? Indiana State coach Kevin McKenna and Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall were two-fifths of the equation when half of the coaches in the 10-school Missouri Valley Conference were newbies going into the 2007-08 season.
Perhaps no two programs since then have followed a path quite as similar as ISU and WSU have, so it?s appropriate that tonight?s game at Hulman Center presents a sort of crossroads for both the Sycamores and the Shockers.
?They have some great young talent, along with some experienced guards and big men. We?re both fairly around the same progression. Tomorrow is going to be about who wants it more,? ISU guard Harry Marshall said.
Wichita State is 15-2 and 4-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference. ISU is 11-5 and 3-2 in the MVC. The Shockers have a league road win at Missouri State. The Sycamores have a league road win at Drake. The half-step the Shockers have on the Sycamores at the moment is appropriate given that both programs have been within a step or two of each other?s progress since McKenna and Marshall arrived on their scenes.
?They?ve done a good job there. [WSU Assistant coach] Chris Jans is a good friend of our coaching staff, we know how good he is and how good of a recruiter he is. They?ve recruited some good players who have elevated them to where they are now,? ISU coach Kevin McKenna said. ?We?ve done a good job too improving the quality of our depth which has helped us in the last few games.?
As one might surmise, neither program has ever been that far from the other at any point and time.
In 2008, ISU was 15-16 overall and 8-10 in league play in McKenna?s first season and earned the seventh-seed in the MVC Tournament. The Sycamores played and beat the 10th-seeded Shockers in the MVC Tournament as Marshall?s first WSU team was marked by major roster turnover and injury problems in an 11-20 season.
In 2009, the Shockers got a slight step ahead of the Sycamores with a 17-17 campaign and an 8-10 league finish, while ISU was 11-21 with a 7-11 league mark. Both programs played and won play-in games in the MVC Tournament before falling (WSU controversially) in the quarterfinals in St. Louis. WSU went on to play two postseason games in the College Basketball Invitational.
?There are similarities. I see them doing some of the same things ? adding transfers, sitting out kids, redshirting them ? we?ve been doing that as well,? Gregg Marshall said.
The MVC stakes for both teams are higher in year three. A win likely cements the winner?s status as one of the MVC?s contenders and an upper-division team to be reckoned with by the rest of the league for the remainder of the season. A loss, especially in the case of ISU, which plays its next four games against the league?s top three teams, could send either hurtling back to MVC earth.
?It?s like anything else, you have to find a way to protect your home-court,? McKenna said. ?Everybody goes through these stretches where you play a gauntlet type thing where you play the top teams in the league. This just happens to be our time. I told our guys to embrace it, to remember why they worked hard this summer to prepare for these types of games and these types of teams where you can make your mark.?
Wichita State comes into the game confident and healthy. The Shockers throttled Creighton 70-58 in an emotional game at Koch Arena on Saturday and have won four in a row overall. The Shockers, who won just one road game in 2009 ? a 64-58 victory at Hulman Center last season ? have three in their pocket already this year.
?We had a similar team last year, it was the same guys, but we had no experience which is critical to the mental aspects, the adversity, you deal with on the road,? Gregg Marshall said.
ISU is confident too, albeit for different reasons. The Sycamores have won six of their last eight games, fighting through injuries incurred by Jake Kelly and Dwayne Lathan. So far, Kelly and Lathan?s minutes have been filled capably by ISU?s bench, including Aaron Carter, who had 13 points in ISU?s win against Evansville on Sunday. Carter will likely have to produce again tonight.
?If nobody filled those roles, we don?t get those wins. I think we?re all pretty confident. We all feel pretty good about ourselves, even though we?re short-handed, we?re trying to fight while we can,? Carter said.
Lathan?s status for tonight?s game is questionable. He participated in light duties during ISU?s practice on Tuesday, but was still limping noticeably. Also questionable is forward Koang Doluony, who sprained his ankle in Sunday?s game against Evansville. Doluony also sat out most of ISU?s practice.
McKenna said both were game-time decisions as to whether they?d play. It?s a decision McKenna will make with the input of the player and athletic trainers in mind.
Perhaps no two programs since then have followed a path quite as similar as ISU and WSU have, so it?s appropriate that tonight?s game at Hulman Center presents a sort of crossroads for both the Sycamores and the Shockers.
?They have some great young talent, along with some experienced guards and big men. We?re both fairly around the same progression. Tomorrow is going to be about who wants it more,? ISU guard Harry Marshall said.
Wichita State is 15-2 and 4-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference. ISU is 11-5 and 3-2 in the MVC. The Shockers have a league road win at Missouri State. The Sycamores have a league road win at Drake. The half-step the Shockers have on the Sycamores at the moment is appropriate given that both programs have been within a step or two of each other?s progress since McKenna and Marshall arrived on their scenes.
?They?ve done a good job there. [WSU Assistant coach] Chris Jans is a good friend of our coaching staff, we know how good he is and how good of a recruiter he is. They?ve recruited some good players who have elevated them to where they are now,? ISU coach Kevin McKenna said. ?We?ve done a good job too improving the quality of our depth which has helped us in the last few games.?
As one might surmise, neither program has ever been that far from the other at any point and time.
In 2008, ISU was 15-16 overall and 8-10 in league play in McKenna?s first season and earned the seventh-seed in the MVC Tournament. The Sycamores played and beat the 10th-seeded Shockers in the MVC Tournament as Marshall?s first WSU team was marked by major roster turnover and injury problems in an 11-20 season.
In 2009, the Shockers got a slight step ahead of the Sycamores with a 17-17 campaign and an 8-10 league finish, while ISU was 11-21 with a 7-11 league mark. Both programs played and won play-in games in the MVC Tournament before falling (WSU controversially) in the quarterfinals in St. Louis. WSU went on to play two postseason games in the College Basketball Invitational.
?There are similarities. I see them doing some of the same things ? adding transfers, sitting out kids, redshirting them ? we?ve been doing that as well,? Gregg Marshall said.
The MVC stakes for both teams are higher in year three. A win likely cements the winner?s status as one of the MVC?s contenders and an upper-division team to be reckoned with by the rest of the league for the remainder of the season. A loss, especially in the case of ISU, which plays its next four games against the league?s top three teams, could send either hurtling back to MVC earth.
?It?s like anything else, you have to find a way to protect your home-court,? McKenna said. ?Everybody goes through these stretches where you play a gauntlet type thing where you play the top teams in the league. This just happens to be our time. I told our guys to embrace it, to remember why they worked hard this summer to prepare for these types of games and these types of teams where you can make your mark.?
Wichita State comes into the game confident and healthy. The Shockers throttled Creighton 70-58 in an emotional game at Koch Arena on Saturday and have won four in a row overall. The Shockers, who won just one road game in 2009 ? a 64-58 victory at Hulman Center last season ? have three in their pocket already this year.
?We had a similar team last year, it was the same guys, but we had no experience which is critical to the mental aspects, the adversity, you deal with on the road,? Gregg Marshall said.
ISU is confident too, albeit for different reasons. The Sycamores have won six of their last eight games, fighting through injuries incurred by Jake Kelly and Dwayne Lathan. So far, Kelly and Lathan?s minutes have been filled capably by ISU?s bench, including Aaron Carter, who had 13 points in ISU?s win against Evansville on Sunday. Carter will likely have to produce again tonight.
?If nobody filled those roles, we don?t get those wins. I think we?re all pretty confident. We all feel pretty good about ourselves, even though we?re short-handed, we?re trying to fight while we can,? Carter said.
Lathan?s status for tonight?s game is questionable. He participated in light duties during ISU?s practice on Tuesday, but was still limping noticeably. Also questionable is forward Koang Doluony, who sprained his ankle in Sunday?s game against Evansville. Doluony also sat out most of ISU?s practice.
McKenna said both were game-time decisions as to whether they?d play. It?s a decision McKenna will make with the input of the player and athletic trainers in mind.
