IOWA CITY, Iowa —
For 20 minutes on Wednesday, Indiana State showed the nation why it earned a National Invitation Tournament bid.
For the last 20 minutes, the Sycamores showed why they lost seven of their last nine games.
After controlling parts of the first half, ISU trailed by one at halftime, but its second-half inability to prevent mistakes ensured that its season would come to an end. Iowa won 68-52 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“We didn’t contest them as well in the second half as we did in the first half. It came down to us defensively again. It’s something we have to fix or we’re never going to accomplish anything,” ISU forward R.J. Mahurin said.
Justin Gant led ISU with 16 points, but he was the only Sycamore who scored in double figures. Devyn Marble led Iowa with 24 points. Aaron White chipped in a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
ISU (18-15) met its end thanks to turnovers and lack of concentration on both ends of the floor to end the first half and to start the second half.
ISU had six turnovers in the first five minutes of the second half — three by point guard Jake Odum — and Iowa took maximum advantage with a 16-4 run to put the game out of the Sycamores’ reach. ISU missed 11 of its first 14 shots in the second half.
“We were right there. We were right there with a very good team, a team that we still think we could have beat,” ISU coach Greg Lansing said. “But when you play like that, it comes down to possession basketball a lot of times and you can’t just hand them [the ball]. They are so good in transition.”
Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey was surprised the Hawkeyes could force Odum to give the ball up.
“That kid is as good a point guard as I’ve seen on film all year long. I mean that sincerely,” McCaffrey said. “I have not seen him turn it over as much as he turned it over tonight.
“We changed how we are playing ball screens with him. We pressed him a little and we played zone and man. We tried to take away his space. The other thing? We kept him off the free throw line,” McCaffrey added.
Included in ISU’s rough start to the second half was an embarrassing technical foul for having six players on the floor at the 14:20 mark. There was miscommunication between Khristian Smith, who entered the game, and Manny Arop, for whom Smith was substituting.
“It was a miscommunication between Khristian and me. It had nothing to do with the result of the game,” Arop said.
After Zach McCabe made the pair of technical foul free throws to put the Hawkeyes up by nine, he buried a pair of 3-pointers to put Iowa up 47-34.
“That was really big there in that stretch. I thought even before that, I mean, obviously, we’ve got six guys on the court. We were a little out of whack in all areas to start the second half,” Lansing said.
The Sycamores couldn’t land any punches in the second half, and once Iowa took the lead, the game was effectively over.
While the second half was nightmarish, the first half had offered promise. ISU staked itself to a 6-0 lead on the strength of two Mahurin 3-pointers, but Iowa came back and took an 11-9 lead at the 11-minute mark as the game morphed into its expected defensive grind.
The Sycamores then took the initiative. A 12-2 run propelled ISU to a 21-13 lead. Gant and Dawon Cummings provided all of the scoring during the run, Cummings on breakaways off Iowa turnovers, Gant primarily in the paint.
But after their early success, the game turned on a dime against the Sycamores. ISU led 26-18 when the Hawkeyes — who spent most of the half shooting in the 20-percent range — heated up and got more opportunities in transition. The Hawkeyes (21-12) finished the half on a 13-2 run to take a 31-30 halftime lead.
Iowa’s ability to score in transition was something that had been emphasized prior to the game..
“They got a lot of fast-break points and that was one of the main things we talked about coming in here,” Arop said. “It’s been kind of the case towards the end of the season. We haven’t been able to come through. We haven’t been able to stop things the coaches had on the scouting report.
“We had two things on our board today. We couldn’t give them transition and we had to keep them off the offensive boards [Iowa had 17 offensive rebounds]. It’s very frustrating.”
Had ISU won, it would’ve hosted a NIT game. No. 2-seeded Massachusetts was upset by No. 7-seeded Stony Brook 71-58 in another Wednesday NIT contest.
INDIANA STATE (52) — Arop 1-3 0-0 2, Mahurin 2-8 0-0 6, Gant 6-14 4-4 16, Cummings 2-6 0-0 4, Odum 2-6 0-0 5, Kitchell 0-1 0-0 0, Eitel 1-2 0-0 3, Brown 2-3 2-3 6, R.Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Burnett 1-4 4-4 6, K.Smith 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 19-50 FG, 10-11 FT, 52 TP.
IOWA (68) — Basabe 4-9 1-2 9, White 3-8 5-7 11, Woodbury 2-3 0-0 4, Marble 7-15 8-10 24, Gesell 1-5 0-0 2, Olaseni 1-2 0-2 2, Oglesby 1-3 0-0 3, Clemmons 0-0 0-0 0, Rickert 0-0 0-0 0, Denning 0-0 0-0 0, McCabe 2-8 2-2 8, Ingram 0-0 0-0 0, May 1-4 2-3 5, Stokes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 FG, 18-26 FT, 68 TP.
Halftime score — Iowa 31-30. 3-point shooting — ISU 4-17 (Mahurin 2-7, Odum 1-2, Eitel 1-2, Cummings 0-3, Arop 0-1, Gant 0-1, Burnett 0-1), Iowa 6-19 (Marble 2-5, McCabe 2-5, May 1-2, Oglesby 1-2, Gesell 0-3, White 0-2). Rebounds — ISU 27 (Odum 7, Cummings 4, Gant 3, Burnett 3, Arop 2, Brown 2, Team 2, Mahurin, Kitchell, Eitel, K.Smith), Iowa 42 (White 13, Basabe 8, Marble 5, Olaseni 3, McCabe 3, Team 3, May 2, Oglesby, Clemmons). Assists — ISU 12 (Cummings 5, Odum 3, Arop, Mahurin, Eitel, Burnett), Iowa 11 (Marble 6, White, Gesell, Oglesby, McCabe, May). Steals — ISU 7 (Gant 2, Odum 2, Brown 2, Cummings), Iowa 9 (Marble 4, May 2, White, Gesell, Ingram). Blocks — ISU 0, Iowa 4 (Olaseni 2, Basabe, Woodbury). Turnovers — ISU 16 (Odum 6, Arop 2, Brown 2, K.Smith 2, Mahurin, Cummings, Kitchell, Burnett), Iowa 13 (White 4, Woodbury 3, Clemmons 3, Marble, Gesell, Olaseni). Total fouls — ISU 17, Iowa 13. Fouled out — Cummings. Technical foul — ISU team. A — 15,400.
Next — Iowa (22-12) will play host to Stony Brook. ISU concluded its season at 18-15.
College
Related Photos
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Indiana State center Justin Gant, left, fights for a loose ball with Iowa center Gabriel Olaseni during the first half of a first-round game in the NIT college basketball tournament on Wednesday, March 20, 2013, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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Indiana State Sycamores forward Manny Arop (3) puts up a shot against Iowa Hawkeyes forward Aaron White (30) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the first round of the NIT Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Brian Ray/The Gazette-KCRG)
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Indiana State center Justin Gant, right, drives around Iowa forward Melsahn Basabe during the first half of a first-round game in the NIT college basketball tournament onWednesday, March 20, 2013, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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Iowa guard Devyn Marble, right, passes around Indiana State guard Dawon Cummings, left, during the first half of a first-round game in the NIT college basketball tournament on Wednesday, March 20, 2013, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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Indiana State Sycamores center Justin Gant (5) goes to the hoop between Iowa Hawkeyes forward Aaron White (30) and center Gabriel Olaseni (0) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the first round of the NIT Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Brian Ray/The Gazette-KCRG)
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Iowa guard Devyn Marble, right, shoots over Indiana State forward RJ Mahurin during the first half of a first-round game in the NIT college basketball tournament on Wednesday, March 20, 2013, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Discussion
Second half dooms ISU; Iowa wins NIT opener 68-52
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Sycamores bow out of MVC Tournament
Indiana State’s baseball was out of pitching, and after a loss to Wichita State on Thursday, the Sycamores were out of second-chances too at the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament. What the Sycamores weren’t out of was heart, guts and clutch performances from some unlikely sources. But in the end, Friday’s elimination game rematch against the Shockers was a sampling of ISU’s season overall — the Sycamores were out of luck.
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Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field
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Ort sets ISU RBI record in 16-7 win
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Bradley ends 16-game MVC losing streak against ISU
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ISU couldn’t do it. -
Behind 16 hits and Manaea's pitching, ISU beats Bradley
Indiana State’s baseball team rode a wild ride of emotion on Thursday.
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Metro roundup: Woods softball takes seventh in national tournament
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ISU baseball team builds on success with 14-2 rout
Indiana State’s baseball victory over Alcorn State on Friday would take on more meaning Saturday if the Sycamores could build momentum and pick up on the good work they did in Friday’s ninth-inning rally.
Mission accomplished.
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Moore’s eight innings of work were as valuable as gold to an ISU team that is short on quality arms due to injury and ineffectiveness. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning and one of the two runs he conceded was unearned. -
Johnson, Lyke win MVC titles for ISU
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ISU earns badly-needed win
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Metro roundup: RHIT’s Evans sets Div. III record in high jump
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ISU’s Mascari and Hope win MVC track & field titles
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ISU pole vault tradition continues with help from its author
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Sycamores searching for answers after seventh loss in eight games
These are the bad times for the Indiana State baseball team.
The will is there for the Sycamores to pull out of their worst slump of the season, but the results are not. The suffering continued on Wednesday at Bob Warn Field as Eastern Illinois defeated ISU 5-3. -
METRO ROUNDUP: ISU men's track picked first in MVC Championships, women second
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That may change this year, but the Sycamores will face some stiff competition in their quest for the championships. -
North grad Welker helps Whitson earn first NCAA bid as coach
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman wins HCAC all-sports trophy
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman tennis falls in HCAC semifinal
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Manaea fights off bad hip, wet weather to toss four innings
Mother Nature has been the bane of the Indiana State baseball team’s existence all season. Eight games wiped due to weather are a testament to that. So it was no surprise, though no less disappointing, when she didn’t deal Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea the greatest hand on Saturday as he tries to recover from a hip injury.
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ISU track enjoys big night at IU's Billy Hayes Invitational
The Indiana State Sycamores either won or finished as the top collegian in 12 events, led by the record-breaking performance of senior Brandon Pounds at the 2013 Billy Hayes Invitational Friday at Indiana University.
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