Indiana State’s men’s basketball has put itself in an untenable position where it must win its last two Missouri Valley Conference games, starting tonight at Missouri State, to realistically avoid the black hole that is the play-in round of next week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
The hope was that the Sycamores would be able to marshal its resources — and suitably re-focus — so that it could make a run this week and end its checkered regular season on a positive note.
But sickness and health woes have provided an unwanted distraction as the Sycamores have prepared for the Bears.
A flu bag has run rampant through the team for the last week. Dwayne Lathan missed last week’s victory over Illinois State with what was thought to be food poisoning, but which might have been symptoms of the flu.
Carl Richard unexpectedly missed Saturday’s game at Butler with the flu, and now, reserve point guard Steve McWhorter has been felled by sickness as well. McWhorter has not practiced in the run-up to the Missouri State game.
“It’s still going around. Some guys are coming off of it, some guys are getting it. Steve should be able to give us something [tonight]. It's bad timing and it’s a bad deal, but everyone deals with this and we will too,” Lansing said.
It gets worse.
Lansing announced that point guard Jake Odum is suffering from a stress fracture in his left shin. The training and coaching staff has been aware of the injury, but the extent to which it has affected Odum varies. During the second half of Saturday’s game, Odum indicated to Lansing that his shin was bothering him.
Odum has also played through plantar fasciitis throughout the season.
“He’s had a stress fracture, so he’s dealing with a lot of stuff. Some days, he feels normal and feels like his old self. On Saturday, he felt terrible. He didn’t tell me until early in the second half that it was bothering him. He’s a competitor, he wants to give all he can,” Lansing said. “There isn’t anybody that’s dealt with as much pain as he has to try and help his team.”
None of this makes life easy for the Sycamores as they try to contend with the Bears, and indirectly, a dubious history of failure in the Ozarks.
ISU (16-12, 7-9) has won just once (2009) at Missouri State since the Bears joined the league in 1991. To be thrust into a must-win situation at a site where wins are extraordinarily rare for the Sycamores is not the ideal scenario.
The Bears (16-13, 9-7) are among six MVC teams with conference records ranging from 9-7 to 7-9. Missouri State could also fall into the MVC Tournament play-in, but unlike the Sycamores, Missouri State is in far better shape. With one victory, the Bears avoid Thursday night in St. Louis and Missouri State has the inside track on the MVC’s No. 3 seed.
Like the Sycamores, the Bears have been plagued by inconsistency, but coach Paul Lusk is confident in his team.
“I think we’ve been pretty consistent on the defensive end. We don’t have the ability to blow anyone out. We’re not one of those teams. We’re usually in every game, but we have to fight for our lives to win every game,” Lusk said during Tuesday’s MVC coaches’ teleconference.
Missouri State defeated ISU 69-63 at Hulman Center on Jan. 7. Unlike that matchup, the Bears will have senior center Caleb Patterson available — Missouri State’s second-leading scorer at 12.3 points.
As ever, the Bears rely on senior swingman Kyle Weems — one of the best players in Missouri State’s history. With 11 points, Weems will become the Bears’ second-leading scorer.
“It’ll be good to get Kyle out of here and graduated so we don’t have to guard him anymore,” Lansing said. “He’s a great kid and deserves all of the accolades he’s got.”
ISU also must be mindful of guard Anthony Downing, who scored 17 in the previous meeting, and who is the reigning MVC Newcomer of the Week.
Indiana State University
ISU ailing in fight to avoid Thursday
- Indiana State University
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid
Last Thursday, when Indiana State’s baseball jumped around in a celebratory dogpile after clinching the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship at Bob Warn Field, no one thought that a little over a week later, the dreaded NCAA Tournament bubble would fly over Terre Haute. -
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Sycamores try to catch Missouri Valley Conference tourney vibe
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Subtle switch has fostered MVC baseball parity
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Maynard to serve as interim president of ISU Foundation
The Indiana State University Foundation Board of Directors today announced the appointment of Jack Maynard to serve as the foundation's interim president. Maynard will remain provost and vice president of academic affairs for the university during his interim role with the foundation.
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Indiana State’s Rupe gets test today at No. 13 Purdue
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Sycamores get brooms out: ISU needs 1 more win to claim MVC
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ISU rallies for 2nd straight MVC title
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Win over SIU puts Sycamores in first place
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ISU gives Bacus run support, win
Starting pitchers tread on shaky ground when the topic of run support comes up. To broach the topic if they’re not getting it can be a dicey proposition in the clubhouse.
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ISU adds showdown with Purdue
Butler’s overbooked baseball schedule is doing wonders for Indiana State’s baseball slate … and possibly … for ISU’s at-large chances for the NCAA baseball tournament.
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Metro roundup: ISU’s Lucas honored by Missouri Valley again
For the fifth time in the last nine weeks, Indiana State junior catcher Jeremy Lucas has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
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Bad day at the office: Factors within & beyond Sycamores’ control conspire in loss
Indiana State’s baseball team hasn’t chalked up many bad days during a 36-12 campaign, but Sunday’s 8-2 loss to Wichita State in the series finale between the two teams would be an exception.
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Three Sycamores get wins at IU
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Rapid response lifts Sycamores over Shockers
At some point last week, the Indiana State right fielder previously known as Robby Ort decided to shorten his chosen name and identify himself as Rob Ort.
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Pickoff move a weapon for Manaea
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Sycamores top Shockers in 10 innings in MVC series opener
If free baseball is what you want, Indiana State has what you need. For the sixth time in the span of a month, ISU’s series opener went extra innings.
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ISU hurdler earns MVC track athlete of week honor
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Greg Goode to return to Indiana State as governmental relations director
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ISU goes to well too many times
Perhaps the most unnecessary pursuit for a Wabash Valley sports fan during the now-completed weekend was watching the first few innings of nonconference college baseball between Indiana State and visiting Nebraska-Omaha.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid
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