Morehead, Ky. —
Indiana State swingman Khristian Smith put it best in describing the Sycamores’ 71-63 loss to Morehead State on Saturday.
“They came out and punched us in the face,” Smith said.
ISU not only took the first punch from the spirited Eagles, but did little to parry any of the blows that followed.
The Sycamores lost their mojo deep in the foggy mountains of eastern Kentucky, and despite the best efforts of the foul and turnover-prone Eagles to let them recover it, ISU never did. The resulting loss left the Sycamores maligning their toughness.
“You have to give them a ton of credit. They were the tougher team today, there’s no question. They completely asserted themselves at both ends of the floor,” ISU coach Greg Lansing said.
Smith led the Sycamores with 20 points, a career-high. Manny Arop added a career-high 19 and Jake Odum had 15, but little went right for ISU.
The lively Eagles forced their style of play — frantic and kinetic ball pressure — on the Sycamores and ISU could not muster the energy, nor conjure the mistake-free play, needed to handle it.
“You go on the road against a team like this that puts ball pressure on … you have to be tough. You have to attack, you have to come to the ball, you have to want the ball. You can’t just be afraid to not make a play. We just didn’t come out from the get-go,” Odum said.
The Sycamores had 17 turnovers and shot 22.7 percent from 3-point range. Morehead State shot 48.9 percent and 52.9 percent from 3-point range.
ISU’s response to strong starts to both halves was a lack of calmness that Lansing lamented.
“It’s hard to simulate that stuff in practice, we don’t play teams like this often, but you have to handle it with calmness. They want to create chaos and they did that in too many minutes and too many spurts today. We didn’t handle it well,” Lansing said.
ISU’s inability to stay cool was reflected in its shooting, particularly its 3-point shooting. ISU was 5 of 22 from 3-point range. ISU has struggled all season from long-range, but it’s struggles on Saturday has as much to do with some hurried shots as it did inaccuracy.
“We just can’t settle. We haven’t shot the ball well all year. When we swing the ball around, we have to attack more and be more aggressive. We have to attack. We have to get the ball in the paint and score,” Odum said.
Lansing thought most of ISU’s 3-point attempts were sound. He wants ISU to take open jumpers when it has them. ISU is shooting 31.7 percent from 3-point range this season.
“I thought most of them were good shots. A couple were quick. It’s something we have to keep working on,” Lansing said.
ISU (4-3) couldn’t match Morehead State’s energy on either end of the floor. The Eagles jumped to a 9-2 lead, using its pressure defense to give its half-court offense energy.
ISU never really got the hang of the tempo in the opening 20 minutes. The Eagles (5-5) forced 10 first half turnovers, seven in the first 10 minutes alone. ISU tried to mix and match combinations without success. At times, ISU tried to shoot its way out of trouble, but hurt itself in the bargain, as ISU was 1 of 7 from 3-point range in the first half.
“Their tempo dictated the whole game. We rushed a few things. We couldn’t get over the hump,” Smith said.
Morehead State had a 13-point lead with 3:03 left in the half before its frantic style of play began to work against it. Morehead State is last in the NCAA in fouls (26 per game) and that weakness began to show in the final three minutes.
ISU finished the half on a 9-2 run to cut its halftime deficit to 32-26 as all of ISU’s points were scored at the free throw line.
ISU’s deficit was cut to three just after the break, but then it went back into a funk. A 13-0 Morehead State run gave the Eagles their biggest lead at 45-29.
To that point in the half, ISU had made 1 of 6 from the field and had three turnovers. Smith — one of the few ISU bright spots — got ISU’s ship turned around. He converted a three-point play at 14:04 that sparked a 10-0 ISU run, which cut the deficit to 45-39.
ISU would close the gap to 49-46 and 52-49, but in each case, Morehead State answered with a 3-point bucket to maintain the gap.
ISU closed the gap to 59-57 with 2:56 left and had a possession to tie the game, but an Odum shot didn’t fall at 2:07. The Eagles once again got a timely 3-point bucket — this time by Angelo Warner with 1:01 left — to restore a multi-possession lead.
ISU would not get within a possession again. The Sycamores couldn’t string together successive shots to get back in it as ISU made just one of its last seven 3-point attempts.
ISU has exams this week. It returns to action next Saturday with a game at IUPUI.
“We have to be tougher. Coach Lansing said we can’t turn it on like a light switch. It always has to be turned on,” Odum said.
INDIANA STATE (63) — Kitchell 0-0 0-1 0, Arop 6-13 4-4 19, Eitel 1-3 0-0 3, Odum 3-9 9-12 15, K. Smith 6-9 8-11 20, Gant 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Cummings 1-7 3-5 6, Burnett 0-1 0-0 0, Mahurin 0-3 0-0 0. 17-46 FG, 24-33 FT, 63 TP.
MOREHEAD STATE (71) — Posthumus 1-2 3-4 5, Reed 1-2 0-0 2, Atkinson 2-4 0-1 5, Warner 4-8 5-6 15, Stickler 1-3 0-0 3, Kelly 0-1 2-2 2, Lewis-Briggs 4-7 0-0 8, Stokes 1-1 0-0 3, Turner 0-1 0-0 0, Percell 0-1 0-0 0, Chavis 4-6 5-10 15, James 1-3 2-2 5, Holmes 3-6 1-2 8. 22-45 FG, 18-27 FT, 71 TP.
3-point field goals — ISU 5-22 (Arop 3-8, Cummings 1-6, Eitel 1-3, Odum 0-2, Mahurin 0-2, Burnett 0-1), MSU 9-17 (Warner 2-4, Chavis 2-2, James 1-3, Stickler 1-2, Holmes 1-2, Atkinson 1-1, Stokes 1-1, Lewis-Briggs 0-2). Rebounds — ISU 29 (Arop 6, Kitchell 4, Team 4, Eitel 3, Gant 3, Cummings 3, Odum 2, Mahurin 2, K. Smith, Brown), MSU 32 (Holmes 8, Lewis-Briggs 6, Team 5, Reed 4, Posthumus 2, Atkinson 2, Chavis 2, Warner, Stickler, Turner). Assists — ISU 8 (Odum 2, Mahurin 2, Arop, Eitel, K. Smith, Cummings), MSU 15 (Atkinson 4, Warner 3, Chavis 2, Holmes 2, Reed, Stickler, Lewis-Briggs, James). Blocks — ISU 4 (Kitchell, Odum, Cummings, Mahurin), MSU 0. Steals: ISU 9 (Eitel 2, Odum 2, Cummings 2, Arop, K. Smith, Mahurin), MSU 10 (Chavis 3, Warner 2, Lewis-Briggs 2, Reed, Atkinson, Holmes). Turnovers — ISU 17 (Arop 5, K. Smith 3, Cummings 3, Kitchell, Odum, Gant, Brown, Mahurin), MSU 19 (Warner 4, Reed 2, Atkinson 2, Stickler 2, Lewis-Briggs 2, James 2, Holmes 2, Posthumus, Chavis, Team). Total fouls — ISU 20, MSU 31. Fouled out: none. A — 2,038.
Next — ISU (4-3) plays at IUPUI next Saturday. Morehead State (5-5) plays at South Dakota on Wednesday.
Indiana State University
Indiana State unable to match Morehead State's energy, falling to Eagles 71-63
- Indiana State University
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. -
ISU's Manaea selected 34th overall by Royals
Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea selected 34th overall by the Kansas City Royals.
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ISU's Manaea is mystery man of MLB Draft
There is no consensus as to where Manaea might be drafted. Some experts still have him being chosen among the top 20 picks. Some don’t have him being picked in the first round at all.
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ISU's Johnson, Wise compete at NCAA nationals
Indiana State's Felisha Johnson and Katie Wise competed at the NCAA Track an Field Nationals at the University of Oregon.
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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. -
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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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.
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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 sending largest group yet 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).
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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.
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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.
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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. -
Indiana State to host 2014 MVC baseball tourney
Build it… and they will come. The Missouri Valley Conference and Indiana State University made that famous line from the movie “Fields Of Dreams” reality Thursday.
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Behind 16 hits and Manaea's pitching, ISU beats Bradley
Indiana State’s baseball team rode a wild ride of emotion on Thursday.
First came the public announcement that Bob Warn Field would host the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Later, Sean Manaea’s availability to pitch ISU’s series opener against Bradley was in doubt. -
TODD GOLDEN: Don't give up on ISU baseball just yet
If you had to pick one word that would describe the 2013 Indiana State baseball season, it would have to be frustration.
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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.
The Sycamores were aggressive from the opening inning at the plate and starting pitcher Devin Moore gave them eight valuable and effective innings on the mound as ISU defeated Alcorn State 14-2 at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a really good experience for everybody. It felt great to finally come out here and put some things together. It’s also really nice when your offense puts a lot of runs on the board,” Moore said.
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. -
ISU earns badly-needed win
Alcorn State’s baseball team might be ranked in the bottom 10 in RPI and Indiana State might have never lost to a Southwestern Athletic Conference team. So it wouldn’t appear that a quality win was in the offing when Alcorn State visited Bob Warn Field on Friday.
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ISU’s Mascari and Hope win MVC track & field titles
Indiana State produced two champions during the opening day of action in the Missouri Valley Conference track and field championships Friday at Drake. Freshman John Mascari, a Terre Haute native, won the men’s 10,000-meter race and Nicole Hope won the women’s pole vault for the second time in three seasons.
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ISU pole vault tradition continues with help from its author
Pole vault is track and field for the adrenaline junkie, Indiana State senior Nicole Hope proclaimed during a recent practice at Marks Field.
To catapult oneself about 14 feet into the air with a large $500 fiberglass pole on a daily basis is a risky endeavor.
“We have to be fearless. You can’t be afraid at all,” said Hope, who has also catapulted herself into the NCAA’s elite in the event, ranking 15th in the NCAA with her leap of 13-feet, 9 1/4. -
Lansing looking for more home games for next fall
Indiana State’s men’s basketball team is looking for a few good games.
Home games that is.
The Sycamores have filled in most of the blanks in their nonconference schedule, but as ever, ISU coach Greg Lansing would like to visit the friendly confines of Hulman Center a bit more often. -
ISU baseball gets back into rhythm with victory
Baseball is a rhythm game. With contests every day or five times a week in the case of many college programs, you have the chance to build on success or wallow in a slump.
Mother Nature took that rhythm away from Indiana State’s team last week. After a 7-1 loss to Indiana on April 24, ISU was supposed to play a three-game series at Tennessee-Martin, but it was wiped out by rain.
So the rhythm was disturbed, but perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing.
ISU was in a five-game losing streak before its unintended vacation and the Sycamores made a move in the right direction Wednesday with a 7-0 win over DePauw at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a disappointing weekend. We went all the way down to Tennessee and didn’t get to play. We sat around in the hotel room. We came here and it was still raining. It was nice to get out and see some live pitching,” ISU center fielder Landon Curry said. - More Indiana State University Headlines
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Etherington, Moore happy to be with ISU basketball
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