HONOLULU —
Indiana State point guard Jake Odum cut a forlorn figure outside the Sycamores’ locker room after a 62-55 loss to No. 18 San Diego State in men’s basketball Sunday evening.
Even though ISU pushed San Diego State and was competitive into the final minute of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic semifinal matchup, the Sycamores were in no mood for the glass-half-full perspective.
ISU matched the Aztecs in many ways, but the Sycamores rued the 17 turnovers they committed and felt they kept them from getting over the top.
“[Turnovers] fall on me. I have to take the blame for that. I had five turnovers today. Other guys were throwing the ball around and weren’t making the right passes and were doing the same thing. It cuts deep for me,” Odum said.
Mahurin led ISU (6-4) with 15 points. Manny Arop had 13 and Odum had 10. Jamaal Franklin led San Diego State with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
San Diego State (11-1) had a lot to do with ISU’s problems. The Aztecs -- particularly guard Xavier Thames, who had four steals — jumped into passing lanes and did a better job than most teams do in anticipating what Odum does on drives and dishes.
“The bottom line is that’s a really good team. They’re well put together and well-schooled on the defensive end. They fight. Our guys need to do a better job of executing when it’s tough,” ISU coach Greg Lansing said.
But those turnovers … they hurt.
“We’re a motion team. That means motion. That means ball movement. That means man movement. We didn’t do that,” Lansing said.
“We’d throw to one person and stand around and watch. That person would dribble around and take a shot. The ball has to move against good defensive teams. We didn’t do a good enough job in the second half.”
ISU trailed 28-25 at halftime despite nine first-half giveaways. Despite three more to start the second half, the Aztecs couldn’t create a gap.
ISU pulled in front at 32-31 and again with 13:48 when Arop converted a leaner to put ISU up 36-35. Odum made a pair of free throws with 13 minutes to go to make it 38-35, ISU’s biggest lead.
But the tough and disciplined Aztecs’ defense — along with mistakes by the Sycamores — led to a fallow period where ISU failed to score on six trips (including two turnovers) and San Diego State retook the lead at 40-35.
ISU fought back to tie it twice and the Aztecs led 46-44 when Odum was called for an excessive foul (same effect as an intentional foul) on a breakaway by Aztecs guard Chase Tapley. He converted two free throws, and on the Aztecs’ possession after the free throws, he hit a 3-pointer to make it 51-44.
“That’s the rules, I guess. It was excessive contact. I didn’t do anything to try and hurt him. I wanted to make sure he didn’t get the easy two points, but that kind of hurt us. It was a turning point,” Odum said.
ISU didn’t fade and was within three with two minutes to go. ISU had a possession to get within one or tie it, but Arop was called for an offensive foul when he lost control on a drive into the lane with 1:31 left.
ISU needed a stop, but couldn’t get it, as Thames hit a 15-footer to put the Aztecs up 55-50. ISU would not get closer than four points for the remainder of the game.
“They made the plays down the stretch that we didn’t. It was a great team effort. We stuck our chin in the fight, but they made the plays,” Mahurin said.
ISU and San Diego State broke out of the gate at a lightning pace. The Aztecs proved from the jump ball that it could finish and create high-percentage scoring opportunities for scorers like Franklin, who had seven points when the Aztecs took a 15-11 lead.
The quick pace wouldn’t last.
Defense held sway the rest of the way. ISU began to have more success getting stops and limited second-chance opportunities. Open shots, many of which rimmed out in the first half, began to fall — notably 3-pointers by Arop and Mahurin. ISU closed the gap to 24-23 and trailed by three at halftime despite its nine turnovers against just two assists.
ISU will play either Miami or Arizona in the Diamond Head Classic third-place game at 7:30 p.m. EST Tuesday. The semifinal between the Hurricanes and Wildcats ended after the Tribune-Star’s news deadline.
INDIANA STATE (55) — Arop 5-13 2-2 13, Gant 4-8 0-0 9, Cummings 1-5 0-0 2, Odum 3-6 4-5 10, Mahurin 5-7 3-3 15, Kitchell 0-2 0-0 0, Eitel 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Burnett 1-1 0-0 2, K. Smith 2-5 0-0 4. 21-48 FG, 9-10 FT, 55 TP.
SAN DIEGO STATE (62) — Thames 4-9 3-4 12, O’Brien 4-7 0-0 8, Franklin 5-9 9-11 19, Tapley 4-10 3-5 13, Stephens 1-2 1-2 3, Spencer 1-2 0-2 2, Polee 0-0 0-0 0, Rahon 1-3 0-0 3, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Shepard 0-5 2-4 2. 20-48 FG, 18-28 FT, 62 TP.
Halftime score — SDSU 28-25. 3-point shooting — ISU 4-13 (Mahurin 2-4, Arop 1-4, Gant 1-1, Cummings 0-2, Odum 0-1, Brown 0-1), SDSU 4-17 (Tapley 2-6, Thames 1-5, Rahon 1-2, Franklin 0-3, Shepard 0-1). Rebounds — ISU 29 (Gant 6, K. Smith 6, Arop 5, Mahurin 5, Odum 2, Team 2, Cummings, Kitchell, Eitel), SDSU 31 (Franklin 15, Spencer 5, O’Brien 3, Stephens 3, Tapley 2, Thames, Polee, Team), Assists — ISU 7 (Odum 4, Arop, Gant, Cummings), SDSU 9 (Thames 3, Franklin 3, Tapley 2, Spencer), Steals — ISU 2 (Arop, Odum), SDSU 6 (Thames 4, Franklin, Tapley), Blocks — ISU 2 (Gant, Mahurin), SDSU 0, Turnovers — ISU 17 (Odum 5, Arop 3, Mahurin 3, Gant 2, K. Smith 2, Eitel, Burnett), SDSU 13 (Thames 5, Franklin 3, Spencer 2, Tapley, Johnson, Shepard), Total fouls — ISU 22, SDSU 15. A — 6419.
Next — ISU (6-4) plays Arizona or Miami at 7:30 p.m. and San Diego State (11-1) plays Arizona or Miami at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Diamond Head Classic.
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LANSING interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSlvZ0mj0ws
Indiana State University
VIDEO: ISU’s upset bid slips through turnover-prone fingers
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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. -
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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. -
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Lansing looking for more home games for next fall
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ISU baseball gets back into rhythm with victory
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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.
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Metro roundup: ISU hands out spring awards
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Indiana State loses 2 in MVC softball
Indiana State aspired to upset Illinois State to get at least a doubleheader split in Missouri Valley Conference softball Thursday at Price Field as the Sycamores opened an eight-game season-ending homestand.
Paige Schreiner hit a two-run blast over the left-field fence in the fifth inning and junior Shelby Wilson delivered a sizzling RBI triple down the right-field line in the sixth as ISU ended the day playing well against the league’s highest-scoring offense.
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Sycamores wrap up season sweep of Purdue in baseball
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ISU defeated IUPUI 7-0 in the opener and fell 17-6 in the nightcap.
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Allee led off the bottom of the first inning of the first game with a walk and promptly stole second base to break the ISU single-season record. -
Sanford seeking more from defense
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UIC snaps ISU baseball team's five-game winning streak
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Indiana State to host 2014 MVC baseball tourney




