By Mark Bennett
Exasperated as he tried to explain Indiana
State's seventh defeat in nine games, Djibril Kante stopped in
mid-sentence, took a deep breath and sighed.
"Sorry," Kante said, before summoning
the strength to continue. Quickly, though, the spirit creeped
back into his voice.
The inspirational leader of the Sycamores,
Kante knew the team had worked hard to reverse its fortunes and
win Wednesday's game at Wyoming. But it ended in a 72-58 defeat.
Indiana State (2-7) was heading home from a three-game road trip
with three losses, going into today's 2:05 p.m. game with 21st-ranked
Ball State (6-3) in Hulman Center.
At Wyoming, Indiana State led early by shutting
down the big UW frontcourt. But Wyoming took nearly half of its
shots (29 out of 67) from 3-point range, and when those shots
began to fall, the Sycamores' lead vanished.
"We worked on our gameplan so hard,"
Kante said. "We came to Laramie two days ago, and we've
just been working like crazy, trying to get better. And we carried
that over in the first half."
There was a sign of hope, though. After a
19-5 run put Wyoming in control of the game, the Sycamores chipped
the Cowboys' 20-point lead down to 14 by game's end.
"From then on, we kind of locked down
again," Kante said. "But it was a little too late."
Their goal is 40 minutes of consistently solid
play. Coach Royce Waltman thought his team came closer to that
objective at Wyoming, than in Sunday's 70-46 loss at Creighton.
The Sycamores were outscored 40-16 in the second half at Omaha.
"I thought there was a distinct difference
in the two games," Waltman said before Friday's practice.
"I thought how we let down in the second half against Creighton
was an embarrassment. I thought what we did in the second half
[at Wyoming] was real progress."
That progress comes just in time for Indiana
State's first meeting with a Top 25 opponent this season. The
Cardinals are coming off a 75-66 loss Wednesday to undefeated
Butler at Muncie a few hours before the Sycamores lost at Wyoming.
But ISU also knows how difficult beating Butler
has become. The Sycamores lost 69-49 to the Bulldogs on Nov.
25. Kante also remembers that Ball State played three Top Five
teams in three nights, and beat two -- Kansas and UCLA -- back
to back at the Maui Invitational before losing 83-71 to No. 1
Duke.
After four seasons as a Sycamore, Kante is
quite familiar with the Cardinals' roster. Some BSU players were
high school opponents of Kante's during his days at Bloomington
North. Some were his Indiana All-Star teammates.
"Ball State has great players, with Lonnie
Jones and Theron Smith inside," Kante said. "And they
have great outside players with Petey Jackson and Chris Williams.
They've got inside-outside, and they work it to their benefit.
And they've shown they can beat just about anybody."
Statistically, the Cardinals are strong where
the Sycamores are not. Ball State ranks second in the nation
in scoring, averaging 87.2 points per game, while ISU averages
58. The Cardinals are also hitting 48 percent of their field
goals, compared to 39 percent for ISU. And Ball State's 46-percent
3-point shooting ranks second in the nation.
Individually, Jackson's quickness in the open
court is hard to defend, Waltman said, as is Smith's ability
to score off rebounds. "Those two kids are really good.
And that's why they've been able to compete with teams of a higher
level," Waltman said.
In last season's 80-74 overtime victory over
ISU at Muncie, Jackson scored 21 points and Smith added 14. But
the biggest problem turned out to be 7-foot Cardinal center Lonnie
Jones, who had 15 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots.
Waltman calls him "tremendously active, and it presents
a problem on defense, but it presents even more problems for
our offense."
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| Wyoming
Tribune-Eagle/Larry Brinlee |
| Scramble: Indiana State's
Jerod Adler (44), Wyoming's Uche Nsonwu-Amadi (center) and Indiana
State's Djibril Kante (right) scramble for a rebound Wednesday
at Laramie, Wyoming. Wyoming won 72-58. |
Today's game is just one of an unending string
of tough matchups for ISU, Kante said. He's ready to try again,
and his faith in his teammates remains strong.
"Nothing's been easy for us," Kante
said. "As frustrated as I am with losing, I wouldn't want
to be with anybody else to work against Ball State than these
guys."
Making a point
-- Freshman Lamar Grimes could get his second straight start
at point guard today. He played 26 minutes against Wyoming, often
guarding fellow Chicago Public League alum Jason Straight.
Grimes scored seven points, grabbed five rebounds,
and had one assist, one turnover and one blocked shot. Straight
was limited to 1-for-9 shooting.
It was Grimes' first start since Nov. 28 at
Eastern Illinois. He's averaging 4 points, 1.9 assists, 1.6 rebounds
and 15.8 minutes per game as ISU continues to try to fill the
ballhandling void left by graduated standout Michael Menser.
Improved defense is a key to the amount of playing time Grimes
gets.
"We need Lamar, because he's the one
guy who can control the ball under pressure," Waltman said.
"But defensively, we've got to get him to play at a pace
where he's not a liability, and I think he's trying to do that."
Waltman also used his other true point guard
extensively at Wyoming. Batiste Haywood, a walk-on junior-college
transfer, played a season-high 25 minutes against the Cowboys.
He had four assists, four turnovers, four steals and two rebounds,
and hit 1 of 7 field goals for two points.
"Batiste played hard, tried to defend
and probably took some ill-advised shots," Waltman said.
"But we need some guys who aren't afraid to try things."
Home again --
Today's game begins a four-game homestand, with matchups vs.
Bowling Green on Dec. 29, Evansville on Jan. 5 and Northern Iowa
on Jan. 10 up next.
"That's really appealing. That last trip
was a long one," Waltman said. "We need to make a little
move now."
ISU has been traditionally strong in Hulman
Center under Waltman, going 47-9 in his five seasons, compared
to 21-36 on the road. This season, ISU's 2-1 at home and 0-6
elsewhere.
The Sycamores are also 1-2 against in-state
opponents.
Those games are important, Waltman said, "because
we're going to be recruiting against them."
Rough stuff
-- The wild West got a little rough for Sycamore sophomore Matt
Berry when the team practiced for the first time Monday in Wyoming's
arena. Teammate Terence Avery's elbow accidentally hit Berry
in the nose. ISU head athletic trainer Dave Ralston said doctors
will examine his injury more closely on Friday after the Sycamores
return to Terre Haute.
During Wednesday's game, Block bruised his
right kneecap and Marcus Howard deeply bruised his right thigh.
Both are expected to be available Saturday, Ralston said.
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