State of Embarrassment

Last year, IU edged past Indiana State in a close game at home. \nThis year, it was the Sycamores who edged past the No. 18 Hoosiers at their home.\nIn a game where senior forward Marco Killingsworth wasn't his dominant self, IU fell to Indiana State 72-67 at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute. \nKillingsworth, who saw double teams all night long, committed seven turnovers and was held to just 10 points.\n"I thought they did a great job of playing Marco physical," IU coach Mike Davis said. "He's got to learn there are going to be nights where he only gets 10 points."\nFreshman center Ben Allen tried to step up in his place, but Killingsworth's shoes were just too big to fill. Allen went for a career-high 21 points and 7 rebounds, providing IU with a huge spark off the bench.\n"I felt more comfortable out there tonight," Allen said. "We've just got to come back and rebound as a team."\nBut ISU's even team scoring outdid the Aussie big man's effort.\nFour Sycamores reached double figures, with David Moss and Tyson Schnitker both putting in 19. Gabriel Moore had 13 and Jay Tunnell added 10.\n"That's just the character of our team," Moss said. "We've got a lot of unselfish guys."\nThe Hoosiers were held to just 44.4 percent shooting and 33.3 percent from behind the arc, on a night where mistakes were frequent. \n"Our key is playing team ball. We had 15 assists and 22 turnovers," Davis said. "We took a lot of contested shots."\nThe turning point of the game came at the beginning of the second half.\nIU started the half by jumping to an 11 point lead. But the Sycamores responded, going on a 31-10 run that extended until the final buzzer.\n"Give them all the credit in the world," Davis said. "They could have quit when they were down 11."\nAllen began shining with 14 minutes left in the first half when the Sycamores lead 10-5. \nWith the Hoosiers looking stagnant on offense, Davis extended the limits of his rotation, sitting senior guard Marshall Strickland, sophomore guard A.J. Ratliff and sophomore forward Robert Vaden. Allen and junior guards Earl Calloway and Errek Suhr took to the floor.\nBut Allen didn't play like a freshman center.\nHe had an immediate impact, scoring 13 points in the first half to help push the Hoosiers to a halftime lead. Allen missed only one of his six 3-point shots on the evening.\nBut the freshman couldn't win the game alone for the Hoosiers, and Davis attributed the loss to his team's execution down the stretch.\n"In the last two minutes, we needed to execute offensively and defensively," Davis said.