February 3, 2007
Men’s Basketball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INDIANA STATE FALLS TO MISSOURI STATE

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Indiana State Sycamores were as cold from the field as the weather was outside the Hulman Center Saturday afternoon, shooting just 17.6% for the game in suffering a 71-42 loss to Missouri State. It was the seventh straight loss for ISU.

“I don’t know if I have ever seen one of my teams or any team for that matter, that was that bad on the offensive end in the game,” Sycamore coach Royce Waltman said. “I don’t know the answer. We have a lot of young kids and they have lost their confidence.

“I think the first thing we have to do,” Waltman said. “is to get the kids to admit that they have lost their nerve. Once they admit that, then we can go on and find ways to score without relying on the perimeter game. These kids have played hard every game but the effort was not as good tonight. They were humiliated tonight and that hurts them. We’ll see how these kids respond to this game on Monday.”

The Sycamores never had their shooting touch in the game, missing their first seven attempts and making just four field goals in the first 20 minutes of play. Still, ISU was in the game midway through the opening quarter when Norman Wells made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 10.

Missouri State outscored the Sycamores 15-3 over the next seven minutes but Indiana State came back again. Cole Holmstrom hit a three-pointer and Gabe Moore converted on an old-fashioned three point play to cut the Missouri State lead to six, 25-19. That was as close as the Sycamores would get the rest of the way, trailing 33-21 at the intermission.

The Missouri State lead continued to grow as the Sycamores continued to struggle shooting the ball in the second half.

No Indiana State player reached double figures in scoring with Holmstrom leading ISU with nine points. Gabe Moore and Norman Wells had seven each.

Indiana State falls to 11-11 on the year and 4-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference with the loss. The Sycamores will be back in Hulman Center on Monday as they host Northern Iowa in a 7:05 p.m. tip-off.