Indiana State men’s basketball’s late second-half comeback fell short at Illinois State on Tuesday night, falling 85-81.
With 5:29 left in the game, the Sycamores (9-11, 3-5 MVC) found themselves down 13 points, tying their largest lead of the game. Less than a minute later, six points on back-to-back possessions by Indiana Stare brought the team down 73-66. Camp Wagner drilled a triple, then Aaron Gray converted the traditional and-one.
After a pair of Illinois State (12-8, 4-5 MVC) free throws, Wagner made another three-pointer to trail 75-70 just inside the four-minute mark. Illinois State jumped back up nine points with 1:53 remaining.
A 7-1 run by Indiana State made it a one-possession game with 25 seconds to play. Josiah LeGree scored on a layup, then the Sycamores’ pressure full-court defense forced a turnover picked up by K’mani Doughty and passed ahead to Gray on the layup. A Redbird free throw was made at the other end before Gray capped the run with a three-pointer from the top of the key.
Johnny Kinziger from Illinois State made one free throw with 21 seconds to play to go up four, 83-79. Wagner grabbed an offensive board and put it back in for Indiana State to trail only two, 83-81 – but there was only a second left in the game. Dalton Banks iced the game making two free throws, sending Illinois State to the victory column with the 85-81 victory.
To open the game, Illinois State nearly doubled the shot attempts as Indiana State, but the Sycamores trailed only 8-5 early. Indiana Statet took its first lead, 12-11, off a Bruno Alocen left-wing triple and a Samage Teel layup with 13:12 on the clock. The game bounced back-and-forth the next few minutes where Wagner gave the game its fourth lead change and the Sycamores a 17-16 lead with 10:42 left.
Coming out of the 10:42 media timeout, it was an exchange of almost all three-pointers. Banks made a triple followed by a stepback three-pointer by Wager. Jaden Daughtry made a three of his own after a Redbird layup, then Banks made another trey. Down three, five-straight points put Indiana State back on top 28-26 with 7:40 left in the half.
The game continued its trend of going back and forth, staying tight through the rest of the half. In the final eight minutes, neither team could grow more than a three-point lead, but it was Indiana State that held a 33-30 lead with just under four minutes to play.
Gray finished a two-hand flush with under 10 seconds to play in the half to go up two, but a Johnny Kinziger jumper in the paint right before the buzzer knotted the game at 40 apiece.
At the half, all nine players who entered the game for Indiana State scored at least two points. There were already 16 lead changes in the game. Gray tallied nine points and six rebounds through the half in 14 minutes on the court. The 40 points in the first half ties for the most in the first half for Indiana State since playing at Valparaiso (40 points) on January 8.
Illinois State jumped out to a six-point lead early in the second half on two different occasions, but Indiana State stayed tough and hung in with a credit to Alocen draining a corner three and knocking down the free throw attempt.
Following a Teel layup at 15:51, Indiana State was held to only a Wagner three-pointer for almost six minutes which allowed Illinois State to score nine points to hold an eight point, 60-52 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
The Redbirds continued to strike, going up 13 for the first time with 7:06 to play, 69-56. A pair of layups by Markus Harding and Daughtry kept the game close before Illinois State went up 13 at the 5:29 mark.
For the Sycamores in the game, Aaron Gray led the team in scoring with 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting, and he tied Markus Harding for a team-high eight rebounds. Camp Wagner finished with 17 points on a 6-for-10 effort from the floor, including a 5-for-9 mark from downtown. Bruno Alocen and Jaden Daughtry each finished with 10 points, Alocen draining three triples. Samage Teel led the assist category with six.
Illinois State had three players score 17+ points, and the next highest scoring total was seven points. The three double-figure scoring Redbirds were Banks (21), Kingizer (20), and Chase Walker (17).
News & Notes
- Indiana State’s five-game skid matches the five-game losing streak from the 2022-23 season when the Sycamores recorded five straight from January 11-24.
- The 81 points by Indiana State is the most since scoring 95 against Valparaiso on January 8.
- The Sycamores shot 47.5% from the field, the second-best effort since playing UHSP on December 21.
- Indiana State shot 58.3% against UHSP and 50.0% at Valparaiso.
- Indiana State made 13 three-pointers and shot 37.1% from three, the best effort since UHSP when the Sycamores also made 13 triples and shot 37.1% (Indiana State shot 13-for-35 in both the Illinois State and UHSP games).
- This marks only the sixth time this season the Sycamores have made 13 or more.
- Indiana State scored only 12 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, scoring 29-of-41 second-half points in the final 10 minutes.
- The Sycamores have recorded 15+ turnovers in six of the last eight games and 16+ in each of the last three.
- Indiana State notched 10 steals, which marks only the fourth time in the last 14 games to reach 10+.
- Fourteen games dates back to the beginning of Baha Mar Hoops; the high in this 14-game span for the team 10.
- It’s only the seventh game out of 20 so far this season with 10+.
- Aaron Gray set a new career high while playing in a Sycamore uniform with 19 points, breaking his old Indiana State high of 13 points.
- Camp Wagner’s 17 points are the most for the sophomore since scoring a career-high 20 points in the home Bradley game on January 1.
- Bruno Alocen’s three three-pointers are the most in a game for the freshman since making four against Tarleton State on December 1.
- Markus Harding’s eight rebounds are the most since pulling down a season-high 11 rebounds in the Chicago State matchup on November 22.
- Samage Teel dished out six assists in Tuesday night’s game. He has six-plus assists in four of the last six games.
Up Next
Indiana State takes on Northern Iowa on Saturday, January 25 at 1 p.m. ET inside Hulman Center. Following Saturday’s game, the Sycamores host the Bears of Missouri State on Wednesday, January 29 at 7 p.m. ET.
