TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State broke open a tie game at halftime in the second stanza en route to an 85-63 victory over visiting Green Bay on Tuesday night inside Hulman Center.
The Sycamores swept the two-game home stand to improve to 5-5 on the season while Green Bay fell to 3-6. Indiana State moved to 2-0 against the Phoenix under eighth-year head coach
Greg Lansing and ISU improved to 82-10 when holding teams to 63 points or less under Lansing's watch.Â
"It's nice to be able to come into the locker room and see the guys feeling good about the effort and performance," coach Lansing said. "This is finals week -- so its is a difficult week both on and off the floor. I was concerned after the first 20 minutes and thought that Green Bay was making all the effort plays. But in the second half the effort was much better and we looked more like us."
ISU hit 27-of-53 shots (50.9 percent) from the field, including a blazing 17-of-30 (56.7 percent) during the second half. They limited Green Bay to just 19-of-61 shooting (31.1 percent for the game).
Jordan Barnes continued his red hot streak as he recorded his fourth consecutive game over the 20-point mark by hitting six 3-pointers and tallying 22 points in the win. He added six assists and four rebounds in the effort.
"This is a good feeling -- a feeling that we wanted to get back to," Barnes said. "I thought that we played a good second half and the defensive intensity really picked up."
Brenton Scott posted 17 points and also had five rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Brandon Murphy tallied 12 points with five rebounds and two blocked shots. The Sycamores held a 38-37 edge on the glass with
Emondre Rickman leading the way with six boards.
"It feels really good to be on the winning side," Scott commented after the game. "The team has been working really hard -- hard work pays off."
Indiana State's defense forced 16 Green Bay turnovers and used them to create 22 points. Despite a 13-7 deficit on the offensive glass, the Sycamores had an 11-8 edge on second chance points as well as a 12-6 advantage in transition. ISU's bench contributed 26 points on the evening.
Green Bay took an early 8-4 lead before Murphy converted a pair of free throws and Davis made a lay-up to kick start what would eventually be a 10-0 run which was capped by a Scott jumper at the 13:28 mark for the 14-8 early lead. A jumper by PJ Pipes pushed the Phoenix ahead 22-21 late in the first half as the two teams traded baskets. But Rickman hit a pair of free throws and then Scott tallied a jumper before Barnes connected on a 3-pointer for the 28-22 lead and Green Bay burned a timeout. Scott added a fast break lay-up after a steal at the 5:01 mark to cap a 9-0 run and ISU led 30-22.Â
The Phoenix countered with a long 8-0 run to close out the half and tied the game at 32. Scott led the Sycamores with 10 points at the break.
It would eventually become an 11-0 run until
Tyreke Key hit 1-of-2 free throws at the 19:06 and then Davis made a jumper in the paint at the 17:55 mark to end a nearly seven minute field goal drought around the half. A lay-up from Scott with 16:26 on the clock capped an 8-0 Sycamore run and ISU led 41-35. After Pipes answered with a lay-up, the Sycamores tallied six more in a row which was capped by a Murphy dunk in transition for the 47-37 cushion with 14:27 to go.
Demonte Ojinnaka got into the action from long range with a 3-pointer at the 13:18 mark for the 50-39 lead. A 7-0 Sycamore spurt mid-way through the second stanza stretch the Indiana State lead to 61-42 with 10:14 to go when Hughes converted a fast break lay-up. A free throw from Key with 3:55 on the clock put the Sycamore lead at 82-55 which would be its high water mark for the evening at 27 points.
Indiana State was able to clear the bench for the final stretch of the game and a free throw from
Trey Knight III with 35 seconds left gave ISU the 85-63 victory.
Khalil Small battled foul trouble in the second half to lead the Phoenix with 15 points.
The Sycamores now hit the road on Saturday, December 16 when they travel to Western Kentucky. The game will tip-off at Noon (ET) -- note the earlier tip-off time than was originally published. The contest can be seen on Fox College Sports and will be broadcast live on WIBQ 97.9 FM as well as online at GoSycamores.com.
