TERRE HAUTE —
In 2001, Indiana State had two assets the current Sycamores need if they hope to upset 11th-ranked Syracuse.
(No, it’s not Michael Menser and Matt Renn — leaders of the last ISU team to reach the Big Dance. Yes, their smarts, finesse and fire would come in handy in Friday night’s NCAA Tournament game at Cleveland, but Michael and Matt are in their 30s now, out of eligibility, and surely one of the refs would recognize them if they suited up.)
1. At least one Sycamore must deliver a Kelyn Block-caliber performance.
2. They must be genuinely irritated by the word “upset” in that first sentence.
Those two qualities made the difference when ISU beat 13th-ranked Oklahoma 70-68 in overtime in the first round of the NCAA tourney in Memphis, Tenn., a decade ago. Don’t misunderstand. The other Sycamores — Menser, Renn, power forward Djibril Kante, center Terence Avery and their supporting cast — played superbly. Renn scored 16 of his 22 points in the final 14 1/2 minutes of regulation. Menser played all 45 minutes (the only player on either side to do so), dished out five assists and (at 5-foot-11) grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Kante collapsed to the floor with a twisted ankle late in the second half, but stuck it out to the finish. Avery made the most of his 28 minutes, scoring 11 points and matching Menser and Renn with six rebounds.
But their teammate, junior guard Kelyn Block, lived the kind of night he’ll tell his grandkids about someday.
The fact that his effort required toughness was fitting. Block came to ISU from Kansas as a high school football standout who decided to accept a basketball scholarship instead. Obviously, the kid had been hit hard before. This time, though, Block wore no helmet or shoulder pads.
With less than a minute left in regulation and the Sycamores leading 59-57, Sooners guard Hollis Price — Block’s defensive assignment — drove the lane and drew a foul from Kelyn. As the two tumbled to the floor, Price’s elbow inadvertently hit Block’s mouth. The contact was so fierce, three of Block’s lower teeth were knocked out or chipped off. Price’s tricep tendon was cut.
Block stood up briefly, then crumpled onto the hardwood of the arena, known as The Pyramid, bleeding. His three teeth lay on the court, too.
The crowd fell silent. Everyone — his teammates, and the Sooners — looked on, worried by the sight. When trainers led Block, staggering in pain, to the lockerroom, everyone figured he was done for the night.
In his absence, ISU’s lead dissolved into a 61-61 tie at the buzzer. So Coach Royce Waltman started the overtime period with Menser, Renn, Kante and two freshmen — Marcus Howard and Matt Berry. The Sooners had stolen the Sycamores’ momentum, and looked primed to take the win. Instead, just as the OT began, Block, stuffed with gauze and a mouthguard, came running out of the tunnel. The ISU fans went nuts. Waltman quickly sent Block in for Berry.
Seconds after re-taking the floor, Block slapped loose a Sooner pass and raced to a layup.
Oklahoma never led again.
Block scored four of his 17 points in overtime. Defensively, he held Price to 11 points, five below his average. The next morning, he had oral surgery in a Memphis hospital.
To win, the Sycamores needed the best each of their players could offer, and then something extra. Block provided that. “When he came back out, you could see a glow in their eyes,” said Oklahoma guard Kelley Newton, who’d known Block from their playground hoops days as kids in Kansas City, Kan.
That was the Sycamores’ 22nd win that season. They’d earned an automatic NCAA bid by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Still, the NCAA Selection Committee decided they were the 13th best team, out of 16, in the South Region of the Big Dance. The Sooners won the Big 12 championship. Thus, in the minds of many, the “mid-major” Sycamores were underdogs, and the Okies were the favorites.
The thing is, the Sycamore players and coaches respected Oklahoma, but truly didn’t consider the Sooners superior.
After the victory, ISU’s first postseason win since Larry Bird and Co. beat DePaul in the 1979 NCAA semifinals, Waltman corrected a reporter who used the word “upset” in a question about the message sent to the NCAA by the Sycamores’ win. (Several other lesser-seeded teams had just won first-round games, too.)
“I’m going to be a bit diplomatic and say this is a mild upset,” Waltman said. “One is the Big 12 champion, and one is from the Missouri Valley Conference. But that’s not to say the seventh-place teams from big conferences are better than other conference champions. I think the best statement we can make to the Selection Committee is what the so-called mid-majors have done yesterday and today.”
With a mouthful of cotton, Block couldn’t speak, but he sure delivered that statement personally in overtime against Oklahoma.
Let’s hope the 14th-seeded Sycamores find something extra against third-seeded Syracuse on Friday night, ISU’s first NCAA appearance since 2001.
It could happen. After all, in 1991, 15th-seeded Richmond beat second-seeded Syracuse 73-69 for one of the biggest upsets, er, I mean, surprises in NCAA Tournament history.
Mark Bennett can be reached at (812) 231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.
Sycamores 2011
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Mark Bennett
Discussion
SPECIAL SECTION: B-Sides: Sycamores must find key qualities to 'upset' Syracuse
- Sycamores 2011
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SPECIAL SECTION: Up Next: ISU has a lot to build upon
The NCAA Tournament ended after just one game for Indiana State, but the prevailing wisdom is that this could be the start of a new golden era for the program.
ISU loses just three players from its 2011 team — Aaron Carter, Jake Kelly and Isiah Martin. Everyone else is back. -
SPECIAL SECTION: Building a Foundation: ISU rides NCAA tourney momentum
Indiana State is hoping to ride the momentum of its men’s basketball team competing in the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time since 2001. From all early indications, the excitement generated will likely benefit the fiscal bottom line.
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Lansing named finalist for Skip Prosser Man of the Year
Indiana State men's basketball coach Greg Lansing has been named one of 16 finalists for the 2011 Skip Prosser Man Of The Year Award.
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B-SIDES: 1979 Indiana State Sycamores gave us ‘One Shining Moment’
In Indiana, it is permissible for a grown man to cry when facing basketball-related nostalgia.
The state constitution should contain such an amendment. -
JUST LEAFING OUT: The future is exciting for these young Sycamores
With the 12 days between Indiana State’s qualification for the NCAA Tournament and its game against Syracuse, I had a lot of people asking me how I thought this Sycamore team compared to ISU teams of the past that enjoyed similar success.
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ISU NOTEBOOK: Sycamores frustrated with themselves after loss
As one watched Syracuse out-class Indiana State 77-60 in a second-round NCAA Tournament East Regional game Friday, it was justifiable to think that the Orange merely fulfilled the promise of the talent advantage they have over the Sycamores.
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ORANGE NOTES: Syracuse coach praises Indiana State effort
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim didn’t have a lot to say about Indiana State in the pre-game run-up to Friday’s NCAA Tournament game. He even erroneously had the Sycamores winning the Atlantic 10 Conference championship against Dayton in his pre-game comments.
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Indiana State’s NCAA dream ends in late night
Indiana State won a lot of friends on Friday. The Sycamores drew plenty of oohs and aahs from an appreciative crowd of 20,164 at Quicken Loans Arena hoping to witness an upset by the 14th-seeded Sycamores.
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Sycamores savor battling top-flight team in Syracuse
The size of Syracuse and its ability to control the paint was no surprise Friday in Quicken Loans Arena.
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Sensational Season
The silky smooth voice of Sam Cooke emanated from the speakers Friday inside the iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, which sits along Lake Erie.
The lyrics “It’s been a long time coming” from Cooke’s masterpiece “A Change is Gonna Come” applied a few hours later as Indiana State men’s basketball fans gathered for a pep rally at the Intercontinental Hotel in Cleveland. -
Orange crushes ISU's NCAA dream
Indiana State won a lot of friends Friday night. The Sycamores drew plenty of oohs and aahs from an appreciative crowd of 20,164 at Quicken Loans Arena hoping to witness an upset by the 14th-seeded Sycamores.
Unfortunately for ISU, it couldn’t win against a big, tough Sycacuse team in a second-round NCAA Tournament East Regional game. The No. 3-seeded Orange defeated the Sycamores 77-60 as ISU’s season came to an end. -
Sycamores all business on day before ‘big game’
It was a day of firsts when Indiana State players and first-year head coach Greg Lansing sat at the NCAA Tournament podium.
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Comment has ISU talking
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ISU vs. Syracuse matchup features small-town players vs. big-city hoopsters
This particular Indiana State team represents the Wabash Valley in force with Terre Haute natives Jake Odum and Jake Kelly playing prominent roles and Rockville’s R.J. Mahurin and Marshall, Ill., natives Logan and Lucas Eitel also contributing to the Sycamores’ fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament.
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CBS announcer Gus Johnson fired up for tourney
When fans found out CBS broadcaster Gus Johnson would call the play-by-play for their respective schools this weekend, many tweeted or posted their excitement on Facebook or their favorite message boards.
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ISU Notebook: ISU feels good about approach
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Sycamores are motivated, but so are the Orange
It’s been 10 years since Indiana State’s men’s basketball team has been in the NCAA Tournament. No doubt the wait seemed like an eternity for Sycamore players, coaches and fans alike.
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Syracuse zone will change the way Odum, Sycamores attack
Indiana State fans undoubtedly have their own vision of what they feel is the image that best captures ISU’s 2011 season.
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ISU soars into the Blue
Tawnya Fairchild and Kelley Ray, standing just inside a set of double doors at Terre Haute International Airport-Hulman Field, anxiously waited for Indiana State University basketball players to arrive Wednesday afternoon.
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Cleveland rocks for R.J.’s ISU, but Dad’s Rox in semistate
The Mahurin family is taking “March Madness” to a whole new level.
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SPECIAL SECTION: Friday focus: Lansing knows the travails of the 3-14 game; team targets Syracuse
No one on the Indiana State men’s basketball team knows more about what it’s like to be in a No. 3 seed-vs.-No. 14 seed game more than coach Greg Lansing.
And he knows about it from its most painful side. -
SPECIAL SECTION: In Jake, the ISU veterans trust; Odum won over older teammates early on
Indiana State point guard Jake Odum has had the keys to the men’s basketball vehicle for so long it almost seems he became the team’s leader by process of osmosis.
Odum has done such a good job in his role as the team’s floor leader that its hard to forget that he’s a freshman taking a role that is usually handled by a seasoned veteran. -
SPECIAL SECTION: Deceiving looks: The most serious Sycamore isn’t always so behind-the-scenes
The Carl Richard you see on the floor at Indiana State men’s basketball games doesn’t look like anyone you’d want to mess with.
The junior forward wears a seemingly permanent scowl. He conducts his business with the seriousness of a heart attack.
It might leave the impression that Richard is surly, even angry.
Looks can be deceiving and that’s certainly the case with Richard. -
SPECIAL SECTION: 'Best year of my life': Doluony’s 2010 has been great in more ways than one
March 6, 2010, will likely be the most important — and the most fun — day of the year for most of the Indiana State men’s basketball team. No matter whether ISU carries its success into the NCAA Tournament, that date will likely be a central moment in most of the current Sycamores’ lives.
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SPECIAL SECTION: B-Sides: Sycamores must find key qualities to 'upset' Syracuse
In 2001, Indiana State had two assets the current Sycamores need if they hope to upset 11th-ranked Syracuse.
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SPECIAL SECTION: Hughes, News & Views: 1978-79 Sycamores rooting for ISU from all over country
Bill Hodges has not been employed by Indiana State since 1982.
Yet he’s been texting friends with a “Fear the Trees” message — referring to the university’s Sycamore mascot — since ISU won the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball tournament March 6 at St. Louis. -
SPECIAL SECTION: Got your back: ISU's bench depth proves to be a great strength
Before the 2010-2011 Indiana State men’s basketball season began, coach Greg Lansing was asked how many of the 14 players on his roster might expect to see regular time during the campaign, and his answer at the time was something like, “Why not all 14?”
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SPECIAL SECTION: Living up to expectations: ISU grew along with its freshmen
It’s funny to look back and see how the perceptions going into Indiana State’s men’s basketball season morphed and changed as it played out.
This was especially true for ISU’s contributing freshman. Just think back to mid-October for proof of this. -
SPECIAL SECTION: Looking back on a season of growth
The road to the NCAA Tournament for the Indiana State men’s basketball team had several switchback curves, not a few potholes, but also, some four-lane smooth driving.
The Sycamores go into the NCAA Tournament with a 20-13 mark, its first 20-win season since 2001. In December, a 20-win season would have been unfathomable, but ISU won seven of its last eight games to reach that important milestone. -
SPECIAL SECTION: The future awaits: Redshirt Kitchell bides his time
Indiana State center Jake Kitchell has suited for every game during the Sycamores’ 20-13 season and has participated in every practice.
In his way, he’s contributed as much as any other Sycamore in terms of what he’s brought to the practice floor.
He just hasn’t had a chance to play yet. - More Sycamores 2011 Headlines
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