Indiana State men’s basketball got back into the win column on Saturday afternoon with a road victory against the Evansville Purple Aces. Indiana State improved to 9-6, 3-1 MVC while UE fell to 5-10, 2-2 MVC.
The Sycamores made all six free throws within the final minute to overcome closing out the final 2:48 without a field goal, in combination with holding Evansville to only one field goal in the final 4:40 of the game. Indiana State scored 16 points in the last 9:15 of the game, where eight points came from field goals and eight from the free throw line.
Markus Harding got the scoring started for Indiana State, scoring the first four with a hookshot and dunk. Camp Wagner drained a triple from the top of the key to give the Sycamores a 7-5 lead at the under-16 media timeout.
Evansville had opportunities to score at the rim but the shots weren’t falling, yet they still led 13-11 at the second media timeout at the 11:58 mark. UE assisted on all six of their made field goal attempts.
Jaden Daughtry entered the game at the first media timeout and scored eight points, accounting for eight of the team’s first 15 points in the game. All four field goals for the sophomore came off left-handed layups at the rim.
Indiana State’s defense forced the Evansville offense into a slump. Following a layup at the 13:25 mark, the Purple Aces made just two of the next 11 shots, and the Sycamores capitalized.
Indiana State used the shooting drought to score nine straight, taking an 18-13 advantage, capped by a Bruno Alocen left-wing three-pointer at with just under 10 minutes left until halftime. Evansville battled back to go up one, 21-20, but their lead didn’t last long as Jahni Summers drilled a three-pointer to go up 23-21 with just over five minutes remaining in the half.
Evansville used a 15-6 run to close out the first half, taking a 36-31 lead into halftime.
Neither team could break away early in the second half as Evansville led 43-40 at the under-16 media break. Indiana State was able to bring the game within a point but couldn’t get over the hump.
Aaron Gray came into the game and immediately made his presence known converting an and-one, tying the game at 43 apiece with 15:35 remaining. Indiana State was able to take the lead off a short 5-0 run from a pair of free throws by Samage Teel and Summers’ second three-pointer of the game. The Sycamores led 48-46 with 12:18 to play.
With just over five to play, UE made two free throws to take a one-point, 53-52 lead. Gray knocked down a huge corner three-pointer to take back the lead, but UE followed up and tied the game at 55. Daughtry made two free throws to regain the lead, only for a pair of UE free throws to tie it once again with three minutes left on the clock.
Daughtry scored the next seven points for the Sycamores, with five of those points coming at the free throw line. With 15 seconds to play, UE had the ball on Indiana State’s side of the court. When catching the inbound pass, Teel swiped the ball loose and off the UE player out of bounds to give the Sycamores the ball underneath their basket with a two-point lead.
Indiana State inbounded the ball to Daughtry who was fouled with 12.8 seconds left sending him to the free throw line, where he knocked down both attempts to give the Sycamores a 64-60 lead.
An Evansville jumper was made with three seconds on the clock to cut the lead down to two, 64-62 in favor of the Sycamores. Aaron Gray was fouled after the ball was inbounded and made the two clutch free throws to send Indiana State back to Terre Haute with the 66-62 victory.
Jaden Daughtry came off the bench to lead the Sycamores with a game-high 26 points on 9-for-17 shooting in 24 minutes. The sophomore finished perfect from the line, 8-for-8. He was the only Sycamore in double figures, though Aaron Gray, Jahni Summers, and Samage Teel all scored eight points apiece. Teel finished with team highs in rebounds (five), assists (seven), and steals (three).
News & Notes
- Indiana State snapped its eight-game streak of scoring 80+ points in a game.
- The Sycamores tied for its second-lowest shooting percentage of the season at 40.7% (ties November 12 game versus SIUE; lowest came on November 4 against FAU, 32.8%).
- The Sycamore defense forced Evansville to shoot an equal 40.7% from the field, the lowest percentage by a Division I opponent this season since November 22 against Chicago State.
- After allowing 15 points off turnovers in the first half, Indiana State tightened up to allow UE to score only five points from turnovers in the second half.
- Indiana State assisted on 16-of-22 made field goals (72.7%).
- The Sycamores clutched up from the free throw line, finishing 15-for-17 in the game and 14-for-16 in the second half alone. The Sycamores have made 15+ free throws in four of the last five games.
- The Sycamores recorded five blocked shots, tying for second-most this season (six on November 7 against Eureka).
- With 42 bench points (credit Daughtry’s 26 off the bench), the Sycamores recorded the second-most bench points of the season.
- Jaden Daughtry set a new career high of 26 points, with credit to finishing a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. He accounted for 39.4% of the points for the Sycamores on Saturday. In the last three games, Daughtry is a combined 26-for-33 from the line. He entered Saturday’s game a 66.1% free throw shooter. Daughtry has averaged 23.34 points per game in the last three games.
- Samage Teel played in his 100th career game, joining K’mani Doughty and Markus Harding as the only three Sycamores to accomplish the feat.
- Teel also recorded three steals in the game, all in the second half. He has at least one steal in all but two games this season. His seven assists in the game increased his last three-game-average to 5.33 per game.
- Jahni Summers scored his first points in three games after finishing with a career-high 22 points in the home victory against UHSP. Summers finished 3-for-5 with two triples.
- Aaron Gray played all his 14 minutes and scored all eight of his points in the second half.
Up Next
Indiana State travels to Valparaiso on Wednesday, January 8 at 8 p.m. ET to be aired on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
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