. Webb entered the second day of the event in the lead with 2,893 points after winning three of the four Friday events and setting personal bests in the long jump and shot put. -
Perfect game: ISU shoots NCAA record 12-for-12 from 3-point range in win over SIU
Indiana State set an NCAA record for 3-point percentage and consecutive 3-pointers made Saturday afternoon in Hulman Center, connecting on all 12 attempts during a 78-68 win over Southern Illinois.
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‘Frustrated’ Sycamores regroup to face Southern Illinois
Indiana State’s men’s basketball struggles have hit one Sycamore senior hard.
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Thomas nets double-double as ISU women end losing streak
The halftime speech is one of the most time-worn clichés in sports, but once in a while, it’s meaningful. It certainly was for the Indiana State women’s basketball team on Friday against Bradley.
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Sycamore women looking to snap six-game losing streak
The Indiana State women’s basketball team is in dire need of a victory in Hulman Center this weekend.
Bradley visits Terre Haute tonight looking to sweep the season series from the Sycamores, who are in jeopardy of the program’s first seven-game losing streak since the 1995-96 season.
“I think it should [add to motivation]. There’s no doubt that group in the locker room in there is very disappointed,” Coach Teri Moren said. “As I keep saying, we’re in a rough patch right now, and there’s no group of kids that wants to get right back on track more than they do.” -
Leonard dominates in first half, but IU, Zeller earn the victory
The first half belonged to Illinois’ Meyers Leonard.
The win belonged to Indiana and Cody Zeller.
The 23rd-ranked Hoosiers (19-6, 7-6 Big Ten) took advantage of a glaring free-throw discrepancy to defeat the Illini 84-71 on Thursday. -
Rose women roll; Dickerson becomes all-time assists leader
Rose-Hulman senior Alisa Dickerson became the college’s career leader in assists as the Engineers cruised past Defiance 60-33 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball Saturday afternoon in Hulbert Arena.
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MVC’s worst a tantalizing option for ISU
Even though the Indiana State men’s basketball team has played better of late, having won three of its last four games, there’s only one team with a worse record in the Missouri Valley Conference standings than the Sycamores.
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Sycamores can’t stop Stutz, Shockers
All or nothing. It was that kind of game for Wichita State center Garrett Stutz. Unfortunately for Indiana State’s men’s basketball team, the “all” came in the second half.
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McWhorter’s fortunes rise with ISU’s
More so than any other Sycamore, Steve McWhorter might embody the decline and the recent rise of the Indiana State men’s basketball team.
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Johnson dominates again for ISU track
Felisha Johnson continued to dominate women’s weight throw while two Indiana State hurdlers moved into today’s finals after solid performances in the preliminaries Friday at the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame.
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Indiana State women lose at Illinois State
Playing short-handed again, Indiana State’s women suffered their sixth straight Missouri Valley Conference basketball loss Friday night, falling 78-67 to host Illinois State.
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Indiana, Purdue meet with both looking to regain momentum
Indiana University’s stint in the Top 25 may be coming to an end. Purdue is just looking for a winning streak.
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ISU women looking to end five-game losing streak at Illinois State
Within a few points in the final minutes, Indiana State had chances to win women’s basketball games at Missouri State and Wichita State last weekend.
But the Sycamores lost for the fourth and fifth straight games, also losing freshman Jessica Valley for the season at Wichita State. The promising backcourt player tore the ACL in her right knee and began strengthening exercises this week in order to make plans for surgery. -
ISU Senior Day game to be televised on ESPN
The Missouri Valley Conference announced Thursday that Indiana State’s regular season finale against No. 12-ranked Creighton on Feb. 25 in Hulman Center has been chosen as the MVC’s “wild card” game that will be telecast on either ESPN or ESPN2.
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Hoosiers load up on in-state players
With a 1-11 record in his first season as IU football coach, Kevin Wilson knew there were a lot of holes to fill in terms of personnel.
- Wabash Valley verbal commitments
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It’s on: Sycamores, Bulldogs to play at Hinkle on Feb. 18
How badly did Indiana State want to get Butler as its BracketBusters opponent?
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METRO ROUNDUP: Four from Rose receive weekly honors
Four Rose-Hulman athletes earned Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference weekly honors, the HCAC announced Monday.
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Hoosiers reclaim needed offensive momentum
Indiana hadn’t allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40 percent in three straight games heading into Sunday’s home game against Iowa.
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Sycamores will have to match Aces’ toughness
Indiana State men’s basketball coach Greg Lansing has an enduring respect for the toughness Evansville coach Marty Simmons coaxes out of his Purple Aces.
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Rose, The Woods post weekend victories
Rose-Hulman relied on a balanced scoring attack and a strong defensive effort to earn a 55-44 women’s basketball victory Saturday over Mount St. Joseph.
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ISU's Stacia Weatherford sets school record in 60-meter hurdles
Indiana State junior Stacia Weatherford set the school record in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, while sophomore Greggmar Swift dominated the action in the men’s 60 hurdles during competition Saturday at the Indiana Relays.
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Rose takes first in Engineer Track and Field Invitational
Rose-Hulman relied on nine event victories, 13 top-two finishes and three school records for a strong performance at the ninth annual Engineer Track and Field Invitational on Saturday.
The men’s squad captured first place honors in a meet that featured two of the nation's top 20 NCAA Division III squads and 12 institutions from seven states. The day’s competition also included 10 meet records. -
Mattox’s 31 not enough for ISU women
Indiana State pulled within 63-57 with a 6-0 run with 8 minutes, 50 seconds remaining Friday night at JQH Arena, but the Sycamores lost 84-70 to host Missouri State in a Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball game.
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Mattox, Sycamores staying positive on road trip to Missouri State, Wichita State
Indiana State seniors Brittany Schoen and Deja Mattox are within striking distance of passing 1,000 points in their women’s basketball careers, and they would join classmate Shannon Thomas in that club. Schoen needs just 16 points, while Mattox is 89 points away.
But Mattox has been on a roll of late, scoring a team-high 15.1 points through ISU’s 4-3 start to Missouri Valley Conference play. -
IU triumphs
When Indiana’s Will Sheehey left the floor after receiving his second technical foul, the Hoosier fans cheered.
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ISU women nipped at buzzer
Creighton sophomore Carli Tritz — blanketed by Indiana State senior Brittany Schoen — had just two points at halftime Friday in Hulman Center.
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ISU needs to find chip on its shoulder
When one looks back at the totality of Indiana State’s 2010-11 men’s basketball season, there’s a recurrent theme that tied together the high points in a 20-14 campaign. A recurrent theme that might give ISU a lifeline in what has been a disappointing 2012 season.
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ISU women look to reverse recent trend vs. Creighton
The Creighton women’s basketball team has won three of their last four games in Hulman Center. While the Bluejays have been one of the winningest programs in the Missouri Valley Conference — with at least 12 league wins in seven of the last nine seasons — the Bluejays’ success in Terre Haute would need to end if the Sycamores want to show that their 4-1 start to league play is not a fluke.
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