Peoria, Ill. —
When Indiana State’s men’s basketball team has excelled, it has done so via effort, concentration and grit as much as raw talent. Those intangibles are central to the Sycamores’ success.
When the Sycamores have their minds right and possess those three elements, they can beat, or at least compete, with any team in the country. When the Sycamores lack those qualities, they are capable of being beaten by anyone. ISU can’t walk into a gym and win on its talent alone.
So it was Wednesday at Bradley. The Sycamores were slow out of the gate and never conjured the requisite effort, concentration or grit to avoid a devastating upset bid by the Braves. Last-place Bradley defeated ISU 68-60 in front of 7,520 at Carver Arena.
“I gave Bradley a lot of credit. They played like the more hungry team, the team with a sense of urgency, the team that needed the win worse. They did a tremendous job competing harder than us and they deserve the win,” ISU coach Greg Lansing said.
Lansing was at a loss to explain the Sycamores’ missing sense of urgency. It seemed ISU had regained its mojo after it won three in four after a 2-7 start in conference play, but the first-half Sycamores re-emerged in Peoria.
“I say it about everyday [about sense of urgency], I really do, especially after the lessons we learned in the first half. These teams are good. Bradley has struggled and their record isn’t very good, but they’re good, they’ve competed,” Lansing said.
“For our guys to come out without a sense of urgency, [not] remember why we’re a good team and how hard we have to compete and work? We didn’t put forth the effort we needed to beat a hard-playing team tonight,” Lansing added.
The defeat was a huge blow for the Sycamores. ISU (14-11 overall) fell to 5-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference. While the Sycamores are still just a game out of a sixth-place tie – the final spot to avoid the MVC Tournament play-in round – there are only four league games left to play to climb out of the hole.
The die was cast from the opening tip. ISU failed to score on its first six and nine of its first 10 trips down the floor. Bradley eventually took a 13-5 lead.
“We thought we came out with a lot of energy. Looking back on it, I thought we did, things just didn’t go our way. Bradley out-played us for most of the game,” ISU guard Lucas Eitel said.
The Sycamores never gained the lead or tied the game. The closest ISU came was a 17-15 deficit at the 6:14 mark, but the Sycamores would score just two more points during the rest of the half and Bradley’s half-ending 9-2 run gave the Braves a 26-17 halftime edge.
ISU shot 27.6 percent from the field – including 1 of 7 from 3-point range – in the first half. Fumbled balls and missed cuts led to six first-half turnovers. Bradley’s nine-point advantage equaled its largest of a disappointing season.
“Maybe I should have stressed the importance of the game more. I stressed it a few times, but I didn’t want to put the weight of the world on the guys,” Lansing said. “We fumbled the ball all over the place. Their aggressiveness got us standing around. We had a good practice leading in, I’m at a little bit of a loss.”
It wouldn’t get any better in the second half. ISU remained ice-cold from the field. ISU made just 3 of 15 from the field to start the half – a cold-snap that lasted to the 6:07 mark. By then, Bradley had gained confidence, drained its first four 3-point attempts of the second half, and had taken a 46-30 lead.
ISU made a too-little, too-late effort with sand running out of its hourglass. An 8-0 run cut the Braves’ lead in half, but the Sycamores couldn’t sustain the outburst.
ISU got within five with 37 seconds left, but Bradley (7-19, 2-12) marched to the free throw line and made 12 free throws in the final 2:02 to clinch its second league win.
Walt Lemon Jr. led Bradley with 26 points, including 15 of 16 at the line. Dwayne Lathan led ISU with 16 points. Jake Odum added 15 points. “We can’t do anything about this game. We have to definitely give energy in the next one,” Eitel said.
ISU next plays host to Southern Illinois at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
INDIANA STATE (60) – Richard 2-7 0-0 5, Walker 2-4 0-0 4, Odum 5-14 4-5 15, Lathan 4-9 6-7 16, Printy 1-7 0-1 3, Kitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Eitel 2-7 0-0 5, Gant 0-1 0-0 0, McWhorter 1-3 0-0 2, Mahurin 4-11 2-2 10. 21-63 FG, 12-15 FT, 60 TP.
BRADLEY (68) – Brown 3-11 1-4 7, Prosser 4-8 3-6 11, Simms-Edwards 0-4 5-6 5, Eastman 2-6 1-2 6, Crawford 3-4 0-0 9, Woods 0-0 0-0 0, Shayok 0-0 0-0 0, Lemon Jr. 5-7 15-16 26, Thompson 2-5 0-0 4. 19-45 FG, 25-34 FT, 68 TP.
Halftime score – BU 26-17. 3-point goals – ISU 6-24 (Lathan 2-4, Eitel 1-5, Printy 1-5, Richard 1-3, Odum 1-3, Mahurin 0-4), BU 5-13 (Crawford 3-4, Eastman 1-3, Lemon Jr. 1-3, Brown 0-3). Rebounds – ISU 40* (Odum 11, Eitel 6, Richard 5, Lathan 5, Walker 4, Mahurin 4, Printy 2, Team RB 2*, Kitchell), BU 36 (Prosser 9, Brown 8, Eastman 5, Shayok 4, Lemon Jr. 4, Thompson 3, Simms-Edwards 2, Woods), Assists – ISU 9 (Printy 2, Eitel 2, Mahurin 2, Odum, Lathan, McWhorter), BU 13 (Lemon Jr. 4, Brown 3, Prosser 2, Eastman 2, Simms-Edwards, Crawford), Steals – ISU 3 (Odum, Printy, McWhorter), BU 5 (Prosser, Simms-Edwards, Eastman, Woods, Lemon Jr.), Blocks – ISU 2 (Walker, Mahurin), BU 7 (Brown 3, Thompson 3, Shayok), Turnovers – ISU 9 (Richard 3, Odum 2, Lathan 2, Walker, Eitel), BU 7 (Lemon Jr. 4, Prosser, Simms-Edwards), Total fouls – ISU 22, BU 19. Fouled out – none. A – 7,520.
Next – ISU (14-11 5-9) plays host to Southern Illinois and Bradley (7-19, 2-12) plays at Missouri State on Saturday.
Indiana State University
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