'We can't give up': USI men's basketball suffers 44-point loss to Indiana State
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — A step out of bounds, an intercepted pass, three traveling violations and a shot-clock violation. All on six consecutive possessions.
More turnovers plagued the University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team, particularly in the first half of its 98-54 loss to an Isaiah Swope-less Indiana State. The Screaming Eagles averaged 14.2 giveaways heading into Saturday’s trip north, a stat that would have them tied for 291st in the nation with Merrimack, Cal State Fullerton and Samford if their stats were counted on the NCAA database.
USI’s statistics aren’t included with it being in the four-year transition period.
“We turned it over often,” coach Stan Gouard said, “and we turned it over quick.”
The 44-point defeat is the Eagles’ (2-9) largest since making the Division I jump. Their 54 points scored was their fewest in D-I and since they scored 48 in a 45-point loss to Bellarmine in February 2018. Saturday was the third-largest defeat in program history. A 46-point loss to Kentucky Wesleyan in 1984 is the largest.
“It’s about competing and I didn’t see that across the board,” Gouard said. “We came in tonight and something just didn’t feel right those first five or six minutes and we just kept looking for answers.”
The search led to every Eagle playing in the loss. Yarin Hasson and Johnny Semany both got in during the first half, with Luther Smith Jr. finding playing time in the second. The answers weren’t there.
USI hit 14 turnovers with 17:25 left to play after coughing it up 12 times before the break. They surpassed their average four minutes later and ended with 17. The Sycamores (9-1, 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference) average 14 forced turnovers per game and scored 26 points off the Eagles' giveaways.
“Guys are trying to force the issue,” Gouard said. “We can’t keep having the self-inflicted wounds of turning the basketball over because they’re too good.”
Last game: USI men's basketball gets shoe stuffed, remains winless against D-I teams a month in
USI beat Indiana State 88-85 in overtime last season at Screaming Eagles Arena. Saturday’s rematch was two days shy of the anniversary. Both teams, though, underwent significant roster overhauls. The Sycamores got Swope and other major contributors. The Eagles’ starting five consisted of four players who didn’t feature against ISU last season and one, Kiyron Powell, who earned a larger role as the season progressed.
USI lost four of its regular starting five from last season. Three — Jacob Polakovich, Trevor Lakes and Jelani Simmons — left to play professionally. Swope left for Indiana State. The Sycamores added others — Ryan Conwell, Alex Wolfe, Jaden Daughtery — to replace the departing talent.
“They’re better and we’re not. They reloaded and we’re not very good right now,” Gouard said. He alluded to wanting to rebuild around Swope before he left. “In this new world of college basketball, that’s gonna happen. We tried to reload and fill some voids — a lot of voids — right now it’s not happening.”
“(USI) is a team that was up on Duke at halftime, up on Duke in the second half — up double digits. Was up double digits on (Purdue) Fort Wayne the other night,” Sycamores coach Josh Schertz said. “It’s a team that we have a lot of respect for.”
The second year of a D-I transition is often referred to as the hardest. The best players, be it through graduation or the transfer portal, often depart. The postseason ban makes recruiting difficult. A step back from last season could have been expected.
USI has no wins against D-I competition with the new year drawing closer. Confidence may dip. Turnovers are mounting. But the Eagles have time. There’s still confidence ahead of Ohio Valley Conference play because of some flashes and the level of competition they’ve already played. But the results need to take a turn.
“We can’t give up. We gotta keep playing basketball,” Gouard said. “We’re starting to feel sorry for ourselves. We gotta do something to get these guys’ confidence back. … We have to be confident in our craft, confident in our teammates, confident in our coaches and confident that we will evolve.”
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Southern Indiana Eagles: Men's basketball loses to Indiana State by 44
