Published: February 17, 2007 12:18 am            

Sycamores hope to zone in on BracketBusters victory

TERRE HAUTE — Sometime during the final 10 minutes of Indiana State’s 68-53 loss to Illinois State on Wednesday, a stretch where the Redbirds scored nine times within 10 feet of the basket, ISU coach Royce Waltman decided enough was enough.

Man-to-man wasn’t cutting it. Time to go zone.

“When we were getting beat so badly in the last game, I made the decision,” Waltman said. “Jay [Tunnell, who did not play] and Trent [Wurtz, who has been bothered for nearly two months by an Achilles injury] are hurt, but that doesn’t take away from the fact [Illinois State’s] three inside guys scored 40 points. We have to do something about it.”

And so the Sycamores, losers of 10 out of 11, embark on a philosophical change as Miami of Ohio visits Hulman Center. The game fulfills both teams’ obligations for the ESPNU BracketBusters series as the Sycamores will play at Oxford, Ohio, next season.

ISU worked on a zone in practice Friday, the only practice since Wednesday’s loss. ISU had to take a NCAA-mandated day off after the team had a Monday practice after a Sunday game.

“We’ve been beaten badly inside and we can offer up a variety of excuses, but the two things we want to do is play tougher in there and have the zone at our disposal that might protect us inside a little bit,” Waltman said.

For a program that holds man-to-man defense in high regard to the point of dogma, there’s little time to acclimate everyone to play a zone defense, though ISU did work on a zone during stretches of the preseason. Is there concern that ISU is a tiger that will have trouble changing its stripes?

“I don’t think from the standpoint of a tiger changing its stripes, you still have to guard someone in your area in a zone. I’m more concerned that we’re trying to put the zone in [the game plan] in a hurry,” Waltman said.

Waltman said ISU won’t play zone for the whole game, the Sycamores will likely use their usual man-to-man defense to see how Miami adjusts to the Sycamores’ usual defense.

ISU guard Gabe Moore surmised that the Sycamores should try anything, including a zone, to get out of their doldrums.

“At this point, you can’t go wrong with it. We need to do anything that will help us get a win,” Moore said.

The Sycamores will be helped by the return of Tunnell, who missed Wednesday’s game with a sprained left ankle. The sophomore practiced Friday and after working through a few post-practice drills was deemed fit to play.

ISU (12-14) can ill afford more interior defense woes. Miami (12-12) does the bulk of its scoring inside. Forward Tim Pollitz is Miami’s scoring leader at 14.8 ppg, right behind is fellow forward Nathan Peavy at 14 ppg. Pollitz has been Miami’s most consistent scorer in MAC play, averaging 18.5 ppg and making 64.1 percent of his shots.

It will be difficult for ISU to get its offense untracked against the RedHawks. Miami, led by veteran coach Charlie Coles, is one of the best defensive teams in the Mid-American Conference, conceding just 57.2 points per game which is eighth-best in the nation. The RedHawks have held every one of their to opponents to 70 or fewer points.

Unlike the Sycamores, Miami’s season has been on a different arc. After struggling to a 6-10 start, the RedHawks have won seven of their last nine games, though Miami lost its last outing 61-45 at Kent State on Wednesday.

Despite the recent woes, ISU seemed loose and upbeat during Friday’s practice.

“I think we’re close to getting out of it, but my old junior high coach had a saying, ‘Everybody has to play the game.’ We have to go out and compete and things will fall into place,” Moore said. “We have do a better job of keeping that going over an entire game.”

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.