By Mark Bennett
Maybe it was a mistake for Murray State 7-footer
Andi Hornig to swat down Djibril Kante's shot early in Monday
night's game against Indiana State.
The topic came up in a halftime discussion
between Kante and Sycamore Coach Royce Waltman.
"I kind of got it from Coach at halftime
for that," Kante said, grinning. "I mean, when you
get it from Coach, you've got to produce in the second half,
or you might not play. So I just decided to come out and play
as hard as I could."
Smart choice.
The 6-foot-8, 245-pound Sycamore senior scored
17 second-half points and led ISU to a 74-66 victory over the
Racers (4-2), as ISU's steady improvement continued for the third
straight game. After three lopsided losses to open the season,
the Sycamores (2-4) have bounced back in the last six days, losing
a 52-50 heartbreaker at Eastern Illinois, before beating IUPUI
66-56 on Saturday, and then Murray State.
Each of the three upperclassmen have shined
in those outings -- center Terence Avery scored 29 at Eastern
Illinois, guard Kelyn Block scored 16 against IUPUI, and Kante
delivered a career-high 19 on Monday. Kante also had a pair of
breathtaking blocked shots, nine rebounds, two assists and two
steals. And Waltman kept him on the floor for 32 minutes.
"The team only goes as the seniors go,"
Kante said, referring to leadership.
On Monday, Block added 12 points and eight
rebounds, and Avery had eight points and eight rebounds, despite
suffering a cut lip in the first half. Their younger teammates
chipped in too. One game after grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds
against IUPUI, sophomore guard Matt Berry had his second-best
scoring night as a Sycamore with 14 points against the Racers.
Sophomore Marcus Howard, taking over the starting point guard
duties, compiled statistics nearing those of former Sycamore
Michael Menser -- seven assists, two steals and just one turnover
in 33 minutes, not to mention 12 points and a blocked shot.
"We got a lot of people going tonight,
and if we can just keep going off that, this team will get rolling,"
Kante said.
That list extended to the ISU bench. Reserve
point guard Lamar Grimes added nine points, four rebounds and
no turnovers. In fact, the Sycamores committed a season-low 11
turnovers just like the old days.
Not coincidentally, ISU also hit a season-high
46 percent of its field goals.
"When you're not turning the ball over,
it takes the pressure off your shooters," Waltman said.
The Sycamores' early-season shooting woes
seemed to disappear immediately Monday. They surged to leads
as high as 14 points in the first half. Three times, big plays
by Howard pushed Indiana State's advantage to its largest spread.
A falling jumper by Howard put ISU up 26-12. An assist from Howard
gave Kante a short shot off the glass for a 28-14 edge. And Howard
found Avery open for a layup on an inbounds play for a 30-16
lead.
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| Tribune-Star/Joseph
C. Garza |
| With the body: Indiana State
forward Djibril Kante (above) is fouled by Murray State's Andi
Hornig in the second half of the Sycamores 74-66 win Monday at
Hulman Center. Kante led all scorers with 19 points. |
At halftime, ISU was hitting 55 percent of
its shots and led 36-29.
"They shot it real well tonight, especially
in the first half," Racers Coach Tevester Anderson said.
As a result, Anderson's team played catch-up
basketball the rest of the night. They came as close as 36-32,
when Murray State workhorse forward Antoine Whelchel, who had
17 rebounds and 14 points, completed a three-point play to open
the second half.
But after chatting with Waltman at halftime,
Kante was ready to retaliate. He stole a Racer pass, setting
up Berry for a 3-pointer. It never got that close again.
The victory sends ISU into Saturday's 3:05
p.m. Missouri Valley Conference opener at Drake on a two-game
winning streak. It helped that Monday was "a quality win,"
as Waltman put it, over one of the Ohio Valley Conference's strongest
programs.
"This was really good, to beat a pretty
good team tonight, and have to play the whole game to do it,"
Waltman said. "Hopefully, our confidence level and self-esteem
is raising."
Anderson seemed impressed, especially by the
Sycamores' rebounding performance -- particularly that of Kante
and Avery -- and Indiana State's defense. Murray State's 66 points
marked a season-low for a team that was averaging 86 points a
game. The possession-by-possession pace of Monday's game favored
ISU.
"They play great half-court defense,"
Anderson said of the Sycamores. "And they really slow the
game down. And when they slow you down, get out of your rhythm
and play at their own pace, it's going to be tough for a team
like us that's used to getting the ball up and down the floor,
running, to score a lot of baskets in transition."
With five days to prepare for Drake (2-2),
there are still plenty of adjustments to be made, Waltman said.
"I don't think execution-wise or emotionally
we're there yet," he said, "but we're a heck of a lot
closer."
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