Indiana State men’s basketball fell on Wednesday night at Valparaiso in an 98-95 contest that saw the Sycamores’ second overtime game since the new year. Indiana State fell to 9-7, 3-2 MVC while Valparaiso improved to 10-6, 3-2 MVC.
Valparaiso went a perfect four-for-four from the field in overtime and four-for-six from the free throw line to outscore the Sycamores 12-9 in the extra five-minute period to secure the 98-95 victory in overtime. Indiana State also made four buckets from the field but was limited to shoot only one-for-one from the line, which proved to be the difference in the three-point game.
Samage Teel and Markus Harding got the scoring underway with layups in back-to-back possessions. Valparaiso made its first three-of-four shots and matched the effort from the free throw line, while Camp Wagner and K’mani Doughty made threes in consecutive possessions to tie the ballgame 10-10 at the first media timeout at 15:43.
Jaden Daughtry entered the game and scored the next six points for Indiana State, which ended up being the only points for the Sycamores between the two timeouts. Daughtry’s last bucket was a one-handed slam trailing an offensive rebound by Jahni Summers.
Valpo went on a short 10-4 run in the next 2 1/2 minutes to take a five-point lead with 10:02 remaining. The Sycamores made a run of their own, an 8-0 spurt with five points from Teel. Indiana State led 28-25 with 6:53 remaining in the half.
The two teams continued to exchange the lead, with four lead changes in the next three minutes. Valpo took a one-point lead with just under two minutes left as part of a 9-0 run to close the half. Valpo’s Cooper Schwieger drained a three pointer in the final two seconds before the buzzer rang on the clock, giving the Beacons a 45-40 lead headed into the break.
Doughty’s three-pointer was the first basket of the second half, but the Beacons went on an 11-4 run in the next 3 1/2 minutes to lead 56-47 at the first media timeout. Valpo grabbed three of the team’s 10 offensive boards in a single possession in the run, leading to a triple.
Another Valpo three-pointer after the timeout gave them a 12-point, 59-47 lead, which tied for their largest lead of all 45 minutes of game time. That’s when the Sycamores clawed back.
The Trees went on a 9-2 run, highlighted by a Summers three-pointer and four points from Aaron Gray. Indiana State trailed by five with 12:46 remaining, 61-56.
Inside the six-minute mark and with the Sycamores down seven, Teel and Doughty turned in key plays to get Indiana State within a possession. Doughty secured a steal and passed ahead to Teel who made a layup, and the very next possession Doughty grabbed a defensive rebound for Teel to bank in another layup.
The next defensive possession resulted in yet another defensive rebound by Doughty, this time leading to a LeGree layup to put Indiana State down one, 76-75, with 4:48 to play.
Valparaiso slowly worked back to a five-point lead, but after free throws by Teel and Daughtry, Doughty came through again for Indiana State. The graduate student converted the conventional and-one with 1:28 left on the clock to tie the game at 82 apiece. The two teams exchanged buckets and free throws, and the game went to overtime tied 86-86 before the eventual 98-95 final score.
Samage Teel led the Sycamores offensively with 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting while dishing out a game-high seven assists. He played 42:17 minutes in the game, the most between the two teams. Jaden Daughtry scored 16 points going 6-for-9 from the field, and he tied Derek Vorst for a team-high seven rebounds. K’mani Doughty finished with 15 points on a 5-for-9 night, going 2-for-4 from deep with three rebounds and three assists. Camp Wagner scored 14 points, knocking down four three-pointers and pulling down four rebounds. Aaron Gray rounded out the five Sycamores in double figures with 10, going 5-for-10 from the field with six rebounds.
Valparaiso was led by a combined 71 points from All Wright (25), Cooper Schwieger (23), and Tyler Schmidt (23). The three combined for 21-of-43 (48.5%) from the field and attempted 43 of the team’s 62 field goal attempts (69.4%).
News & Notes
- The Sycamores shot 50.0% from the field, the first time in the last four games the team has finished 50.0% or better from the field (58.3% on December 21 vs. UHSP).
- The Sycamores have now dropped three of the last four contests: three-of-four have been on the road, and one road loss was to Ohio State.
- Indiana State finished 18-for-31 from the free throw line (58.1%) compared to Valparaiso shooting 32-for-43 (74.4%). The 58.1% by the Sycamores is the lowest mark (min. 10 attempts) since February 10, 2024 at Missouri State (5-for-10, 50.0%). The 43 attempts by Valpo is the second-most free throw attempts shot against the Sycamores this season (46 on November 16 by Ball State).
- There were 74 free throws attempted combined between the two teams, the second-most of the season behind the November 16 total at Ball State (75).
- Indiana State shot 28-for-46 from two-point range (60.9%), which is the 10th-best percentage of the season. However, the 28 made two-pointers is the third-most makes this season.
- Indiana State’s 13 offensive rebounds are the most since November 7 against Eureka (16).
- The Sycamore defense held Valpo to only 33.3% shooting in the second half, in comparison to the Beacons shooting 53.6% in the first half.
- Samage Teel has now led Indiana State in scoring eight times and in assists eight times. It’s the eighth time he has finished with 20+ points this season. He has recorded back-to-back games with seven assists, the first time this season he has recorded back-to-back games with 5+ assists.
- Jaden Daughtry has four-straight games of 16+ points, the best stretch of his collegiate career. He is shooting 62.2% (28-for-45) in the stretch.
- Derek Vorst tied for a team-high seven rebounds in only 10:50 on the court, which all came in the first half.
- K’mani Doughty has scored 10+ points in three of his last four times.
- Aaron Gray finished in double figures for the third time this season in nine games played.
Up Next
Indiana State returns to Hulman Center on Saturday, January 11 to host Belmont at 1 p.m. ET. Indiana State will honor its Hall of Fame inductees during the game. The 2024 Hall of Fame Class features Dr. Daniel Bradley (President), Mike Eberle (Baseball), John Gartland (Cross Country/Track & Field), Kelsey Luna (Women’s Basketball), and Peter Magnusson (Men’s Tennis).
