By Mark Bennett
An elbow to the teeth in last season's NCAA
Tournament couldn't do it. Neither could offseason surgery to
his ankle.
But a knee injury from rugged contact in Indiana
State's loss last Saturday to Bowling Green will force the Sycamores
to play without senior guard Kelyn Block. After suiting up for
all 104 of his previous games at Indiana State, Block will miss
today's 4:05 p.m. duel with Missouri Valley Conference rival
Evansville in Hulman Center. He had successful surgery to repair
his right knee Friday at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.
The Sycamores (2-9 overall, 0-2 in the MVC)
were struggling as they learned to play without last season's
seniors -- Michael Menser and Matt Renn -- anyway. Now they'll
continue that process without Block, their leader in scoring
(12.9 points per game), assists (3 a game) and minutes (34.2
per game) for at least the next three weeks.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Kansas native is also
ISU's top backcourt rebounder at 4.9 per game.
With limited options, Coach Royce Waltman
will likely return to an early-season tactic of using his two
biggest players -- Block's fellow seniors Djibril Kante and Terence
Avery -- on the court at the same time. Kante, a 6-8, 245-pound
power forward, averages 8.4 points and 7.5 rebounds. Avery, the
Sycamores' 6-9, 240-pound center, averages 10.9 points and 6.6
rebounds. Together, they've blocked 21 shots.
But setting up scoring opportunities for both
Kante and Avery has been tricky. With Block out for at least
the next six games as he recovers, the twin-towers concept will
get another spin. Kante and Avery will need help from their young
teammates, Waltman said.
"We're going to have to go back to playing
Terence and Djibril a little bit more," Waltman said Friday.
"And then guys like Matt Berry and Matt Broermann are going
to have to be a little bit more assertive."
They'll try that out against an Evansville
team that shares last place in the MVC with the Sycamores and
Bradley. The Purple Aces (3-8, 0-2) can counter Kante and Avery
with 6-11 sophomore center Dan Lytle and 6-10 sophomore forward
Faruk Mujezinovic.
"They're playing differently this year.
They've been a catch-and-shoot team for a long, long time,"
Waltman said. "And this year, they're using motion to drive
the ball more." Lytle averages 16.2 points per game, and
is joined in double figures by small forwards Adam Seitz and
Ian Hanavan.
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| Tribune-Star/Joseph
C. Garza |
| That hurts: Indiana State's
Kelyn Block struggles to get back on his feet after he reinjured
his knee last Saturday in a collision with a Bowling Green player
in Hulman Center. |
The two teams have contrasting statistics.
ISU is the lowest-scoring team in the MVC, averaging 57.4 points
per game. Evansville gives up more points than any other Missouri
Valley team at 81.5 points a game. The Sycamores rank next-to-last
in shooting, hitting only 38.8 percent from the field, while
Evansville tops the conference with a 48.6 percentage.
The numbers aren't as important as ISU's potential,
Aces Coach Jim Crews said.
"They're very consistent defensively,"
he said of the Sycamores. "They're playing hard. They're
very unselfish. They've missed some shots at times, but they're
consistent with their efforts."
Nonetheless, the Sycamores have lost five
straight games through a rigorous non-conference schedule that
is the nation's 15th toughest, according to current Sagarin computer
power rankings. In their most recent loss -- a 65-55 setback
last Saturday to visiting Bowling Green -- ISU missed 19 of 36
free throws.
Block scored seven points in 28 minutes in
that game, but reaggravated the injury to his right knee. He
originally bruised it in a collision in ISU's Dec. 19 loss at
Wyoming. After some pained attempts at practicing this week,
Block was sent to Indianapolis for further medical examinations
Thursday. Those tests revealed the muscle connected to the patella
tendon, which stretches over the kneecap, had torn.
During a 25-minute operation Friday, team
doctor Tom Klootwyk successfully repaired the 7-millimeter tear
in Block's muscle. He was scheduled to spend the night in Methodist
Hospital.
Now his young teammates must fill in the void
left by a player who ranks 20th on ISU's all-time scoring list.
One player likely to be called upon to replace Block's slashing
drives to the basket and rebounding from the guard position could
be sophomore starter Marcus Howard.
"Kelyn has been very consistent rebounding
from the guard position," Waltman said. "Marcus Howard
has the ability to do that. And he has to do it."
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