Don’t forget about Indiana State: Sycamores crush Creighton
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Editor
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — There’s been a lot of talk around the state about that mid-major in Indianapolis.
Don’t get me wrong, Butler has earned it. But it’s time to start talking about the mid-major in Terre Haute.
As a Creighton graduate, let’s just say I adjusted my plans a bit this week to watch my alma mater play Indiana State on Wednesday night. I expected more of what I had heard and seen from the Bluejays all year — lots of points, lots of Doug McDermott and a win.
Creighton got hit by a Sycamore tree on the way to the victory party, and, well, the party never happened. Indiana State thoroughly dominated every aspect of a 76-57 win.
Jake Odum scored 22 points, R.J. Mahurin scored 14 of his 17 in the second half and Manny Arop added 13 for Indiana State (15-8, 8-4).
Indiana State has been battling the big boys all season. The Sycamores lost in overtime to New Mexico on Dec. 1, beat Ole Miss on Dec. 22 and Miami on Christmas Day. They won 68-55 at Wichita State on Jan. 29, helping to knock the Shockers out of the Top 25. The shock isn’t the win, it was the dominance.
I watched Indiana State play New Mexico. They let the Lobos up when they were on the ropes and couldn’t knock them out. Looks like the Sycamores have that problem solved.
McDermott, who entered the game averaging 24 points per game, shot 3-for-10 from the field, including an 0-for-4 effort in the second half. Creighton never seemed comfortable and Indiana State seemed to be in a comfort zone throughout.
Indiana State looked more like Creighton than Creighton, going without a turnover in the first half and committing just five for the entire game. The Sycamores held the Bluejays to a season-low point total and 42 percent shooting overall. Creighton’s starters scored just 29 points on 10-for-32 shooting.
Though Creighton didn’t play its best game, this was not a fluke. There are plenty of reasons Indiana State is a team to worry about as the regular season winds down.
Odum, the hometown kid, is the team’s leading scorer, He averages more than four assists per game, yet has become more assertive about scoring. He’s also efficient — he scored his 22 points on 10 field-goal attempts against Creighton. Arop is an athletic forward in his first year with Indiana State after transferring from Gonzaga. He gives the Sycamores a player who can score inside and out and can rebound. Mahurin, a junior, is having his best season at ISU. He’s a 6-foot-9 inside-outside threat who can defend the rim.
The Sycamores have had a few head-scratchers — Southern Illinois got its only MVC win of the season against the Sycamores on Jan. 12, and ISU lost to Drake, a middle-of-the-pack team, in its previous game.
But ISU has the big wins and a solid strength of schedule. The Sycamores are just a game behind Creighton in the conference standings. They get rematches with Southern Illinois and Drake — with a possible at-large berth on the line, my guess is they win both — and Wichita State has to visit the Hulman Center on Feb. 19. All signs point to a strong finish and very good postseason possibilities. With their schedule, an at-large NCAA berth is a legitimate possibility.
Creighton will bounce back. McDermott and Gregory Echenique are right up there with the top players in the Big Ten, and that was obvious even as they struggled. The Bluejays have all the tools to make a deep NCAA tournament run. They are too well-coached and too talented not to pick up the pieces. Sometimes, ruts like this are needed to find out what needs to be shaken up before postseason play. It’s better that the Bluejays go through this now than later. Creighton has been resilient over the years. The Bluejays will live and learn.
Meanwhile, ISU is poised to challenge the Bluejays as a power in the conference. Perhaps the most impressive thing about ISU is that there are no seniors on the roster. The Sycamores are putting it all together, and this is just the beginning. With all the talk about what’s going on with IU and Butler, don’t forget that the team in Terre Haute is pretty good, and will be good for a while.
