By Mark Bennett
As he stretched his injured knee on a training
table inside Hulman Center three weeks ago, Kelyn Block wished
his young Indiana State teammates would discover some confidence
during his recovery.
Last Wednesday, Block's wish seemed to come
true.
Freshmen Lamar Grimes and Jake Sams, and sophomores
Marcus Howard and Matt Berry all made big plays in a 71-65 victory
at Northern Iowa. Grimes hit a decisive jumpshot in the lane
with 24 seconds left.
Now as today's 5:05 p.m. game against Southwest
Missouri State (9-11 overall, 4-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference)
approaches, Block isn't expected to play today and will watch
from the sidelines one more time, seeing a Sycamore team that
stands a little taller. Wednesday's victory ended a four-game
losing streak and raised ISU's records to 4-13 and 2-6. And it
featured improved shooting from every point on the court, strong
rebounding and strong defense.
"We've got a lot of young guys. It gives
us confidence," said Block's senior teammate Djibril Kante,
who had 10 points to go with a career-high 14 rebounds, three
blocked steals and a blocked shot. "We got our first road
win. It's got to give us confidence to come home and get a win."
And once Block is able to play again, the
progress needs to continue, Kante said.
"We know that Kelyn's not going to be
100 percent, and he's not going to be in the best basketball
shape. You can't put everything on Kelyn," Kante said. "Guys
have to know they have to step up, even if Kelyn's on the court.
Block returned to limited practice Friday,
and is expected to return to game action Thursday at Bradley.
The Sycamores' leading scorer hasn't played since Dec. 29 after
undergoing surgery Jan. 4 to repair a torn muscle near his right
kneecap.
Though his Preseason All-MVC first-team pick
won't be ready to play today, ISU Coach Royce Waltman won't have
a problem wedging Block back into the lineup when he is available
later this week.
"No," Waltman said chuckling. "We've
got some guys out there playing so many minutes, it'll be no
problem getting Kelyn back in there for no other reason that
just to give guys a little bit of rest."
Kante, for example, played a career-high 39
minutes. Grimes played 30. He had 13 points, two rebounds, a
block and a steal. He also had four turnovers and only two assists.
But Grimes still had the poise at the end to hit the night's
biggest shot, while heavily guarded by Northern Iowa's Chris
Foster. Two weeks earlier, Grimes committed two late turnovers,
allowing Northern Iowa to rally for a 71-70 win at ISU.
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As Block had hoped, Grimes has improved in
the past month.
"The biggest guy to gain confidence is
Lamar," Kante said. "He turns the ball over sometimes,
but he never lets it get him down. He just keeps attacking. When
Kelyn was playing, [Lamar] was a little tentative and a little
shy. Now, he's not so much of that. He's more like, 'You got
me this time, but I'm going to come back and get you next time.'
"
Block has been impressed. "The win they
had [Wednesday] was huge, because it was on the road," he
said Friday. "Regardless of me playing or not, I think those
guys have gained confidence and believe they can win."
In Block's absence, ISU has gone 2-4, with
victories over Evansville and Northern Iowa. The Sycamores have
also suffered two one-point losses at home during that stretch.
And since that chilly offensive night against Evansville (a 45-40
Sycamore win), ISU has averaged 66.6 points over its last five
games. The Sycamores had been averaging just 56.3.
Grimes has scored in double figures in five
of the six games since Block was sidelined, and is now averaging
7.2 points per game.
Back at Chicago Gage Park High School, Grimes
typically had the ball in tight games. As a college freshman,
he's becoming more comfortable with that situation on the NCAA
Division I level.
"It's a different atmosphere, but it's
the same pressure," Grimes said. "Pressure's pressure."
Two other freshmen - Sams and pivotman Jerod
Adler - caught Waltman's attention at Northern Iowa too. Adler
played three minutes early in the second half, when Sams and
Terence Avery quickly picked up their fourth fouls.
"Jerod came in and gave us really good
minutes, and so did Jake and we were able to get through that
foul trouble," Waltman said.
Defensively, sophomore Marcus Howard and a
few teammates shut down Northern Iowa guard Robbie Sieverding,
the MVC's leading scorer. Sieverding didn't hit a field goal,
and finished with just seven points.
"Whoever got on [Sieverding] did a pretty
good job of staying with him," Waltman said.
The defense's job will be tough today too.
SMS has four double-figure scorers, and senior center Mike Wallace
also averages double-digit rebounds. Complacency after one victory
would be a mistake, Waltman said.
"I hope we're not big enough fools to
relax a little bit. If we can build upon this, it will really
help us," Waltman said. SMS is a very talented basketball
team, and we'll have to play tough again."
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