By Mark Bennett
Their shooting touch is back. The seniors
are back atop the scoring charts. The defense is stingy again,
and the offense keeps tight has resumed tight control of the
basketball.
And, perhaps most importantly, the Indiana
State Sycamores think they can win again.
ISU's two-game winning streak came just in
time. The Sycamores (2-4) begin their Missouri Valley Conference
season at 3:05 p.m. today at Drake (3-2). After a cold-shooting
0-4 start, Indiana State beat IUPUI and Murray State in a three-day
span.
The atmosphere seemed brighter at practices
last week.
"We have a little more spirit now that
we're doing well," Coach Royce Waltman said.
Monday's 74-66 non-conference victory over
Murray State gave the Sycamores several reasons for hope in the
MVC race. They hit 46 percent of their shots, a season high.
They committed just 11 turnovers, a season-low. And four of the
five starters scored in double figures, helping ISU score a season-best
74 points.
"Our confidence is starting to come back
a little bit. Guys are concentrating in practice and it's come
over into the games and we're making shots," said sophomore
Marcus Howard, who had his highest point total against Murray
State with 12. "That kind of starts on the defensive end.
If we can get some steals and some easy buckets, I think that
kind of gets us going too and the shots start falling well."
Today, though, the Sycamores must deliver
that in an even more intense forum - conference play on the road.
Last season, only three MVC teams managed to win more than half
their conference road games. Two of those three teams, Creighton
and Illinois State, finished first and second in the regular-season
standings.
"We always talk about the conference
road games as being great opportunity games," Waltman said.
Anyone who does well on the road has a chance to win."
The Sycamores seem ready. In each of their
last three games, the Sycamores have received strong play from
seniors Kelyn Block, Djibril Kante and Terence Avery. Avery scored
29 points in a 52-50 loss at Eastern Illinois. Block delivered
16 in a 66-56 win over IUPUI. And Kante was dominant in a 19-point
effort against Murray State.
The presence of Avery, who stands 6-foot-9
and 240 pounds, and Kante, at 6-8 and 245 pounds, helps the offense,
said Howard, who had a career-high seven assists against Murray
State.
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| Tribune-Star/Joseph
C. Garza |
| Slam: Indiana State center
Terence Avery dunks over Murray State's Andi Hornig during the
Sycamores 74-66 win over the Racers on Monday in Hulman Center.
The Sycamores open conference play today at Drake. |
"I was able to find the open man,"
Howard said. "Djibril and T.A. were doing a great job of
ducking in and getting open in the post, and I was able to find
them through the [Racers'] zone."
The Sycamores' defense will be crucial today.
The Bulldogs hit 53 percent of their shots in a 93-64 romp over
winless, weary and outmanned Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Thursday.
And they managed to do that with versatile, 6-8 junior forward
Andry Sola on the sidelines with a sprained ankle. His status
for today's game is questionable, Drake Coach Kurt Kanaskie said
Friday.
"Sola can shoot deep, and also put the
ball on the floor," Waltman said. "And [sophomore guard
Luke] McDonald is probably as good as anybody in the league from
3-point range."
McDonald scored 20 points against Pine Bluff,
his season average. Last season at Des Moines, McDonald scored
26 against ISU in an 83-71 Drake victory.
"We know they've got a great player in
Luke McDonald. We figured that out last year," Howard said.
"He's a great shooter."
McDonald was a Preseason All-MVC first-team
pick. But so was Block. And the recent resurgence of Block and
the ISU veterans has the Sycamores thinking optimistically about
their 18-game conference schedule.
"We're more confident," Howard said.
"Losing four in a row never helps for any team. But these
last two games we've played good, played smart as a team, and
if we just carry that over, I think we'll be all right."
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