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  • That's a 3: Dwayne Lathan shoots and hits a 3-point basket Sunday night at Hulman Center. Defending is Wichita State's Toure' Murry.

    SPT 011512 DWAYNE LATHAN.jpg

  • Threading the needle: ISU's Jake Odum dumps the ball into the post during first-half action against Wichita State Sunday night at Hulman Center.

    SPT 011512 ODUM INSIDE PAS.jpg

  • ISU's Carl Richard

    SPT 011512 CARL RICHARD.jpg

  • Hustle: Indiana State center Myles Walker goes to the floor for a loose ball during first-half action against Wichita State.

    SPT 011512 MYLES WALKER.jpg

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January 16, 2012

ISU lands punches, but WSU gets the KO

Todd Golden The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — Lack of fight wasn’t a question for Indiana State’s men’s basketball team on Sunday against Wichita State. Gumption was there for ISU as it tried to knock the Shockers out of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference and salvage its own season.

But to merely fight sometimes doesn’t get the desired result. It’s the blows a team delivers that matter, and Wichita State proved time and again, when ISU tried to fight its way to take a lead, that it could land a killer blow to keep the Sycamores at arm’s length.

And with 2:11 left, WSU’s Ben Smith provided the KO. ISU trailed by just two with 3:45 left, but Smith hit a 3-pointer at 3:16 to give the Shockers a cushion and then converted a devastating four-point play at 2:11 on a R.J. Mahurin foul. It provided plenty of cushion for the road-warrior Shockers as WSU defeated ISU 75-65.

The loss knocked the Sycamores — picked third in the preseason — into ninth place in the MVC with a 2-5 record. Trips this week to Illinois State and co-MVC leader Creighton beckon and ISU has to work to do to avoid a possible freefall.

But the tone from ISU was positive in the wake of a difficult defeat. There was much ISU did well, WSU just did more.

“We can build off of this. I thought we played good defense for 18 minutes in both halves. If we can get that to 20 and finish possessions with rebounds, we’ll be fine. The offense was better. We missed some shots, but that’s life. I was proud of our effort tonight,” said ISU’s Carl Richard, who played despite back spasms.

Dwayne Lathan led ISU with 17 points and Richard scored 13. If there was an ISU quibble it was some inconsistent offense and some forced shots. The Sycamores shot 38.1 percent and could never get into a flow that threatened the Shockers.

“I thought we really played hard tonight. We played better than we’ve been playing,” coach Greg Lansing said. “We wanted to make them defeat from us the perimeter, and they did [WSU was 10 of 20 from 3-point range], we just can’t let their best shooters hit them. On the offensive end, we want to convert better. We have to finish.”

Wichita State, on the other hand, hit several shots to hold the Sycamores at bay. ISU got within two points of the lead three times in the second half, but the Shockers answered with buckets of their own in each case.

Smith hit two of them. With WSU up 51-49 with 11:17 left, Smith drained a 3-pointer to ease the pressure on the Shockers. Smith scored all 10 of his points in the second half.

It’s nothing new for the Shockers to keep their cool on the road. WSU has won 12 of its last 13 MVC road games.

“They know on the road it’s going to be more difficult. There was a nice crowd tonight. We don’t relax. At home, we have the tendency to relax when we get a lead,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said.

Besides the statistical leaders, there were other solid performances mixed in for ISU. Freshman Jake Kitchell was a catalyst in one ISU second-half rally and had six rebounds in 13 minutes of action. Mahurin earned his first career start and played well early before he got into foul trouble.

A crowd of 6,410 — including 1,500 students — was energized for ESPNU’s cameras, and ISU got off to a rousing start. Walker converted a putback dunk off an Odum miss and Mahurin made his first two 3-point attempts to give ISU an 8-3 lead.

But the scoring would soon dry up for the Sycamores and WSU (15-3, 6-1) built its lead to seven.

ISU fought back to cut its deficit to 27-25 with 3:30 left in the half. Then ISU’s offense disappeared again, only this time, the Shockers took advantage. WSU ended the half on an 8-0 run with as Toure’ Murry drained a contested long  2-pointer and David Kyles hit a pair of 3-pointers. WSU led 36-26 at the break.

The second half would prove frustrating as ISU would make a run only to endure a WSU response. The 10-point halftime deficit was cut to six twice early in the half, but WSU twice pushed its margin back to nine.

Kitchell was the catalyst on a 7-0 ISU run that got the Sycamores within two with 11:33 left. Kitchell rebounded a Jake Odum miss and fed Jordan Printy for a 3-pointer to start the run. Kitchell would then score on a layup and helped force an Ehimen Orupke turnover that led to a Richard field goal to make it 49-47 with 11:33 left.

“We talk about roles and I feel my role is to be positive for the guys and take advantage of the minutes when I get them,” Kitchell said.

ISU’s last two-point deficit came with 3:45 left when Lathan rolled in a leaner, but Smith got WSU over the top. He drained a 3-pointer in the left corner with 3:16 left to make it 63-58.

A possession later, Smith rolled off a Joe Ragland screen and drilled another trey despite contact by Mahurin. The WSU lead was 67-58 with 2:11 left and ISU could not muster a response to make it close.

“He struggles from 15 feet,” Marshall said of Smith. “But man can he drain it from 24.”

ISU (11-7, 2-5) plays at Illinois State on Wednesday.

“We got beat be a really good team tonight. Some of our disappointment lies in other games where if we played as hard as we did tonight, we win,” Lansing said. “We have to give maximum effort every game.” We have to play with toughness and togetherness. We did that tonight. If we continue to do that, the wins and losses will take care of themselves.”

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