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ISU at Bradley

Tipoff — 8 p.m. at Carver Arena, Peoria, Ill.
Broadcasts — TV: none. Radio: WSDM-FM 92.7, WBOW-AM 1300. Twitter: @TribStarTodd.
Last time out — ISU defeated Drake 61-54 and Wichita State won 74-67 at Missouri State on Wednesday.
Series — Bradley leads 47-29, although the Sycamores have won their last four encounters, including a 77-66 decision Jan. 31 in Hulman Center.

The players
Indiana State Sycamores (14-10, 5-8 MVC) — G Jake Odum (6-4, So., 10.5 ppg, 5.4 apg, 5.5 rpg), G Jordan Printy (6-4, Sr., 7.0 ppg), F Dwayne Lathan (6-3, Sr., 12.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg), F Carl Richard (6-5, Sr., 9.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and C Myles Walker (6-8, Sr., 7.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg) are possible starters. F R.J. Mahurin (6-8, So., 6.8 ppg), G Steve McWhorter (6-2, So., 4.5 ppg), G Lucas Eitel (6-2, So., 3.2 ppg), C Jake Kitchell (6-10, Fr., 2.7 ppg), C Justin Gant (6-8, Fr., 1.8 ppg) and F Koang Doluony (6-7, Jr., 0.8 ppg) also could see action.
Coach — Greg Lansing (34-24 at ISU, 2nd year).
Bradley Braves (6-19, 1-12 MVC) — G Dyricus Simms-Edwards (6-3, Jr., 11.8 ppg, 3.2 apg), G Charonn Woods (5-11, Jr., 0.9 ppg), F Taylor Brown (6-6, Sr., 16.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg), F Jake Eastman (6-5, Jr., 6.1 ppg) and C Jordan Prosser (6-9, So., 8.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg) are possible starters. G Walt Lemon Jr. (6-3, So., 10.9 ppg), F Shayok Shayok (6-8, Fr., 3.7 ppg), C Anthony Thompson (6-10, Sr., 2.8 ppg), G Jalen Crawford (6-2, Fr., 1.9 ppg) and F Milos Knezevic (6-8, Jr., 1.0 ppg) are key reserves.
Coach — Geno Ford (6-19 at Bradley, 1st year, and 125-88 overall, 7th year).
Injuries and absences — For ISU, F Carl Richard (back) and G Jake Odum (foot) is probable.
Next games — ISU will play at home Saturday afternoon against Southern Illinois.
— David Hughes

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February 8, 2012

MVC’s worst a tantalizing option for ISU

David Hughes The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — Even though the Indiana State men’s basketball team has played better of late, having won three of its last four games, there’s only one team with a worse record in the Missouri Valley Conference standings than the Sycamores.

That would be Bradley (6-19 overall, 1-12 MVC), which is ISU’s opponent today in Carver Arena at Peoria, Ill. Tipoff will be at 8 p.m. EST.

Coach Greg Lansing’s Sycamores (14-10 overall) are tied for eighth in the MVC with Southern Illinois at 5-8, but they’re only one game behind Evansville, Drake and Northern Iowa, all tied for fifth, and two games behind Illinois State and Missouri State, both tied for third.

So Lansing knows looking past coach Geno Ford’s Braves, who have lost six in a row and 15 of their last 16 (including a 77-66 decision to the Sycamores on Dec. 31 in Hulman Center), would be a huge mistake.

“It’s a big game for us and obviously we have a lot of respect for what Geno’s doing,” Lansing said during the MVC’s weekly teleconference Tuesday. “Just watching these guys … he really has them playing hard. He’s working like crazy and they’re hungry for a win. A hungry team like that is always dangerous.

“They have an all-conference-caliber player in [6-foot-6 senior forward] Taylor Brown, so they’re going to be awfully tough.”

Ford, who also spoke during the teleconference, and Lansing agreed the Dec. 31 contest was too close for ISU to take the Braves for granted in a rematch.

“It was a good game,” Ford recalled. “We were playing a little better than we are right now and they were struggling a little bit, so it was a fairly competitive game.”

“We had a good game with them here,” Lansing noted, “and we’re going to have to play better.”

Regarding the Sycamores’ recent minirun, thrown somewhat off track by a 71-66 loss Saturday night at Wichita State, Ford said he can tell a difference in the way they have played.

“I think they’ve really rebounded well,” Ford assessed. “Early in the year, they probably didn’t start out quite as hot as maybe they had hoped. But they’ve really rallied the troops after they got through the league the first time and have been playing very good basketball.

“I watched them at Wichita and they’re just a much different team [than earlier in the season]… We’re going to have a very hard time. We’ll have our hands full. [Jake] Odum’s as good as any guard in the league. He certainly does a good job of making other guys better.”

Asked about the condition of Odum’s ailing foot, Lansing said it hasn’t gotten any better.

“He’s a pain in the butt [for the coaching staff],” the ISU coach added with a chuckle. “He doesn’t want to sit out a rep in practice. He doesn’t want to miss anything.”

Despite Odum being less than 100 percent healthy, the Sycamores rattled off wins over Northern Iowa, Evansville and Drake before losing at Wichita State, so there is reason for optimism.

“It starts in practice,” Lansing explained. “I just didn’t do a good enough job in the first half of the season of getting them to believe me in how good everybody [else in the conference] was. I think everybody improved a lot… Our practices have gotten much better lately.

“We’re competing harder every day. We’re still not shooting the basketball near as well as we’re capable of, but the defense has gotten a lot better.”

“They don’t force shots,” Ford said of the Sycamores. “They get good ones and really work the clock.”

As for his own slumping squad, Ford insisted the attitude remains positive.

“We’ve actually had pretty good practices,” he pointed out. “Guys are working. They haven’t quit. They haven’t tanked it. We just have to find a way to be better on game night.”

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SPT052612NvBB decker.jpg

Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Winner: Northview pitcher T.J. Decker rejoices as his team records the last out in their semi-final win. The Knights defeated Terre Haute North in the first game Monday at Plainfield.

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SPT052612NvBB decker.jpg

Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Winner: Northview pitcher T.J. Decker rejoices as his team records the last out in their semi-final win. The Knights defeated Terre Haute North in the first game Monday at Plainfield.

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