By Mark Bennett
Could Jim Molinari be right?
For seasoned Indiana State Sycamore watchers,
Thursday night's 60-57 defeat in Carver Arena to Molinari's Bradley
Braves seemed to be vintage 2001-02 ISU basketball a close loss,
a deficit in rebounds, some costly turnovers and big numbers
from some unsung opposing players.
But the return of the Sycamores' leading scorer,
Kelyn Block, left the Bradley coach thinking ISU might finally
be ready to reverse a dismal season. Block missed nearly the
entire month of January as he recovered from surgery to repair
a torn muscle near his right knee cap. Thursday, he came off
the bench to play 27 minutes, getting 11 points, three rebounds
and one assist. Block even slam-dunked two-handed.
"Now you can see what [ISU Coach Royce
Waltman's] record would be if Kelyn had played all year,"
Molinari said.
Barring a miraculous postseason run, this
will be Waltman's first losing season in five years as the Sycamores'
coach and only his second ever as a college head coach. ISU enters
today's 3:05 p.m. game at Wichita State with records of 4-15
overall and 2-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
"Now that they have [Block] back, they're
going to be a huge factor as time goes on," Molinari predicted.
"His presence is huge."
A huge performance by the 6-foot-2, 200-pound
Block would help today against the Shockers (11-10, 5-5). It
will be the Kansas City, Kan., native's final performance in
his home state.
With eight regular-season games left, Block
ranks 20th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,159 career
points. This season, he leads ISU in scoring at 11.8 points per
game, assists at 2.8 a game, and minutes per game at 33.6.
His knee feels better, though he winced once
Thursday as it bent in a ball scramble. But Block's real pain
comes from that win-loss record. And that's all he wants to improve
today at Wichita State.
"I just want to win. I don't care if
I play bad, or I don't play at all, which I don't think will
happen," Block said. "We just need to win to help our
confidence."
Waltman was impressed by Block's performance.
"Kelyn did a good job for his first time
back," Waltman said before Saturday's practice in the ISU
Arena.
There are other issues to be addressed, though.
In the Sycamores' loss at Bradley, they allowed
Braves senior forward Reggie Hall a career-high 15 points and
eight rebounds. And Bradley freshman forward Danny Granger added
a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. In response, ISU
frontcourt men Djibril Kante, Terence Avery and Jerod Adler combined
for only nine points. Kante went scoreless. Adler and Kante fouled
out. Avery was handcuffed by four fouls. And ISU got out rebounded
39-27.
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| Peoria
Journal Star/Ron Johnson |
| Excuse me: Indiana State's
Matt Berry dribbles the ball over the top of Bradley's James
Gillingham in the first half of last Thursday's game in Carver
Arena at Peoria, Ill. |
"We just defended so poorly in the post
and fouled so much," Waltman said. "I complained some
to the officials. But as we looked at the game films, we were
holding and grabbing. And we need to do a better job of post
defense."
Waltman saw progress on the other end. "On
the offensive end, we were pretty darn good," he said.
The Sycamores hit 40 percent of their shots
and sank 16 of 21 free throws.
Today, they'll face a Shocker team also coming
off a tough road loss. Wichita State lost 80-64 Wednesday at
Drake.
The last time ISU met the Shockers, Wichita
State won 64-63 in Hulman Center with Block watching from the
bench. The Sycamores got a career-high 24 points from 3-point
shooter Matt Broermann that night, but Wichita State defender
Jamar Howard clamped down on Broermann in the second half.
"He's very active, drives the ball and
rebounds the ball," Waltman said of Howard, one of three
Wichita State freshman starters. "Down the stretch, they
put Howard on Broermann and he didn't get any more 3-pointers."
Shocker freshmen Rob Kampman and Randy Burns
are also double-figure threats, along with senior sixth-man Terrell
Benton, senior center Troy Mack and senior guard C.C. McFall.
"They have a really good inside-out attack,"
Waltman said.
For the second straight game, Waltman may
respond with a starting lineup that includes Adler, a 6-9 freshman.
The coach is still looking for sparks of life.
"He's far from being a polished player,"
Waltman said after Thursday's loss, "but Jerod got five
rebounds and brought some energy and life to our team."
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