By Mark Bennett
The telling moment in tonight's game might
come when the basketball squirts loose across the Hulman Center
basketball court for the first time.
If an Indiana State Sycamore beats a Bradley
Brave to the ball, ISU's five-game losing streak might end.
The last time the Sycamores and Braves met
on Jan. 31 at Peoria, Ill., Bradley's reserve point guard Marcello
Robinson scrambled across the Carver Arena floor for nine rebounds.
Robinson is a 5-foot-11, 165-pound sophomore. No Sycamore had
more than seven rebounds that night. In fact, Bradley outrebounded
ISU 39-27 and won by a score of 60-57.
The Sycamores agree that can't happen again
if Indiana State (4-18 overall, 2-11 in the Missouri Valley Conference)
hopes to beat Bradley (8-14, 5-8) in the 7:05 p.m. rematch.
"They beat us to every offensive rebound
and every loose ball," ISU assistant coach Rick Ray said
of the Braves before Tuesday's practice. "And we've got
to do a better job of getting after those opportunities."
The Sycamores can't leave that task to senior
four-year starters Kelyn Block and Djibril Kante, Ray added.
"We need for our younger guys -- that core group around
Kelyn and Djibril -- to play as hard as they do."
Kante saw fire in the eyes of Bradley's players.
He wants the Sycamores to have that same desire tonight.
"Sometimes it's giving of yourself and
going down on your knees and going to get [the rebounds],"
Kante said. "It's not always right-place, right-time. It's
whoever wants it more. We just have to be the ones that want
it more. I think [the Braves] wanted it more the last time, and
they got it."
Bradley has won three of its last five games.
But all three of those victories were in Carver Arena. The Braves'
are 2-9 away from Carver.
One thing that seldom changes, though, is
Bradley's defense. The Braves rank first in the MVC in team defense,
yielding just 63.9 points a game. Coach Royce Waltman's Sycamores
aren't far behind, ranking fifth at 67.3. Considering that ISU
rates ninth in the Valley in shooting at 41.3 percent, and Bradley
is last at 38.2 percent, tonight's game could be another defensive
struggle.
"It's which team makes some plays and
makes some shots," Bradley Coach Jim Molinari said Tuesday.
"That's what it's coming down to."
"Baskets will be hard to come by,"
Waltman predicted.
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| Tribune-Star/Joseph
C. Garza |
| Touch the orange: Indiana
State's Djibril Kante (center) tries to get a shot off against
Creighton last week as the Bluejays Kyle Korver (left) and Joe
Dabbert get their hands on the ball. |
And though that's been the case all season
for the Sycamore offense -- the lowest-scoring unit in the Valley
at 60.3 points per game -- ISU has topped the 70-point mark four
times in its last 10 games. And each of the Sycamores' last five
losses have come by six points or less. That includes Saturday's
67-61 loss to Illinois State.
"The last couple games we've played hard
and had good showings," Kante said. "But nobody's really
happy about good showings."
The pursuit of loose balls and rebounds could
have altered those outcomes, Waltman said.
"We lament that we've lost so many close
games, but that's what puts you in close games like that,"
he said.
Playing hurt
-- Junior guard Matt Broermann scored 14 points in the Illinois
State loss after having to sit out practices earlier in the week.
ISU head athletic trainer Dave Ralston said Broermann's practice
times are limited to keep him as pain free as possible for games,
because of back problems.
The 6-foot-5 guard from Ohio has chronic disc
syndrome, which involves three degenerative discs in his back.
"Which makes playing basketball six days a week real hard
for him," Ralston said.
Nonetheless, Broermann was able to play 32
minutes against the Redbirds.
"He just digs down and gives us a good
outside threat," Waltman said of Broermann.
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