By Mark Bennett
The art of turning a big deficit into a lead
isn't easy, and the Indiana State Sycamores have discovered that
a few times this season.
Sunday's 85-71 loss at Drake was no different.
Early in the second half, the Sycamores whittled
down a 47-35 halftime deficit, thanks to a scoring outburst by
senior guard Kelyn Block. But after pulling to within nine points
at 52-43, ISU guards committed four fouls in less than a minute,
Drake capitalized at the free throw line and the Sycamores played
catch-up the rest of the afternoon.
"We talked about that in the huddle.
We talked about trying to cut it down to single digits and taking
our time when we did that. But we had some fouls when we came
down, and turned the ball over," said Block, who scored
23 points. "We just didn't take our time. It was a learning
experience. We've just got to know when we cut it down like that,
we've got to come down and make sure we get good possessions."
A season after dominating the Missouri Valley
Conference assist-to-turnover charts, ISU ranks seventh in the
conference with 86 assists and 104 turnovers, for a 0.83 ratio.
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"We just got to keep working at all phases
of the game," ISU Coach Royce Waltman said. "We just
have too many loose possessions. We have too many defensive possessions
where somebody forgets if we're doubling or not doubling. We
have too many offensive possessions where we take a bad shot
or turn the ball over."
Good stat, bad stat
-- Djibril Kante and Terence Avery are tied for sixth in MVC
rebounding, averaging 7.1 per game each, and Avery ranks second
in the conference in field goal percentage at 60.3. ISU ranks
last in the Missouri Valley in scoring offense, averaging 59.7
points per game.
What Coach Waltman says -- About the team's progress going into the heart
of the MVC schedule: "We'd like to say we're always building.
But you live in the moment, and right now we're losing and the
guys are down."
Up next -- ISU
(2-5 overall, 0-1 in the MVC) plays at Creighton (3-2, 0-0 prior
to Wednesday night's home game against Nebraska) on Sunday at
4:05 p.m. at Omaha, Neb. (TV: Fox Sports Midwest, Radio: WSDM-FM
97.7).
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