By Mark Bennett
Revenge might sound plausible to a winning
team. But right now, Indiana State Coach Royce Waltman and his
Sycamores aren't taping any clippings of their one-point, home-court
loss to Northern Iowa two weeks ago over their lockers.
Their concerns are far more basic going into
tonight's 8:05 game in the UNI-Dome against host Northern Iowa
(10-6 overall, 5-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference).
The Sycamores (3-13, 1-6) have lost nine of
their last 10 games. And their heart-breaking 71-70 loss to the
Panthers in Hulman Center back on Jan. 10 is just one of those
Ls. They have a 68-65 lead slip away in that game's final two
and a half minutes, thanks to four turnovers and a clutch layup
by Northern Iowa guard Robbie Sieverding with three seconds left.
But those are details. It was still a loss.
"The fact that we're trying to dig ourselves
out of a hole and win some games is more on our minds than that
[earlier] game," Waltman said after Tuesday's practice.
The hole seemed as deep as ever in their last
outing, a 91-73 loss at Southern Illinois. The Sycamores seemed
to be within reach of the first-place Salukis through the game's
first 10 minutes as they led 21-15. Freshman Jake Sams scored
ISU's first nine points on three 3-pointers. Freshman point guard
Lamar Grimes added a pair of jumpshots from the lane. And after
senior forward Djibril Kante hit his only basket of the first
half, sophomore Marcus Howard sank a 3-pointer.
Even after a 15-2 Saluki run and a 42-33 Southern
Illinois lead at halftime, ISU had pulled to within six points
early in the second half.
Kante was the only senior on the court for
ISU on Saturday. Kelyn Block remained out while recovering from
knee surgery. Center Terence Avery missed his second straight
game with a broken hand.
Kante scored 16 of his 18 points in the second
half, but the Sycamores allowed their largest point total of
the season and lost.
"With Kelyn and Terence out, it's kind
of hard. We had freshman and younger guys step up, and I think
they do a good job. In the first half [at Southern Illinois],
they really kind of carried us," Kante said afterward. "And
Coach got on me at halftime, and I tried to get going.
"I mean it's frustrating, but we're fighting
through it."
Avery will likely return to action tonight,
and may start along side Kante. The broken bone in his right
shooting hand will be heavily taped. "It still bothers him,
but I think he's going to play," Waltman said.
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| Tribune-Star/Joseph
C. Garza |
| Dishoff: Indiana State guard
Lamar Grimes hands off the ball to teammate Djibril Kante as
he is guarded by Northern Iowa's Blake Anderson during the Missouri
Valley Conference contest Jan. 10 at Hulman Center. |
Meanwhile, Block won't travel with the team,
but will stay back in Terre Haute to rehabilitate his knee. The
senior guard had surgery on Jan. 4 to repair a torn muscle near
his kneecap. ISU head athletic trainer Dave Ralston said Tuesday
that Block could return to practice on Friday and lists him as
possible for Sunday's home game against Southwest Missouri State
and probable for the Jan. 31 game at Bradley.
As for tonight's trip to Cedar Falls, the
Sycamores will try to get their first road win of the season.
They're 0-8 away from Hulman Center so far. But the site, Waltman
said, isn't really any more of a factor than that prior one-point
loss to Northern Iowa.
"The fact of it is, we've not been winning
at home either," he said.
One key to success tonight, Waltman said,
is containing Panther sophomore forward David Gruber, who scored
19 points against ISU in the first meeting, on both ends of the
court.
"We've got to do a better job against
him," Waltman said.
Part of that task will fall to Kante, the
Sycamores' rugged, 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward-center. But he
knows he'll need help.
"The freshman have to come out and play
hard. They can't dwell on how good they did [at Southern Illinois]
or how bad they did," Kante said after the Southern Illinois
loss. "We have another chance on Wednesday at Northern Iowa,
and we just have to come out and play hard."
Numbers-- ISU
must now win its final 11 games to finish the regular season
above .500 for the fourth straight year. The last Sycamore team
to go 3-13 was in 1993-94. Coach Tates Locke's squad didn't get
its fourth victory until its 23rd game and finished 4-22.
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