By Todd Golden
Wichita, Kan. — For 36 minutes, eight was enough for the Indiana State men’s basketball team. Eight Sycamores, that is.
Not only did the undermanned Sycamores lead Missouri Valley’s second-place Wichita State Schockers for nearly all of the first 36 minutes, they did so convincingly. ISU had a 15-point lead as late as the 9:50 mark.
Unfortunately for ISU, WSU’s press, its inside play, the Koch Arena crowd and a major foul disparity in the final 10 minutes all kept the Sycamores from what would have been an astounding victory. The Shockers pulled away against the gassed Sycamores and won 76-70.
ISU’s effort with just eight healthy players in the wake of injuries to Harry Marshall and Dwayne Lathan was inspiring, but it didn’t take away the disappointment when the Sycamores couldn’t bring the victory in.
“It really had nothing to do with us just having eight players. We feel like whoever is out there is going to play hard. We’re going to do what we’re supposed to do no matter how many guys we’ve got. They got too many offensive rebounds and got to the line too much.
“That’s why we lost,” said ISU forward Carl Richard, who made his first five shots of the game, finishing with 14 points.
Jordan Printy led ISU (14-10, 6-7 Missouri Valley) with 16 points. Rashad Reed had 14 points, five assists and five rebounds.
“I thought our guys competed pretty well, we just didn’t have enough at the end. Wichita State made a nice run at us, we just caved in to the pressure,” ISU coach Kevin McKenna said. “We have to compete with the eight guys we have … no excuses.”
Clevin Hannah had 16 points to lead the Shockers (20-5, 9-4), who scored 48 points in the second half.
The first half as inspiring a half as the Sycamores have played in recent memory … much of the inspiration coming off the hands of ISU’s shooters. The Sycamores shot 60 percent in the first half, their low point percentage-wise as ISU floated above 70 percent for most of the first half. ISU’s hot shooting coincided with a cold start by the Shockers as they missed 12 of their first 14 shots. The Sycamores surged to a stunning 27-11 lead.
The Shockers had more offensive success as the half played out, but ISU nearly matched WSU shot-for-shot, only conceding its double-digit advantage in the final minutes of the half before ISU settled for an unexpected 37-28 halftime advantage.
WSU closed to within four early in the second half, but ISU regained control and took a 10-point lead on a Reed 3-pointer with 12:27 left. A Koang Doluony 3-pointer at 9:50 put ISU up 57-42 as the Koch Arena crowd looked on in incredulous silence.
They wouldn’t be silent for long.
WSU whittled the lead down to 11 at the 7:25 mark when the game really turned. Toure Murry stole the ball from Reed, but WSU missed 3-pointers by Graham Hatch and J.T. Durley, only to come up with both rebounds. Durley eventually converted a three-point play to cut WSU’s deficit to 60-52 and it got the Koch Arena crowd of 10,506 rocking.
The play ignited an 18-3 run that eventually put WSU up 67-63. WSU scored on 18 of its last 22 possessions, fueled by the crowd-volume ISU has not heard this season. Reed admitted after the game the crowd played a factor in WSU’s surge.
“It was very loud. At times, you couldn’t hear anything. We knew what we were running, but if we didn’t have a hand signal, we didn’t know what was going on,” Reed said.
ISU had four turnovers during the run, one a Reed charge at 3:47 with the game tied that the ISU bench was irate about. It was one of the 14 fouls called on ISU in the last 10 minutes as opposed to WSU’s five fouls. WSU also pressed for most of the game and ISU was on tired legs in the second half.
ISU twice closed its deficit to two, the last time on a pair of Reed free throws at 1:54. On WSU’s next possession, Clevin Hannah drained the shot that buried ISU. ISU doubled down on forward J.T. Durley, who scored 14 of his 15 points in the second half … nine of which were scored at the free throw line. Durley dished it to an open Hannah at the top of the key and he made his fourth 3-pointer of the night to put WSU up 72-67. The tired Sycamores could not muster anything in response.
ISU next plays at Creighton on Tuesday. If ISU can take anything away from a loss, it’s that several players who hadn’t played regularly showed they could contribute with more minutes and more responsibility.
“I think the guys have what it takes. I’ve been talking to them, trying to keep everybody confident. A lot of people don’t think we have a chance without Harry [Marshall], but we’re going to keep fighting, get a win and show people what we’re made of,” Reed said.
Indiana State 70
Player min fg 3pt ft r a pf tp
Doluony 21 2-4 1-2 0-0 6 1 1 5
Richard 37 5-7 0-1 4-4 5 2 1 14
Leitnaker 12 1-2 0-0 1-2 1 0 2 3
Reed 34 3-10 2-6 6-7 5 5 2 14
Printy 37 6-9 4-6 0-1 1 2 3 16
Crawford 20 3-4 0-1 3-4 5 0 4 9
Martin 17 1-3 0-0 2-2 1 0 5 4
Carter 22 2-3 0-1 1-2 0 1 5 5
Totals 23-42 7-17 17-22 *30 11 23 70
Wichita State 76
Player min fg 3pt ft r a pf tp
Ellis 23 2-5 0-0 1-1 3 0 1 5
Durley 31 3-6 0-1 9-13 8 2 4 15
Hannah 36 6-14 4-10 0-0 2 4 2 16
Hatch 31 4-10 0-5 4-5 7 3 3 12
Murry 33 4-11 2-4 5-8 5 3 1 15
Williams 4 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2
Kyles 16 2-9 2-6 0-0 2 0 1 6
Blair 17 0-1 0-0 0-2 1 0 4 0
Stutz 9 2-4 0-0 1-2 4 0 3 5
Totals 24-62 8-27 20-31 *36 12 19 76
Halftime score — ISU 37, WSU 28. FG Pct. — ISU .548, WESU .387. 3-pt FG Pct. — ISU .412, WSU .296. FT Pct. — ISU .773, WSU .645. (*) Includes team rebounds — ISU 6, WSU 4. Turnovers — ISU 14 (Reed 5), WSU 4 (Durley, Hannah, Hatch, Blair). Steals — ISU 2 (Richard, Crawford), WSU 6 (Murry 3). Blocks — ISU 2 (Richard, Leitnaker), WSU 2 (Ellis, Stutz). Att — 10,506.
Next — Indiana State (14-10, 6-7 MVC) will play at Creighton on Tuesday. Wichita State (20-5, 9-4) will play at Evansville on Tuesday.
