TERRE HAUTE —
Can Indiana State expect any carryover from its record-setting shooting performance Saturday when the Sycamores resume Missouri Valley Conference play against Illinois State at 7:05 p.m. today in Hulman Center?
“Hopefully [hitting all 12 3-point attempts in a 78-68 win over Southern Illinois] will keep our confidence pretty high,” Jordan Printy said after practice Monday.
“It was a win,” was all coach Greg Lansing said about that game.
With all three remaining conference games absolutely crucial to positioning the Sycamores for the upcoming MVC Tournament, they can certainly hope that the sudden outburst of productive shooting continues; Indiana State ranked last in the conference in virtually all the field goal shooting categories going into that game.
On the other hand, if the Sycamores were to play a little better today than they did against the Salukis, they could probably afford to miss a few more shots.
“We didn’t necessarily play our best game against Southern,” agreed Printy, who led the shooting onslaught that game with 6-for-6 marksmanship behind the arc, “but we shot the ball well and that covered up for our mistakes.”
“Before the Bradley game [a road loss on Feb. 8], we’d played awfully well for four games in a row,” Lansing pointed out. “We were still recovering [from that Bradley] game during the Southern Illinois game. I’d like to think our guys will really compete and fight hard together [tonight].”
The line the Sycamores have walked regarding confidence has been an extremely fine one this season. On one hand, they’ve often seemed to be shooting without expecting the ball to go in. On the other hand, they’ve approached some games seeming to expect their reputation to carry them through.
“We’ve been guilty at times of thinking that a good game had us back where we needed to be,” Lansing admitted, “but you have to do it every game.
“And I don’t think there’s any question that shooting is a lot between the ears,” the coach continued. “If you have the slightest thought that you’re going to miss [a shot], you probably will.”
Is good shooting a result of playing well, or is playing well a result of good shooting, Printy was asked.
“We’ve gone through some offensive slumps, went through some stretches — me in particular — when the shots weren’t going,” he said.
Printy said he didn’t really think confidence was the main issue as far as shooting was concerned — but he couldn’t discount the effect of good shooting on other aspects of the game.
“A lot of times when you’re making shots, it picks you team up and there’s plenty of energy on the other end,” he admitted. “But as a team, we try not to let our offense determine our defense.”
Printy’s shooting ruined an entire Southern Illinois defensive game plan on Saturday. If he is back in a shooting groove, it could set up a lot of other offensive options for his teammates.
“Nobody has shot more jumpers — on his own — in the history of this program than he has,” Lansing said of Printy, “so I was happy to see it going through the net [for him] again.”
Printy and his teammates will be looking not only to win tonight but to erase a bad taste from their mouths. Not quite a month ago at Illinois State, the Sycamores had the lead and the ball late in the game, yet somehow managed to lose by 13 points (67-54).
“We’re taking one game at a time,” Printy said. “We went to get out of the [MVC Tournament] play-in game [which would require finishing sixth or better] and we had a tough one at [Illinois State]; we didn’t close that one out the way we needed to.”
Indiana State shot 32 percent from the field in Redbird Arena, incidentally.
“At Illinois State we let some missed shots lead to not being smart at the defensive end,” Lansing said. “[The Redbirds, led by 6-foot-9 Sycamore nemesis Jackie Carmichael] are as talented as anybody in the league.”
Illinois State at Indiana State
Tipoff — 7:05 p.m. in Hulman Center.
Broadcasts — TV: ESPN3 and Comcast Chicago. Radio: WSDM-FM 92.7. Twitter: @TribStarTodd.
Last time out — Indiana State beat Southern Illinois 78-68 on Saturday in Hulman Center, hitting all 12 3-point attempts to set a national record. Illinois State lost 78-63 that day at Northern Iowa.
Series — Illinois State leads 58-48, including a 67-54 win at Normal on Jan. 18. Indiana State has won seven of the last 11, including the last four in Hulman Center.
The players
Indiana State Sycamores (15-11, 6-9 MVC) — G Jake Odum (6-4, So., 10.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.3 apg), G Jordan Printy (6-4, Sr., 7.3 ppg), F Dwayne Lathan (6-3, Sr., 12.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg), F Carl Richard (6-5, Sr., 9.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and C Myles Walker (6-8, Sr., 7.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg) are probable starters. F R.J. Mahurin (6-8, So., 6,.7 ppg), G Steve McWhorter (6-2, So., 4.3 ppg), G Lucas Eitel (6-2, So., 3.4 ppg), F-C Jake Kitchell (6-10, Fr., 2.5 ppg), F-C Justin Gant (6-8, Fr., 1.8 ppg) and F Koang Doluony (6-8, Jr., 0.8 ppg) could also see action.
Coach — Greg Lansing (35-25 in second year at Indiana State).
Illinois State Redbirds (16-10, 8-7 MVC) — G Tyler Brown (6-4, Jr., 13.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg), G Nic Moore (5-9, Fr., 9.0 ppg, 3.9 apg), G-F John Wilkins (6-9, Jr., 7.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg), F Jon Ekey (6-7, So., 9.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and C Jackie Carmichael (6-9, Jr., 13.3 ppg, 9.2 rpg) are probable starters. G Bryant Allen (6-0, So., 8.5 ppg), G Anthony Cousin (5-11, Jr., 4.9 ppg), C Jordan Threloff (6-10, Fr., 3.2 ppg), G Johnny Hill (6-3, Fr., 2.4 ppg) and G Zeke Upshaw (6-6, So., 1.8 ppg) could also see action.
Coach — Tim Jankovich (99-60 in fifth season at Illinois State, 152-117 in ninth season overall).
Next — Both teams have Bracketbuster games on Saturday, Indiana State at Butler and Illinois State at home against Oakland.
— Andy Amey
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