By Mark Bennett
Tuesday afternoon as he walked out onto the
Hulman Center basketball court, Indiana State senior Djibril
Kante's objective was to have a good practice.
And tonight at 7:05 p.m. in Hulman Center,
Kante just wants the Sycamores to get a Missouri Valley Conference
victory over Wichita State.
Hopes of steady, daily progress have replaced
the constant buzz of championship aspirations of previous ISU
seasons. The Sycamores -- off to a start of 3-11 overall and
1-4 in the MVC -- are currently stuck in last place in the conference
standings as they prepare to face one of the Valley's hottest
teams in the Shockers (9-7, 3-2).
"That's a hard pill to swallow,"
Sycamore Coach Royce Waltman said Tuesday, arms folded as he
watched his team begin practice. "We've had several straight
years where we're keeping track of home and away losses for all
the teams in our conference when we were in the thick of it.
We're not in the thick of it."
To finish above .500 in the MVC, the Sycamores
need to win nine of their next 13 games. To finish the regular
season with an overall winning record, they'll have to go 11-2
the rest of the way. Realistically, their best shot at a third
straight postseason berth could be by winning the MVC Tournament
on March 1-4 at St. Louis, where they won the title in dramatic
fashion a year ago.
Kante's goals reflect the current situation
-- "try to get better every practice, and try to get as
many wins as we can," he said Tuesday. "We're not going
to quit trying. But we realize our season is in March."
The Sycamores have lost seven of their last
eight games. On top of that, they lost their leading scorer --
senior guard Kelyn Block -- to a knee injury after a Dec. 29
loss to Bowling Green. Then in Saturday's 68-56 loss at Illinois
State, senior center Terence Avery -- the team's No. 2 scorer
and rebounder -- broke the fifth metatarpal bone in his right
shooting hand. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Avery will likely be in
uniform, but ISU head athletic trainer Dave Ralston said it is
doubtful he'll be able to play.
Their absence means the rest of the Sycamores
must be at their best tonight, Kante said.
"That's huge when you're short-handed,"
Kante said. "If you're missing your only two guys averaging
double-figures [in points], it's big."
And it's even bigger when those scorers are
lost from a team that ranks last in the conference in scoring
with a 57.3-points-per-game average. Coach Mark Turgeon's Shockers
average 75.8 points per game, and they lead the MVC in 3-point
shooting with a 40-percent mark.
"They shoot the ball well, and they have
a coach who has brought some real semblance of team to a program
that had been struggling," Waltman said of Wichita State.
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C. Garza |
| Triple defense: Indiana State's
Marcus Howard (1) shoots over three Northern Iowa defenders during
last week's game at Hulman Center. |
Wichita State is coming off back-to-back home
victories over first-place Southern Illinois and Drake. Facing
those Shockers with Avery injured means Kante will likely work
the pivot with freshman Jerod Adler backing him up, Waltman said.
And at forward, freshman starter Jake Sams will have 6-foot-11
sophomore Michael Kernan -- back from a foot injury -- working
in reserve.
They'll challenge a lineup of four double-figure
scorers, led by freshman point guard Randy Burns and senior guard
Terrell Benton, who often comes off the bench.
Despite the Sycamores' problems, Turgeon expects
a tough game from them. ISU owns a seven-game winning streak
against Wichita State. And Turgeon realizes the Sycamore defense
ranks second in the conference, yielding just 65.9 points per
game.
"They're going to guard you. They're
going to be prepared because they're well coached," he said
Tuesday. "And they've got to be excited about Wichita State
coming in -- a team picked nine [in a preseason MVC poll] and
a team that has struggled on the road."
Indeed, the Shockers are 6-1 at home and 3-6
away from Levitt Arena. But the Sycamores, Waltman adds, are
just 3-4 in Hulman Center.
Thus, the need to focus on constant progress
each day.
"We're just trying to concentrate on
what we're doing. And if we do that, we might win the Wichita
game," Waltman said. "But we haven't won at home. We
haven't won away."
Dwelling on anything beyond the moment could
backfire, Waltman said.
"Maybe I'm wrong, but I think we're pretty
demoralized at this time. And I think, if we say, 'This is how
many we're trying to win, and we're trying to finish in this
place,' it just adds more heaviness to an already heavy load,"
he said. "We've made our goals -- pay attention to detail,
concentrate on assignments and improve. If that ever starts to
pay off in wins, then we'll start talking about what we could
do."
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