By Mark Bennett
This is new ground for Marcus Howard and many
of his Indiana State Sycamore teammates.
As a high schooler at Elgin, Ill., Howard
was a part of 75 Maroon victories. Last season as an ISU freshman,
he and the Sycamores went 22-12 and won a NCAA Tournament game.
With six regular-season games left in this season, Indiana State
has four victories.
"This has definitely been tough to deal
with, coming from high school, where we won and last year having
a great season," Howard said before Friday's practice in
Hulman Center. "All my life, I've never really had a losing
season.
"But if we can just keep playing hard
and string some wins together, that will help us in the conference
tournament," the sophomore guard added.
Howard was referring to Missouri Valley Conference
Tournament -- the Sycamores' last longshot hope for a positive
outcome to the 2001-02 season. But that longshot is getting longer
by the game.
The Sycamores could redeem a dismal season
by repeating as MVC Tournament champions on March 1-4 at St.
Louis. But as the Sycamores enter today's 4:05 p.m. game in Hulman
Center against Illinois State, their last chances for a dress-rehearsal
of a Savvis Center miracle may have arrived.
That means the Sycamores need a win streak
now.
"They're hanging on to all there is to
hang on to -- to try and do well in the conference tournament,"
ISU Coach Royce Waltman said. "But I think they're aware
that if we can't crack through a few times here before that,
that will be hard to do."
Winning the MVC Tournament would require at
least three -- and more likely four -- consecutive victories
by the Sycamores. And so far in 2001-02, their only winning streak
was a two-victory string in December over IUPUI and Murray State.
Since then, ISU has lost 13 of its last 15 games.
The Sycamores' records are 4-17 overall and
2-10 in the conference. They're currently tied with Evansville
for last place in the MVC. They have six games left, and four
are at home, beginning with this afternoon's rematch with Illinois
State (11-12, 7-5).
If ISU finishes in seventh place or lower,
it must play in the MVC Tournament's Friday play-in round. And
that means to win the whole thing, the Sycamores would need victories
on that Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, which no Valley
team has ever done.
And if they want to prepare by winning four
consecutive regular-season games, the time may have to be now.
ISU's next four opponents are the Redbirds, Bradley (4-8 in the
MVC), Evansville (2-10) and Drake (5-7). Then MVC co-leader Southern
Illinois (10-2) comes to Hulman Center on Feb. 23, before the
season finale at Southwest Missouri State on Feb. 25.
Stopping Illinois State will be hard enough.
In a 68-56 loss in Redbird Arena on Jan. 12,
the Sycamores were deflated by an 11-0 run by Illinois State
in the second half. They hit just six of 16 free throws, and
got outrebounded 41-30. Redbirds junior Baboucarr Bojang had
a statistical double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
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| Tribune-Star/Joseph
C. Garza |
| No way: Indiana State guard
Lamar Grimes reacts to a foul called on him against Creighton's
Tyler McKinney with 6.8 seconds left on the clock during the
Sycamores' 64-63 loss Wednesday in Hulman Center. |
Though both teams rank among the MVC's top
four in defense, Waltman is worried about his Sycamores' ability
to contain Baboucarr, a 6-9 forward, and perimeter scorers Shedrick
Ford, Shawn Jeppson and Randy Rice. All four scored in double
figures against the Sycamores in the January game.
Since that loss, ISU's own offense has gradually
improved, though they still rank last in the MVC in scoring at
60.3 points per game. The Sycamores hit 49 percent of their shots
against the Redbirds, and have shot under 40 percent only once
since then. In Wednesday's 64-63 home loss to Creighton, the
Sycamores made 47 percent of their field goals.
"I think we've improved offensively.
I think we've improved in shot selection, and in shooting a higher
percentage," Waltman said. "We're improved as a team.
It just hasn't shown up in the win column."
The losses have been narrow and painful to
the Sycamores. Wednesday's defeat was ISU's third one-point MVC
loss at home. Six setbacks have come by margins of three points
or less.
Now that dreams of a battle for the MVC's
regular-season championship are gone, along with hopes for a
fifth straight winning season, Waltman's team has two things
left to play for -- a MVC Tournament crown and pride.
"I think our guys have grasped the fact
that we're having a failing season, and now they've got to continue
to play hard and play with honor," Waltman said.
Reunion time
-- An alumni game at 2:15 p.m. precedes today's Illinois State-Indiana
State game, and it will reunite, among others, two members of
last season's Sycamore MVC Tournament championship team. Brian
Giesen, now a graduate assistant coach with ISU, and Michael
Menser, a radio color analyst for the Sycamore broadcasts, will
play on the same team.
Giesen suffered a college career-ending injury
to a nerve in his leg during ISU's victory over IU last season,
the same game that featured two dramatic 3-pointers by Menser
in the final 8.5 seconds.
"I played in a rec league game the other
night. I did all right," said Giesen. "But I was a
little the next day."
An alumni reception begins at 12:15 p.m. in
Hulman Center's Sycamore Room.
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