Ashley Dickerson
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Sycamores pushed their home winning streak to seven as they picked up a Missouri Valley Conference victory against the visiting Missouri State Bears, in which senior Devonte Brown became the 37th member of the Indiana State Men's Basketball 1,000 point club. The Sycamores battled back from an early deficit to earn a 68-59 victory in front of 3,501 fans inside Hulman Center.
Indiana State improved to 12-9, 6-3 MVC as they won their second consecutive game overall. Missouri State fell to 8-13, 4-5 MVC. The Sycamores are a perfect 5-0 in league games at Hulman Center. ISU has won four consecutive times at home against the Bears. The program has now earned 58 MVC victories over the last six years.
Khristian Smith led the Sycamores with 20 points, pulled down eight rebounds, and sunk eight of nine free throws. Brown ended the night scoring 15 and landing himself a spot in the Indiana State Basketball 1,000 point club. The Sycamores were 23-63 from the floor and shot 83 percent from the free-throw line. Brenton Scott added 10 as Brown and Scott kept their streak alive of both reaching double figures scoring in all nine conference games so far.
The Sycamore defense allowed just 59 points to the Bears and improved the program to 71-8 when hold the opposition to less than 63 points. Indiana State led the way in rebounding with 51 caroms to Missouri State's 41. It was the Sycamores' first rebounding effort to go over 50 since they posted 51 rebounds in a January 22, 2011 game at Wichita State.
Leading the way was point guard Everett Clemons who had 11 and Brandon Murphy pulled down a career-best 10, including seven on the offensive glass. Smith recorded eight rebounds and needs just two more to become only the 17th player in the history of the program to record at least 1,000 career points scored as well as 500 rebounds.
The Indiana State defense allowed Missouri State to shoot just 24.1 percent from the field in the second half which led to Bears hitting just 20-of-62 shots for a mark of 32.3 percent. The Bears hit only 1-of-8 attempts from long distance in the contest.
The Sycamores were off to a slow start in the match-up, as they shot 27 percent in the first half. Recent hot shooting efforts did not seem to carry over into the first half against the Bears, but the Sycamores put up enough to stay within a few points of the lead. Sophomore Brenton Scott eventually got the 3-point efforts rolling after twelve minutes of play, but the Sycamores as a team were only 1-14 from behind the arc during the opening stanza.
On the defensive end, the Sycamores pulled down 26 first half rebounds while they did hit all eight of their free throw attempts. The Bears pushed forward on offense, scoring 14 of their first half points in the paint and used 10 first half turnovers to their advantage in scoring 10 points. The Sycamore offense got warmer just before the halftime mark with quick baskets from Brown, sophomore Brandon Murphy, and junior Everett Clemons. At the half, the Sycamores trailed the Bears 31-27.
A second half spark got the Sycamores back on track and all tied up with the Bears at the 12-minute mark as Murphy was fouled and the basket was good for two. The Sycamores took the lead for the first time in the second half after Brown drove hard to the basket and was sent to the line to sink two free throws. The scoring continued as Scott drove in hard for a layup, then junior Matt Van Scyoc added another 3-pointer to the mix just before an Emondre Rickman dunk pushed the Sycamores' lead to eight.
Late in the second half, senior Khristian Smith kept the fire burning for the Sycamores with a pair of fast break lay-ups, forcing the Bears to call a timeout, then coming back from the timeout to put up a three-point play. The Bears were forced to foul the Sycamores in the final minute of play, but the Sycamores capitalized behind the free-throw line.
Jarred Dixon paced the Bears with 19 points.
Missouri Valley Conference play will continue for the Sycamores as they hit the road to play Loyola on Saturday, January 30 at 4:00 p.m. EST. The game will be televised live on the MVC TV Network.
