TERRE HAUTE —
For Indiana State’s men’s basketball team, these are hard times.
After entering February in the NCAA Tournament at-large and Missouri Valley Conference title conversation, respectively, the Sycamores have lost four of their last five games. Adding salt to the wounds is a suspension for second-leading scorer Manny Arop, a suspension that remains “indefinite”, according to ISU coach Greg Lansing.
The Sycamores have fallen off from the highs of early February, but it doesn’t mean they can’t climb up back again. That’s the attitude the Sycamores have to take into today’s regular season finale at Evansville.
The Sycamores are coming around to the idea that they’ve lost the identity that got them to such dizzying to begin with. ISU prides itself on grinding teams down with relentless effort, defensive prowess, rebounding and offensive movement.
“The conference tournament is a grind and that’s been our theme. We’ve kind of got away from that. We haven’t been too tough or grinded on teams. We have to get back to that,” ISU point guard Jake Odum said.
Grindability is what ISU wants to get back. Evansville (17-13, 9-8) is a team that also prides itself on grinding teams down and it would seem to be an opponent that can conjure that trait out of the Sycamores.
“It’ll be a good matchup for us. They’re probably the toughest team when it comes to competing and screening and moving as there is in the league. We’re going to have to bring it to beat them on their Senior Night,” Odum said.
For Odum, ISU’s dip in form is also a test of leadership. Without any seniors, Odum and the rest of the juniors are relied upon for leadership. It’s the hard times that test that trait.
“The team’s going to run on how the upperclassmen play and how we lead them, especially me and R.J. We have to set the tone early. I definitely didn’t do a good job of that in the last game. I take responsibility for that,” Odum said.
Meanwhile, Arop’s suspension is still “indefinite” according to Lansing.
Arop, who averages 12.7 points per game, is a key cog in ISU’s battle plan on both ends of the floor. Lansing would not say whether Arop would play on Saturday, but Arop did practice with the team prior to the Evansville game, and Lansing did confirm that Arop’s suspension would be lifted at some point and that he is still part of the team’s plans.
“He’s day-to-day, and as of right now, he’s indefinitely suspended. He’s still an important part of this team. The young man made a mistake and part of my bigger job of winning and losing games is to make them better men. We’ll go day-to-day with Manny for now,” said Lansing, who was then asked what Arop’s future status was.
“He’s going to be back with this team. There’s no doubt about that. We just have to decide that whatever did warrants how many games. We’ll make that decision as we go,” Lansing said.
Arop’s suspension has opened up minutes for others, most notably, Brandon Burnett. The redshirt freshman is still raw, but is getting his chance.
“He’s earned his minutes. We were trying to get him more minutes regardless of how Manny was playing. He’s been competing harder in practice everyday. At this point of the season, you have to use your bench. If you’re going to win three games in St. Louis is three days, you have to have a deep bench,” Lansing said.
ISU (17-12, 9-8) is assured of missing the Thursday play-in round of the MVC Tournament, but the Sycamores are still playing for a higher seed as well as a winning record in MVC play this season.
If the Sycamores beat Evansville and Illinois State defeats Northern Iowa, ISU will have the No. 3 seed at Arch Madness and would play at 9:35 p.m. Eastern Time next Friday against the Redbirds.
If any other scenario plays out in today’s MVC games, ISU will play as either the No. 4 or No. 5 seed against either Evansville or Northern Iowa with a 3:35 p.m. tipoff next Friday.
It is Senior Night for the Purple Aces. Evansville’s Colt Ryan, a 2,000-point career scorer and one-time ISU recruit, will play his final regular season home game tonight.
College
Sycamores want to recover their ‘grindability’
- College
-
-
DeNato proves IU can pitch too
Joey DeNato dispelled the notion that College World Series newcomer Indiana is all about offense.
The junior left-hander threw a four-hitter and the Hoosiers looked mighty comfortable at TD Ameritrade Park while beating Louisville 2-0 on Saturday night. -
Etherington, Moore happy to be with ISU basketball
Not even two weeks into their college experience, Indiana State freshmen men’s basketball players Alex Etherington and Demetrius Moore stood sentinel as 115 kids ran around them collecting basketballs and getting autographs at the Greg Lansing Basketball Camp on Thursday.
-
ISU's Johnson invited to World University Games
Indiana State senior Felisha Johnson will be traveling the world this summer after being named to represent the United States in the women’s shot put at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Close, but no cigar, theme for ISU sports in 2012-13
When I covered my first event of Indiana State’s 2012-13 season — ISU’s opening football game at Indiana — I was the first one in the press box at IU’s Memorial Stadium. I’m never the first one in the press box.
Maybe the prospect of ISU’s season had me so pumped that I decided to get it started close to three hours early? (Or more truthfully, maybe I was over-vigilent about predicted traffic horrors on the Indiana 46 bypass that never came to pass.) -
Q&A: ISU football coach Mike Sanford ready for fall
It’s hard to believe, but Mike Sanford has already been Indiana State’s football coach for six months.
Time flies, but Sanford’s task of preparing for his first season in charge of the Sycamores comes with few breaks. -
Rex streak ends at 7
The Terre Haute Rex table setters — Kyle Kempf and Tyler Wampler — had three of the team’s eight hits Friday at Bob Warn Field, but the Rex offense found itself in a big early deficit for the first time this season.
-
Manaea’s selection puts ISU in spotlight
Once the stress and hang-wringing over where Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea might get drafted was over, the angst subsided and was replaced with a happier emotion. Pride.
-
ISU’s Hope places 13th in NCAA pole vault
Indiana State senior Nicole Hope concluded her final competition of the 2013 outdoor season on Friday as she tied for 13th in the women’s pole vault at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
-
Metro roundup: Former Sycamores take talents to CFL
Former Indiana State players Johnny Towalid and Justin Hilton were signed by teams in the Canadian Football League this week.
-
Exit Minnesota, enter Oregon State on 2016 football schedule
When the Big Ten Conference implemented a nine-game football schedule starting in 2016 and discouraged members from playing Football Championship Subdivision teams, there was one game on Indiana State’s future schedule that was likely on borrowed time.
ISU’s scheduled game at Minnesota in 2016. -
METRO ROUNDUP: Swift reaches finals of NCAA Championships in 110-meter hurdles
Indiana State junior Greggmar Swift will be among the top eight in the NCAA in the 110-meter hurdles after qualifying for Saturday’s finals on Thursday.
Swift ran a time of 13.51 seconds to take third in his heat. He’ll run in either lane 1 or lane 8 on Saturday.
“I got out pretty good and then I hurdled three or four when I got bumped and it threw me off my rhythm,” said Swift, a native of Barbados. “I tried to get back my rhythm … but I held on for the third place.” -
ISU's Manaea selected 34th overall by Royals
Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea selected 34th overall by the Kansas City Royals.
-
Sycamores ready for more NCAA track success
Five of the six Indiana State athletes in Eugene, Ore., already have had some memorable track and field careers for the Sycamores.
But they’ll go ahead and try to add to their list of accomplishments in the NCAA outdoor championships this weekend.
Dustin Betz has been a scorer and key piece of eight Missouri Valley Conference championship teams between track and cross country. He’ll compete today in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as the Sycamores’ second best in the event behind Jordan Fife. -
Mike Lucas joins ISU football staff
What traits do head football coaches seek out when they hire position coaches?
Indiana State football coach Mike Sanford provided insight into that question as he hired former Southeast Louisiana head coach Mike Lucas to his staff Tuesday. Lucas will be the Sycamores’ defensive line coach.
“You have to look at your staff and see what you need. I felt like in this particular case, I wanted an experienced defensive line coach. I feel like we have a mixture of experience and youth and I want to keep that going,” Sanford said. -
TODD GOLDEN: MVC Tourney can be ISU success story if work is done
Prior to last week’s Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament at Illinois State’s Duffy Bass Field, fear and loathing prevailed in some corners of the conference.
It seemed that Missouri State, Creighton, and most notably, Wichita State, had a monopoly on the season-ending tournament since the Coolidge Administration. (It had actually been since 1998.) How could the tournament make it without playing in one of the three aforementioned universities’ big venues? - COLLEGE REPORT: Wabash College All-American relay team has TH flavor
-
Six Sycamores heading to NCAA Track and Field championships
Three Indiana State seniors and a freshman punched their tickets Friday to the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in two weeks at Eugene, Ore. Two more got the job done Saturday on the campus of UNC Greensoboro in the East Preliminary.
-
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.
-
Metro Sports: Chalk up No. 5 for Liz Evans
Senior Liz Evans capped the top career in Rose-Hulman athletics history with her fifth national championship and eighth All-American award at Wisconsin-La Crosse on Friday.
-
Four Indiana State athletes advance to NCAA outdoor track and field championships
Three Indiana State seniors and a freshman have punched their tickets to the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in two weeks at Eugene, Ore., with their Friday efforts in the 2013 NCAA East Preliminary at Aggie Stadium on the campus of North Carolina A&T.
-
Wichita State shuts out ISU to force elimination-game rematch
Indiana State starting pitcher Greg Kuhlman did his best.
Actually, he did far better than he ever has previously in an ISU uniform, but while Kuhlman’s gutty pitching effort spoke volumes, ISU’s bats remained ominously silent. -
Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship
Indiana State’s Wednesday morning wish list probably read something like this: a dominant complete game effort from starting pitcher Devin Moore, near-immaculate defense to support him, and a steady diet of clutch situational hitting from lineup spots one to nine.
-
Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field
Indiana State freshman and Terre Haute North graduate John Mascari is among the enormous group of Sycamores competing this weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary. The top 48 NCAA track and field competitors in each event on this half of the United States are narrowed down to 12 who will compete at the NCAA meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
-
Manaea's shoulder causing him latest pain
Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea has battled through so many aches and pains during the 2013 season that it can be hard to discern the serious pain from the pain he pitches through.
-
ISU's Negele answers call in big way in wake of Manaea injury
When Indiana State starting pitcher Sean Manaea slumped on the mound in obvious pain after he took his warm-up pitches, red flags raised for ISU’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament hopes.
-
ISU baseball hoping Manaea can get its MVC Tournament moving in right direction
Indiana State’s baseball team has been waiting all season for its stars to align.
But this is the 2013 Sycamores, after all, and after a season in which seemingly little has gone right, it appears its stars will remain crossed at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. -
ISU track sending record 22 to postseason
On the heels of their thrilling double victory at the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships both the Indiana State men and women moved up in the national rankings which were released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
-
ISU's athletic treasure trove
Think of every championship that Indiana State has won in each of its sports, past and present. Think of every tournament — postseason or regular season — which the Sycamores have claimed as their own.
-
Ort sets ISU RBI record in 16-7 win
Robby Ort celebrated his Indiana State baseball Senior Day on Saturday by becoming the Sycamores’ all-time leader in RBIs as ISU ended its regular season with a 16-7 win over Bradley at Bob Warn Field.
-
Bradley ends 16-game MVC losing streak against ISU
Momentum was the only thing riding on Indiana State’s baseball game against Bradley on Friday. With a five-game winning streak going, ISU wanted to keep the good vibes going into next week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
ISU couldn’t do it. - More College Headlines
-
Historic Ruling Set in Affirmative Action Case
Tiger on Sergio: 'It's Time to Move On'
Raw: NASCAR Driver Jason Leffler Dies in Wreck
Raw: India Floods Wash Away Apartment Building
Raw: Marines Land Osprey on Japanese Ship
Need an Organ? A Lab-Grown One May Work One Day
Family Tweets Say Kim Kardashian Gives Birth
Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail
Tebow Thanks Patriots for Opportunity
Solar Plane Reaches East Coast
Failed Cuba-to-Florida Swimmer Won't Try Again
Raw: Prince Philip Leaves Hospital After Surgery
Prosecutors Push for Smartphone "Kill Switch"
Colorado Springs Wildfire 65% Contained
Raw: Obama, Daughters Visit Trinity College
FBI Searching Mich. Field in Jimmy Hoffa Case
Raw: FBI Meets Plane After Poison Threat
Raw: Australian Begins Cuba to Florida Swim
Google Launches Internet-beaming Balloons
Obama Welcomes WNBA Champions to White House
Caught on Tape: Davie Teacher Accused of Beating Autistic Child
See Lindsay Lohan in Rehab
"Stay Classy" Campaign Aims to Curb Binge Drinking
Lil Wayne's New Music Video Has Some People Outraged
Gaga Ditches Her Crazy Couture
Sesame Street Tackling Tough Topic Parents in Jail
Miss Utah Fumbles Interview Question
Deranged man claims Newark-bound flight was poisoned
Cameron Diaz and Kate Upton Show Off Their Amazing Bikini Bodies
NBA FINALS: Spurs Win Game 5, Lead Series
Exclusive Clip: Jodi Arias: 'Dirty Little Secret'
Amphibious bus filled with tourists sinks
Best Bikini Abs
Mix-Up at Daytime Emmy Awards
Kim K. Is a New Mommy!
Sarah Silverman Roasts Mel Brooks at AFI Tribute
Moderate Cleric Wins Iranian Election
Obama on Fatherhood: 'Best Job I've Got'
