By Mark Bennett
Wednesday night took its toll on Djibril Kante.
Indiana State's senior forward absorbed a
hard fall to the Hulman Center floor late in the second half
of the Sycamores' 71-54 college basketball loss to Valparaiso.
Three minutes later, the 6-foot-8, 245-pound Kante twisted his
ankle in another collision and was helped off the court.
He played 33 minutes, and recorded a double-double,
with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
"Thirteen points and 13 boards is a really
good game," ISU Coach Royce Waltman said of Kante.
Kante suffered a moderate sprain to the inside
of his left ankle, Sycamore athletic trainer Dave Ralston explained.
Whether he'll be able to participate in ISU's next practice on
Friday is questionable, Ralston said. He lists Kante as probable
for Sunday's 3:05 p.m. game at Butler.
Kante shot only three times from the field
in Sunday's 70-54 loss at Illinois-Chicago, finishing with six
points on a 3-pointer and three free throws. Afterward, Waltman
hoped ISU could get Kante more shots. He was 6 of 10 from the
floor against Valparaiso.
New starters
-- With sophomore guard Marcus Howard back to full strength from
a preseason stress fracture in his foot, Waltman started Wednesday's
game with Howard, senior Kelyn Block and sophomore Matt Berry
at guards, and Kante and senior Terence Avery at center.
At Illinois-Chicago, the Sycamores started
out with Block, Kante, Avery, and junior Matt Broermann, with
freshman Lamar Grimes at point guard. Against the Crusaders,
Grimes played 15 minutes off the bench, backing the starters
with three points and five rebounds.
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The point-guard duties weren't worrying Waltman
afterward. Shot execution was a bigger concern.
"[By] rotating Marcus, Kelyn and Lamar,
we have enough ball-handling to handle pressure," Waltman
said. "[But] I don't know if we have the kind of perimeter
skills to make shots and finish plays."
Rivalry renewed
-- Indiana State vs. Valparaiso used to be an intense college
basketball rivalry.
The two teams met 74 times until the series
died after sophomore Larry Bird led the Sycamores to a 77-70
victory at Valparaiso on March 5, 1977. Bird had 34 points and
12 rebounds that night, sending the Sycamores toward their first
NIT berth ever four days later. That was ISU's 50th victory over
the Crusaders in the series.
Now talks between Sycamore Coach Royce Waltman
and Valparaiso's Homer Drew have rekindled the rivalry, at least
for four more years. After Wednesday's 71-54 victory by Valparaiso
in Hulman Center, the Crusaders and ISU will meet at Valparaiso
in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons, before returning to Terre
Haute for a meeting in the 2004-05 season.
"We've just talked about [resuming the
series]. We're both here in the state, and they have a good program,"
Waltman said Monday. "We'd like to have a home-and-home
with them all the time. This is a four-year contract. I don't
know if [Drew] would commit beyond that."
The resumption of the series brings together
two of the NCAA Tournament's top giant-killers. Behind Bird,
of course, ISU went 33-1 and reached the 1979 NCAA finals. And
last season, Waltman's team knocked off 13th-ranked Oklahoma
in the first round. Drew's Crusaders, led by his son Bryce, made
a Sweet Sixteen run in 1998.
"They, over the past four or five years,
have really done well," Waltman said.
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