WC Indiana News

McKnight notches double-double as Sycamores open 2023 with win at Valpo

The Indiana State Sycamores opened the 2023 calendar year with a 68-50 win against Valparaiso Sunday afternoon on the road behind a double-double effort from Cade McKnight. With the win, the Sycamores remain unbeaten in Valley play, sitting atop the league standings at 4-0.

 

McKnight posted a Sycamore career-high 13 points and 11 rebounds en route to Indiana's State's second straight double-digit Valley win.

 

After starting the game off on a 6-0 run, the Sycamores (11-4, 4-0 MVC) did not trail the Beacons (6-9, 0-4 MVC) at any point in the game. Indiana State went on its biggest run of the day in the second half, scoring 13 straight points for a game-high 22-point lead at 16:38 in the frame.

 

Valpo fans carry a tradition of not sitting down until the first basket for their team, and the Sycamores kept them standing for a while as the Beacons started out 0-of-4 from the field and did not score until 17:29. Valpo would go on to tie things up at 6-6, but Courvoisier McCauley answered with a triple to keep his 3-pointer streak alive early.

 

McKnight grabbed an offensive board and fed it to Kent for a layup and then Kent hit another layup to put the Sycamores up 19-13 halfway through the first frame. A minute later, Cooper Neese nailed all three of his free throws in one trip to the line. Zach Hobbs pushed ISU's lead back to seven points with a trey at 8:04, making it 25-18 in favor of ISU.

 

Valpo cut its deficit to three points with 6:10 to go in the first half, but Indiana State responded with an 8-0 run to go back up by 11 at 2:27. McKnight pulled in a defensive rebound and went down to knock down a triple with 56 second left in the half to send Indiana State into halftime with a 36-24 lead.

 

That McKnight triple in the last minute of the first half would go on to spark a 13-0 run that ran over into the second half and was capped by back-to-back McCauley triples for a 46-24 lead at 16:38. Meanwhile, from 6:23 in the first half to 15:43 in the second, the Beacons shot 0-of-15 from the field.

 

Valpo would knock down five straight free throws to start closing in on its deficit and later came as close as 12 points of the Sycamores at 60-48 with 3:01 remaining, but McKnight ripped away an offensive rebound and drew an and-1 on the putback, completing the three-point play to put the Sycamores back up by 15 points. Cooper Neese closed things out with a pair of free throws and a triple in the last 1:13.

 

Inside the Numbers

•    The Sycamores shot 50 percent from the field for the seventh time this season while Valpo shot just 29.5 percent. ISU is 10-2 this season when shooting better than 40 percent and 8-2 when outshooting its opponent.

•    Indiana State hauled in 40 rebounds for just the third time this season and first time against a Division I opponent in regulation this year. The Beacons had just 32 rebounds, and when outrebounding their opponent, the Sycamores are 7-1 this season.

•    The Sycamores had 12 assists on 15 buckets in the first half and finished the day with 16 assists.

•    Before Sunday's game, the Sycamores were 0-2 when scoring less than 70 points in a game.

•    ISU shot 6-of-21 from three in the game, marking the 14th time out of 15 games the Sycamores have hit six or more triples in a game. ISU is 10-4 when making six or more threes.

•    The Sycamores committed 11 turnovers compared to Valpo's eight but allowed just nine points off those turnovers.

•    ISU outscored the Beacons in the paint 42-20 in the game.

News & Notes

•    With the win, Indiana State continues its best start in Valley play since 2014-15 when the Sycamores started off 5-0.

•    A first-year Sycamore and transfer from Truman State, Cade McKnight posted his sixth collegiate double-double and first in a Sycamore uniform with an Indiana State career-high 13 points and 11 rebounds. It was Indiana State's first double-double since Cameron Henry's at Southern Illinois Dec. 7.

•    Cooper Neese led the Sycamores with 16 points in the game, pushing his double-digit scoring streak to four games. He shot 5-of-5 from the charity stripe and has not missed a free throw since the second half against Northern Illinois on Dec. 22.

•    With 13 points in the game, Courvoisier McCauley extended his double-digit scoring streak to eight games and made it three straight games with three triples. He has connected for at least one 3-pointer in each game this season and has hit three or more in nine games this season.

•    Julian Larry made his second straight start and posted 11 points for back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts. He also tied his career-high of six assists.

Original source can be found here.