INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana State’s magical postseason run ended in heartbreak Thursday. Seton Hall out-scored the Sycamores 9-0 over the final 2:38 with Lawrence Central product Dre Davis converting the eventual game-winning layup with 16 seconds remaining to clinch the NIT championship, 79-77, at a raucous Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The Sycamores had a few attempts on the final possession of regulation, but Isaiah Swope lost control of the ball, then had his second attempt partially blocked before Ryan Conwell attempted a deep 3-point attempt that was well off the mark.
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Indiana State finishes the season 32-7, one shy of the program record for wins.
Here are three things to know.
Sycamore shot selection down the stretch
Indiana State had the Pirates on the ropes entering the final three minutes. Swope had capped an 8-0 run with a 3-pointer from well-behind the 3-point line to push the lead to 77-70 and force a Seton Hall timeout.
But that would be ISU’s final points of the season.
The Sycamores settled for 3-point attempts on each of their next four possessions and missed their final seven shots from the field. The ill-timed shooting drought came as the Pirates found their scoring touch, embarking on a 9-0 run over the final 2:38.
Indiana State finished the game shooting 47%. It shot 37.5% from 3, but was 5-for-17 in the second half. The Sycamores also committed 15 turnovers resulting in 20 Seton Hall points.
Isaiah ‘Second Half’ Swope
Isaiah Swope went for 15 second-half points in Tuesday’s semifinal vs. Utah and he was equally massive out of the locker room in Thursday’s final vs. Seton Hall, scoring 11 points over the first seven-plus minutes.
Swope cut the deficit to one with an early 3, scored six straight to lead ISU back from a 51-42 deficit, then followed a Robbie Avila 3 with the game-tying jumper with 13:05 remaining.
And then he delivered his biggest shot of the night, a 3-pointer from well-behind the arc to give the Sycamores their largest lead of the night at 77-70.
The 5-10 junior guard, who accounted for 11 of the Sycamores’ first 14 second-half points, finished with 19 points and three assists.
Larry carries the Trees back
The Sycamores were bordering on disaster late in the first half.
Ten turnovers, including five over a three-minute stretch, coupled with icy shooting (a run of four misses in five attempts with all four misses coming from 3) and a free throw differential of 10 (more the result of ISU settling for 3s than anything else) had allowed Seton Hall to build an 11-point lead with 3:30 left.
ISU looked tired, evidenced by some uncharacteristically bad passes — including one near mid-court that sprung Al-Amir Dawes free for a dunk — and a four-minute scoring drought.
And then Julian Larry took over.
Back-to-back 3s brought the building to life and cut the margin to four, then after setting up Robbie Avila for a layup, the junior guard nearly brought down Hinkle Fieldhouse with the game-tying layup off a stretch pass from Xavier Bledson.
Larry did the heavy-lifting, obviously, but credit to the Sycamore fans, who did their best to give their team life amidst Seton Hall’s run, then helped fuel the Trees’ game-tying charge.
One other item of note: ISU went turnover-free for the final 6:13 of the half.
Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.
First appeared on www.indystar.com