By Mark Bennett
With the Indiana State Sycamores braced for
defense, Illinois State point guard Randy Rice did the right
thing one more time.
Nineteen seconds remained in Saturday afternoon's
Missouri Valley Conference basketball game in Hulman Center when
Rice took the inbound pass as dribbled into the heart of the
Sycamore defense. Rice had already driven for layups three times
in the second half. This time, though, Indiana State blocked
his path.
Then came Rice's smart play.
He tossed the basketball out to fellow Redbirds
senior Shawn Jeppson. Leading 62-61, Jeppson launched a 3-pointer
that zipped through the net for a 65-61 Illinois State lead with
12 seconds to play, putting an elusive victory out of reach once
again for the Sycamores.
Illinois State won 67-61.
"We put it in our point guard's hands
and told him to make a great play," Jeppson said of Rice.
"And he did."
Jeppson did his share too.
"Jeppson did what a senior's supposed
to do -- win the game for you," Illinois State Coach Tom
Richardson said.
That play gave Rice his ninth assist of the
day, and he had just one turnover. And it deflated the Sycamores,
who have now been stung by losses of six points or less eight
times this season. Their responding play ended with an errant
3-point attempt by forward Djibril Kante. Jeppson rebounded,
got fouled and hit two free throws for the final margin.
Another chance to win evaporated as Indiana
State's records fell to 4-18 overall and 2-11 in the MVC. The
Sycamores had led the entire first half, including a 31-30 halftime
edge. But with 13 minutes, 35 seconds left in the second half,
Rice turned the game into a possession-by-possession duel to
the finish.
"He was the counter to what we were trying
to do [defensively]," Sycamore Coach Royce Waltman, "and
we never really got him under control." Along with his ball-handling,
Rice scored a game-high 15 points, while Jeppson had 14 for the
Redbirds (12-12, 8-5).
The outcome clouded an impressive return to
the starting lineup by senior center Terence Avery. Pained by
a broken bone in his right shooting hand since a collision in
the first Sycamore-Redbird meeting on Jan. 12 (a 68-56 Illinois
State win at Normal), Avery played 34 minutes Saturday. The 6-foot-9,
240-pound Avery scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds, blocked
a shot and made an assist.
"Our emphasis was to get it inside, and
we did a good job of that tonight," Avery said.
Avery was paired in the starting lineup with
Kante, who shifted from center to forward. Kante had another
statistical double-double, getting 10 points and 10 rebounds,
along with two assists and two steals in 31 minutes.
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| Tribune-Star/Bob
Poynter |
| To the inside: ISU's Lamar
Grimes dumps the ball inside during second-half action against
Illinois State on Saturday afternoon in Hulman Center. Illinois
State won the Missouri Valley Conference game. |
"Usually, it's hard to play with those
two guys together offensively," Waltman said. "And
I thought they did really pretty well today at maintaining spacing
and getting some inside play."
Trying to contend with the two Sycamore big
men made guarding Indiana State 3-point ace Matt Broermann difficult,
Richardson said. Broermann scored 14 points, hitting 4 of 6 shots
from beyond the arc.
Broermann played 32 minutes with a back so
sore that he's sat out the Sycamores' last four practices. He
ended Indiana State's first-half scoring with a 3-pointer and
opened its second-half scoring with another. The next came in
the midst of a 9-2 Sycamore run that put Indiana State ahead
49-46 with less than 10 minutes to play.
"We went on a little run and had confidence
building," Broermann said. "And then they hit a couple
of big shots, and it was tied again."
Those big shots were free throws, and two
were by Rice, who went 9 for 9 from the line. As a team, Illinois
State hit 14 of 15 free throws. The Sycamores were 9 of 14. The
Redbirds rank second in the MVC in free throw shooting. Indiana
State ranks ninth.
"The best thing we do is shoot free throws,"
Richardson said.
As a result, the Sycamores have just five
regular-season games left to prepare for the MVC Tournament on
March 1-4 at St. Louis. That stretch begins with a 7:05 p.m.
game Wednesday against Bradley (8-14, 5-8) in Hulman Center.
The Braves beat the Sycamores 60-57 at Peoria, Ill., on Jan.
31.
After nine losses in the last 10 games, though,
the opponent doesn't matter.
"We're struggling right now for a win,"
Avery said. "Any win would be nice, no matter who we beat."
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