By Mark Bennett
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Saturday night, ESPN
got a taste of Missouri Valley Conference basketball vintage
2001-02.
When the network scheduled an Indiana State-Illinois
State clash last fall, it probably expected a rich chardonnay
of a game, with sweet plays by the MVC's top two individual talents
-- Tarise Bryson of the Redbirds and Kelyn Block of the Sycamores.
However, injuries have picked off not only Bryson (a dislocated
wrist) and Block (a muscle tear around his knee cap), but several
other MVC standouts this season.
So with the national television cameras rolling
on "The Duece" (ESPN2), the two ISUs dueled without
their high-profile guards. Instead of a chardonnay, the competition
has become more Budweiser and blue-collar.
But what the heck. Harry Caray always seemed
to enjoy the Cubs' games.
"We hadn't anticipated the injuries,
and expected these two teams would be around the top of the conference,"
MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin said Saturday, minutes before tipoff.
In a preseason poll, the Redbirds were picked to win the Valley
title, and the Sycamores were picked to finish third. Yet they
entered Saturday's game with a combined record of 8-20.
"But I still anticipate a competitive
game," Elgin added.
It was, but only for a half. An 11-0 Illinois
State run early in the second half turned a 37-37 game into a
68-56 Rebird rout.
Still, those Redbirds' second-half lit up
their crowd and gave the game some flavor. Players such as Baboucarr
Bojang and Shawn Jeppson of Illinois State gave ESPN2 decent
highlight material.
But Bryson and Block would have spiced up
the mix.
The MVC's wounded list has had some prominent
names, in addition to those two.
From Illinois State Coach Tom Richardson's
perspective, the conference's injury rash is as broad as ever.
"I've been in the league nine years, and I've not seen that
many top-line players being hurt," Richardson said.
Here's a partial patient list:
One of Block's and Bryson's fellow Preseason
All-MVC first-teamers, Kyle Korver, suffered a tear of cartliage
-- the meniscus -- in his knee two nights before a Dec. 16 home
game against Indiana State. He was on the sidelines that day,
watching the Bluejays beat the Sycamores 70-46. Four days later,
Korver had surgery. Amazingly, nine days later, he was back on
the court.
"I didn't think he'd be able to come
back that quickly," said Creighton Coach Dana Altman, "and
look like he hadn't even been worked on."
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And the night before Evansville played the
Sycamores in Hulman Center, the Purple Aces' leading scorer and
rebounder Dan Lytle found out his meniscus was torn. After Indiana
State beat Evansville 45-40, Aces Coach Jim Crews was told an
upcoming surgery would either reveal that Lytle could return
in a few weeks or miss the rest of the season.
They got lucky.
"He's not out for the year," Crews
said Tuesday, the morning after Lytle's surgery. He'll be back,
but Crews couldn't say when.
Southwest Missouri State lost senior frontcourt
man Scott Brakebill for four games after suffering ligament damage
in his thumb. Bears Coach Barry Hinson was fortunate too. Brakebill's
thumb didn't need surgery, and he's since returned, carrying
averages of 14.8 points and 5.7 rebounds a game.
With Block due back likely around the Sycamores'
Jan. 27 home game against SMS, the unluckiest blow of all was
to the Redbirds. The fall Bryson took in their season-opening
victory over Weber State put the reigning conference Player of
the Year out for the season.
A few teams have survived relatively unscathed,
and the standings and power rankings reflect that. Healthy and
experienced Northern Iowa won its fourth straight MVC game Thursday,
beating Indiana State 71-70 on Robbie Sieverding's layup with
three seconds left. Southern Illinois -- armed with massive forward
Rolan Roberts, dangerous pivotman Jermaine Dearman and high-scoring
guard Kent Williams -- was off to a start of 13-3 overall and
3-1 in the conference going into Saturday night's clash with
Northern Iowa in Carbondale.
The Panthers and Salukis were the MVC's only
two Top-60 teams in last week's Collegiate Basketball News Rating
Percentage Index rankings. From the conference's viewpoint, the
league probably needs both of those teams to stay uninjured and
hot to have a chance at multiple NCAA Tournament berths in March.
Hinson's Bears lost 84-74 to Southern Illinois
on Monday. "We are one of the teams in the country that
can attest to the fact that they're the real deal," Hinson
said Tuesday. "Last night, Dearman and Roberts, they just
thought it was a Chinese buffet at our place. They had all they
want."
And from the MVC's view, good play from its
top teams goes well with either a nice chablis or a frosty mug.
Date shifted
-- The nework originally planned to broadcast the Feb. 9 Illinois
State-at-Indiana State game on its primary channel, ESPN. But
when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks led the NFL to cancel that
weekend's games and extend its season by a week, that arrangement
conflicted with the network's contract to broadcast the Pro Bowl,
now scheduled for Feb. 9.
So as a compromise, Saturday's Sycamore game
at Normal was chosen as a substitute on ESPN2.
Mark Bennett can be reached by telephone
at 1-800-783-8742, Ext. 377, by e-mail at mark.bennett@tribstar.com
and by fax at (812) 231-4321.
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