Men face fifth straight loss

The Indiana State men's basketball team recorded their fifth consecutive loss of the season Saturday in their match-up against no. 18 Creighton University.

The Sycamores were defeated by the Bluejays 49-75 in the conference road game.  The loss drops the team's overall record for the season to 11-9, and 2-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  

"We're struggling. We are not making shots and I think that affects us on the defensive end.  It's been a common theme and it starts and ends right here," Greg Lansing, ISU men's basketball head coach said.  "We hang our heads with missed shots and let it affect us on the defensive end.  We got guys taking turns missing assignments.  It's a recurring theme and that is on the head coach and we are going to stick to it and we are going to get better and that is all we can do."

ISU senior guard Dwayne Lathan led the Sycamores in scoring with 15 points and was the only Sycamore to reach double figures.  Creighton University's top scorer was Doug McDermott with 12 points.  McDermott entered the competition averaging 23.4 points per game and was the center of the Sycamores' focus on defense.

"You prepare for those guys (McDerrmot)," Lansing said.  "I think he is the most underrated player in the league. He draws a lot of attention. We did a tremendous job."

However, even with ISU defense containing McDermot the Bluejays knocked down 24-55 shots from the field, shooting 14-25 (56 percent) in the first half of play.  The Sycamores struggled to find the bottom of the basket hit 16-49 shots from the field (32.7 percent).  

"They are very unselfish. They defend, they compete, they got a lot of weapons. They might have the best I.Q. of any team I've seen in a long time and that just speaks volumes of their head coach," Lansing said.

The Bluejays opened the score with a jumper by Antoine Young and never ceded the lead for the rest of the game.  The Sycamores trailed the Bluejays by four with 9:29 remaining in the first half but Creighton opened up the deficit to as large as 14 points, 29-15, on a 10-0 run.  

A buzzer beating jumper by Creighton's young would send the Bluejays into the half comfortably on top with a lead of 17, 42-25, going into the locker room.

The Bluejays kept momentum going into the second half with a 11-2 run that extended their lead to 25 points, 59-34.  Creighton would close out the game with a couple three pointers by Matthew Dorwart and Ross Ferrarini to end the game 75-49, Bluejays.

The Sycamores return to the Hulman Center Wednesday night to take on the University of Northern Iowa Panthers.  The Sycamores would be looking to break their current losing streak.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.