IU Southeast men’s basketball coach Wiley Brown always feels like his team is going to wind up putting up points in bunches.
But when his Grenadier ballclub defends the way it did Wednesday night, that’s when the third-year coach gets a warm, fuzzy feeling about his squad.
The host Grenadiers, ranked fourth in the latest NAIA Division II poll, forced 20 turnovers and held visiting Brescia to 32 percent shooting from the field in a 91-63 victory at the Southeast Activities Building.
The win was the 12th straight for the Grenadiers (19-3) and improved their record in Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play to 8-0.
“If we defend as a team, I feel like we can play with anybody. We knew coming in Brescia’s a team that likes to shoot the basketball,” said Brown. “We changed our defense from a zone press to man-to-man and pressed them full court. We were able to turn them over and force the tempo a little bit.”
Brescia (16-8, 5-2 KIAC), which was ranked second in the conference standings entering the game, raced ahead 21-11 in the first half, using four early 3-pointers and a three-point play Anthony Ingram to extend its early cushion.
But IUS closed the half with a 21-13 run, fueled by junior guard Jazzmarr Ferguson, who had six points in the stretch. Ferguson’s driving basket made the score 30-29.
A 3-pointer by Brescia’s Cameron Pratt made it 36-34. But IUS finished the half with a basket by George White and three-point play by Dejon Gary that gave IUS a 41-34 lead at halftime.
“Right now, we’re in a position where we have to expect every team’s best shot,” said IUS senior guard Carlos Mitchell. “We’re ranked fourth and teams want to beat us. Brescia came in and got a big lead, but we settled in and started playing as a team. When we play that way, we become that much better.”
While Ferguson had the big night in the scoring column for IUS, it was Mitchell, who scored the team’s lone double-double in the victory. The 6-foot-1 senior guard had 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and wowed the crowd with an alley-oop dunk that was wiped away due to an offensive foul on a moving screen.
“For a guard, Carlos can rebound as well as anybody,” Brown said. “We counted on that because we expected a lot of long rebounds tonight.”
White and Brice Mitchell each scored 14 points for IU Southeast, and senior Rick Bodiford capped off the Grenadiers’ double-figure scoring with 12 points.
With its win, IUS continued its domination of the second half of the season, where it is 9-0 since the turn of the calendar year.
The Grenadiers, who have already achieved the highest ranking in school history at No. 4, could see another move in the ranking this week as top-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan suffered a loss earlier in the week.
“We’re just focusing on finishing the year strong,” Brown said. “We’ve got big goals for this team, but we’ve still got a ways to go to get where we want.”
IUS will return to the court on Saturday when it travels to St. Louis College of Pharmacy.
Notes: The win was IUS’ 19th straight on their home floor … The Grenadiers are 19-0 this season when scoring at least 71 points in a game … IUS is 18-0 this season against NAIA Division II opponents. The Grenadiers’ lone losses are to NCAA Division II Southern Indiana and NAIA Division I Robert Morris and Cumberlands. IUS also owns a win over NCAA Division II Bellarmine this season.
Floyd County Sports
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: IU Southeast still on a roll
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