Final: WSU 76, ISU 70. Shockers take a big step toward Friday in St. Louis.
30.8 seconds remaining: WSU 70, ISU 65. Shocker ball after a timeout.
3:54 remaining: WSU 62, ISU 57.
5:47 remaining: WSU 60, ISU 53.
7:59 remaining: WSU 57, ISU 50. Tunnell’s three gives him 20, which I believe is his career high against WSU. ISU is 19 of 23 from the line. WSU is 13 of 15.
11:56 remaining: WSU 49, ISU 42. Murry is 2 of 8. He peaks and valleys are the most extreme on this team. Some nights he looks like he can’t miss. Other nights, like tonight, his shot looks bad. Of course, it’s not the final minute of the game yet.
14:51 remaining: WSU 45, ISU 40. Tunnell has three fouls, which might be the first big development of the second half. ISU’s offense is halved without him. Marshall scored on a drive, but he is not the dynamic penetrator he usually is. The ankle must be bothering him.
Halftime: WSU 35, ISU 35. Disappointing half for WSU, considering it led 26-12. Once Indiana State quit turning the ball over, they scored easily. ISU trailed 29-16 and then scored on eight straight possessions to tie it 33-all. Eight of those points came from the line. Tunnell has 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Reed has 10 points, eight at the line. Durley leads WSU with eight points.
2:59 remaining: WSU 33, ISU 31. The Sycamores stayed in the game with free throws. They are 13 of 15 from the line. They made 10 in a row. WSU’s 14-point lead disappeared quickly.
7:20 remaining: WSU 29, ISU 16.
11:15 remaining: WSU 16, ISU 8. The Sycamores have five turnovers. WSU none. Looks as if ISU is going to play zone and make WSU shoot it out.
15:14 remaining: WSU 10, ISU 3. Marshall isn’t driving, which is a bad sign for the Sycamores. He is their guy, and if he isn’t 100 percent they will struggle to score. Four straight turnovers for Indiana State. That is a problem the Sycamores thought they fixed.
ISU starters – Marshall, Tunnell, Richard, Reed, Printy. WSU – Clemente, Hannah, Durley, Hawkins, Murry.
Indiana State’s Harry Marshall sprained an ankle and didn’t go through shoot-around or warm up tonight. Don’t know how serious it is. Something to keep an eye on.
Senior night at Koch Arena.
- Ramon Clemente will be remembered as one of the most popular Shockers of recent times. Always played hard, which I think WSU fans appreciate as much as anything else. Add in a great personality and an impressive YouTube catalogue and you’ve got a fan favorite. He will be remembered as one of the building blocks of whatever success the Gregg Marshall era brings.
- We rarely saw Mantas Griskenas at his best, which is a real shame. He was just starting to play well last season when he hurt his knee. Once he fell behind, again due to injuries, he couldn’t catch up and get a spot in the rotation this season. Healthy, I think he would have been a good MVC player.
Around the Valley
- Tasha Gallegos, former WSU track sprinter and hurdler, won the Pancake Race in Liberal.
- Indiana State is playing to avoid Thursday, just like WSU.
- MSU has won 19 straight games on senior night.
- Northern Iowa’s baseball program is trying to raise $1.2 million to stay alive. MVC coaches are scheduled to have a conference call Wednesday morning to discuss how they are going to proceed with a schedule without UNI in 2010. Losing that series at this time of year will be a problem for some schools. Creighton, for example, now has two open weekends back-to-back to fill late in the season. Coaches may discuss returning to a four-game weekend series. I think that’s a mistake. It seemed like everyone was happy when they went back to three games.
- UNI basketball is putting a brave face on a bad situation. The Panthers need to win at Illinois State.
- After last week’s win over WSU, Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich began lobbying (OK, begging) fans to turn out for tonight’s game. He said he hoped they recognized the importance of the event. Can you see a WSU coach ever having to say those words?