Sycamore Basketball Set for Road Test Against Purdue Saturday

 

Sycamore Basketball Set for Road Test Against Purdue Saturday

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Indiana State basketball program will travel to West Lafayette for a matchup with Purdue Saturday. Tipoff with the Boilermakers is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from Mackey Arena and the game will air on the Big Ten Network.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday’s game against the Boilermakers will mark the 34th meeting all-time between the programs with Purdue owning a 29-4 advantage in the series which dates to 1902. It will be the first meeting between the two programs since the 2010-11 season, though ISU and Purdue did play a charity relief exhibition game in 2017.

TYREKE KEY AND JAKE LARAVIA NAMED EARN MVC PRESEASON HONORS
Two returning standouts on the Indiana State men’s basketball team received preseason recognition as Tyreke Key was named First Team while Jake LaRavia was named to Second Team. A senior guard for the Sycamores, Key paved the way for ISU a year ago, averaging a team-high 15.6 points per contest. Along with his scoring output Key also pulled down 4.6 rebounds per game and 1.7 assists per game. A consistent shooter at the charity stripe, Key set a program record and the 14th-longest streak in MVC history with 32 consecutive makes at the free throw line from Nov. 17-Dec. 3. The fourth-fastest player to join the 1,000-point club in program history, Key sits 16th all-time with 1,255 career points scored with a chance to jump into the top-10 — needing just 200 points. LaRavia was named to the MVC All-Freshman Team and All-Newcomers Team after seeing action in 30 games, including 25 starts. Averaging 9.4 points per game for the Sycamores, LaRavia also ranked ninth best in the league in rebounding with a mark of 5.9 per game. He has hit 53 percent of his shots this season which is 10th-best in the Valley. His 35 blocked shots ranked fourth in the league and his 2.5 offensive rebounds per game are fourth.

SYCAMORE DEBUTS
ISU has seven newcomers on its 2020-21 squad and six made their ISU debuts in the Sycamores’ win over Truman State. Graduate transfer Randy Miller Jr. made an immediate impact for Greg Lansing‘s club with a team-high 19 points off the bench. True freshman Julian Larry made his first career start at point guard, scoring eight points while picking up five steals and four assists. Indianapolis native Jared Hankins, a redshirt freshman, scored five points in 13 minutes off the bench while Tobias Howard Jr., Ndongo Ndaw and Sam Mervis also saw the floor in the opener.

POST WORK
Indiana State sophomore Tre Williams showed finesse in the post in a win over Truman State. The Reynoldsburg, Ohio native scored a career high 16 points while sparking a 12-0 run out of halftime with six quick points to help the Sycamores take a nine-point lead. Williams finished the game 8-of-12 from the floor with five rebounds and three blocks. ISU outscored TSU 44-20 in the paint in the win.

OUT AND RUNNING
In the season opener against Truman State, ISU scored 20 points on the fast break, while allowing no fast break baskets.

IN THE NCAA
After one game, Indiana State ranks in the top-10 statistically in seven categories. ISU leads the nation in blocked shots per game (8), fewest fouls (11), fewest personal fouls per game (11), ranks third in steals (8), third in turnover margin (11), fourth in fewest turnovers (11), and seventh in forced turnovers (22).

 

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