Normal, Ill. —
One percenters? Ninety-nine percenters? Indiana State’s men's basketball team finds itself in a different and unwelcome numerical category.
In the Missouri Valley Conference road games, the Sycamores are the 50 percenters.
In each of ISU’s four MVC road games, their opponent has shot 50 percent or better against the Sycamores. It happened again Wednesday at Illinois State. The Redbirds shot 51.1 percent from the field and rode the easy buckets to a 67-54 victory.
The loss was ISU’s fourth in a row and dropped the Sycamores to 2-6 in conference play.
“We’re executing for about 25 to 30 minutes a game. In the other 10 minutes, we’re just blowing it,” said ISU point guard Jake Odum, who led the Sycamores with 15 points. “Last year, we found ways to win, this year, we’re finding ways to lose.”
Tyler Brown led Illinois State with 24 points. Jackie Carmichael (17 points, 11 rebounds) and John Wilkins (13 points, 11 rebounds) each had double-doubles against the Sycamores.
It wasn't just the easy buckets that hurt ISU. The Sycamores (11-8 overall) hurt themselves with a 53.3 percent performance from the free throw line.
Included were seven misses in the second half.
The last four minutes of the game represented a microcosm of what has ailed ISU in MVC play so far this season. Making it even more painful is that ISU had a lead despite some its woes, but couldn't hold it.
ISU’s lead peaked at 51-48 with 5:05 left, but ISU wouldn’t score a field goal the rest of the way. Illinois State had no such problem. The Redbirds finished the game on a 19-3 run. At one point, the Redbirds scored on eight consecutive possessions.
“Missing shots on the offensive end [ISU shot 26.5 percent in the second half] got us out of whack on the defensive end again,” ISU coach Greg Lansing said. “You have to be able to win close games in this league and they finished on a 19-3 run, so we didn't do what we needed to do to win on either end.”
ISU’s demise may have been hastened by impatience on the offensive end. Leading 51-49 at 4:19, Dwayne Lathan forced a shot in the paint and then turned it over on ISU's next possession. After Brown put Illinois State in front 53-51 with 3:31 left in the game, Jordan Printy took a quick 3-point attempt on the other end that missed the mark.
Lansing had no qualms with ISU’s shot selection in those situations.
“I don't know so much that we had questionable shots. When you shoot 27 percent in the second half about the only way to win is to shut them out,” Lansing said.
The Redbirds (12-7, 4-4) scored buckets at 2:02 and 1:34 to take a 59-51 lead. From there, it shot free throws the rest of the way to build the gap. The Redbirds didn't miss a field goal attempt in the last 3:31 of action.
“At times [earlier in the game], we looked like a young team. We executed, we were patient and we got the right people to take shots. We looked like an older team tonight,” Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich said.
Illinois State set the tone in the first half as it shot 56.5 percent from the field. Though the Redbirds weren't often stopped at any point on the floor, they were particularly deadly in the paint. Illinois State officially had 12 points in the paint, but the Redbirds were able to penetrate seemingly at will and set up opportunities on the perimeter off the drives.
ISU’s first-half saving grace was its patience on the offensive end. Despite Illinois State's shooting prowess, the Sycamores never let the Redbirds build more than five-point lead. The Redbirds led 33-30 at halftime.
The second half seemed to portend an encouraging finish for the Sycamores. After initial problems on the defensive end, ISU clamped down and held the Redbirds to just eight points in a 12-minute span.
ISU did it partly by playing a 2-3 zone defense. Lansing was asked if ISU needs to consider using the zone more to alleviate the points the Sycamores have allowed via its preferred man defense.
“I just think you have to go by certain lineups. With Brown and [Nic] Moore in there together, we didn’t want to do it because those guys can shoot it. You want to get stops and you want to develop toughness [in man defense],” Lansing said. “The bad thing is I don’t want to use it a lot because we haven't devoted tons of time to it in practice.”
A 9-2 ISU run put the Sycamores in a position to win. Lathan was the catalyst for much of the run — scoring five of the points. A R.J. Mahurin tip-in at 5:05 put ISU up 51-48, but it turned out to be the last bucket ISU scored in the game.
The Sycamores go from the frying pan into the fire. ISU travels to play at MVC co-leader Creighton on Saturday.
INDIANA STATE (54) — Mahurin 2-7 2-2 7, Walker 2-6 0-2 4, Odum 5-12 5-7 15, Richard 2-10 0-0 6, Lathan 3-11 1-2 8, Kitchell 2-3 0-0 4, Eitel 1-2 0-0 2, Printy 2-7 0-1 6, McWhorter 1-4 0-1 2. Totals 20-62 FG, 8-15 FT, 54 TP.
ILLINOIS STATE (67) — Ekey 3-9 0-0 8, Carmichael 7-8 3-6 17, Brown 7-10 7-8 24, Moore 0-2 2-2 2, Wilkins 5-9 2-4 13, Cousin 1-6 1-2 3, Upshaw 0-0 0-0 0, Threloff 0-0 0-0 0, Hill 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-45 FG, 15-22 FT, 67 TP.
Halftime score — ILS 33-30. 3-point goals — ISU 6-25 (Printy 2-7, Richard 2-3, Mahurin 1-6, Lathan 1-5, McWhorter 0-2, Eitel 0-1, Odum 0-1), ILS 6-17 (Brown 3-5, Ekey 2-4, Wilkins 1-4, Cousin 0-4). Rebounds — ISU 32* (Lathan 8, Walker 5, Richard 4, Printy 4, Team RB 4*, Mahurin 2, Kitchell 2, McWhorter 2, Odum). ILS 40* (Carmichael 11, Wilkins 11, Ekey 5, Brown 4, Moore 2, Cousin 2, Hill 2, Team RB 2*, Threloff). Assists — ISU 7 (Odum 2, McWhorter 2, Richard, Lathan, Printy), ILS 17 (Moore 5, Ekey 4, Cousin 2, Carmichael, Wilkins). Steals — ISU 8 (Richard 3, Odum 2, Lathan, Kitchell, Printy), ILS 2 (Ekey, Wilkins). Blocks — ISU 3 (Mahurin, Walker, Printy), ILS 3 (Wilkins 2, Ekey). Turnovers — ISU 4 (Mahurin, Lathan, Printy, McWhorter), ILS 12 (Carmichael 5). Total fouls — ISU 20, ILS 16. Fouled out — Odum, Moore. A — 4,189.
Next — ISU (11-8, 2-6) plays at Creighton and Illinois State (12-7, 4-4) plays at Evansville on Saturday.
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