Sycamores put back-to-back losses in rear-view mirror by beating Valpo
Feb. 21—With junior Isaiah Swope missing due to injury, Indiana State men's basketball was bolstered in the starting lineup by Jayson Kent's return.
The Sycamores had Valparaiso at arms length for much of Wednesday and they rode a knockout finish to squash a two-game losing streak with an 83-64 decision for ISU's seventh road win in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Jayson Kent, who suffered a concussion eight days ago against Illinois State, dropped 23 points (13 in the first half) and grabbed six boards.
"It felt good," Kent said. "Not being able to do things for pretty much a week sucks.
"But being out here being on the court with my teammates I really enjoyed it. It's a once in a lifetime feeling being able to play with these guys."
There also was an unassuming lift off the bench from freshman Jaden Daughtry. The forward hadn't suited up since playing five minutes when ISU hosted Belmont on Dec. 13.
He checked in for the initial time with 16:21 left when ISU was up 49-42.
Over the span of 1:28, in his ninth appearance with the Blue and White, Daughtry went to work down low for a trio of buckets to push the lead from three to seven points.
He finished with six points and wasn't gun shy with seven field-goal attempts.
"Coach [says] in practice every time, you gotta be ready when your number is called even if you don't play a lot," Daughtry said. "He always says, 'When you get your minutes, you gotta make the most of them.' That's really what I tried to do."
After his second bucket, sophomore Ryan Conwell gave him a chest pump near the 3-point line on their way back to the bench during a stoppage. And Swope greeted him with another one at midcourt.
Conwell had 15 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists.
The Beacons (6-22 overall, 2-15 MVC) never mounted a viable push from there.
ISU (23-5, 14-3) started with an early edge of 10-3 on the glass and collected four offensive caroms in the first baker's dozen of rebounds. ISU led 19-10.
With 5:53 left in the first half, the Beacons didn't have the look of a 6-21 squad. The consequence of a mishap on a pass-and-catch by the Sycamores at the top of the key resulted in the uncontested dunk by Jerome Palm that brought most of Athletics-Recreation Center to a standing ovation.
Avila handed out six assists, all in the first 20 minutes, he added 15 points for the game.
Senior Xavier Bledson had 15 points, six rebounds and three assists and defended the post well to close. Junior Julian Larry dished out six assists, setting the tone with the opening assist for a 3 as he drove the paint and circled before kicking to Bledson.
Junior guard Isaiah Swope, who sustained a knee injury Dec. 5 at Northern Illinois, had a non-related injury in the same knee that kept him out and he's day-to-day, Schertz said.
Schertz said both injuries will require surgery in the offseason.
—Note — ISU"s stint in the top 30 of the NET was recently four weeks and its highest NET this year was 12th in Week 6.
In the 12 weeks of the NET rating this year, ISU has been 26th or better in eight weeks.
