Game Notes
Make no mistake, Kentucky Wesleyan's home game on Thursday against No. 5 Indianapolis is a big game.
Without question, it's the most anticipated game on the No. 4 Panthers' schedule to date and could very well have a March feel to it. The last time two teams in the top five met at the Sportscenter was on Jan. 4, 1998 when No. 5 KWC defeated No. 1 South ern Indiana, 85-80.
Both teams enter the game with identical records, both 12-0 overall and 4-0 in Great Lakes Valley Confer ence play. Both are playing to keep their records unblem ished and earn a key win heading into the meat of con ference play.
As cliché as it may sound, coach Todd Lee and his team said they're really not trying to overthink the magnitude of just one particular game.
“I think they're all big games from here on out because we're playing in our division,” Lee said. “Early on, and it is still pretty early, this is an impor tant game, but then Saturday (against St. Joseph's) is just as important, and Monday (against South ern Indiana). I don't think we'll put too much emphasis on this game in particular. It's the same way we approach them all.”
He may have a point. KWC, along with the rest of the GLVC teams, is gearing up for a tough stretch that features three games in five days.
It's the only time of the season where GLVC teams endure such a stretch.
With archrival and No. 15 Southern Indiana looming on Monday, the players said they honestly can't afford to look past Indianapolis, or St. Joe's for that matter.
“We've just got to take it one game at a time because we know all the teams in this conference are good,” senior guard Kreig Oxley said. “One hiccup could turn to two hiccups, and two can turn into three. We've just got to take it one game and come out and play hard.”
Tuesday's practice started off a little slow as the Panthers began preparations for the Grey hounds, junior forward Donovan Johnson said.
Part of the reason for that? The team wasn't looking too far ahead and not totally focused on Thursday's game, he said.
“Once coach (got on us) a little bit, we picked it up,” Johnson said. “We realized it's the hardest part — playing (the East Division) — coach just let us know it's the toughest part of the season, tough est part of the conference coming up. We've got to pick up our game in prac tice.”
That doesn't mean they can't get a little excited for a marquee matchup, though.
“We're all real excited,” Oxley said. “As a competi tor, you want to play the best competition you can. Right now, records-wise, Indy is. We know they're going to come out and play hard and we've just got to come out and keep playing hard.”
Leading scorer Daz mond Starke will likely be able to play on Thurs day despite suffering a sprained ankle against Illi nois-Springfield on Satur day. Starke, who's averag ing 14.8 points per game, practiced on Tuesday.
“He's getting better,” Lee said. “He'll play. I don't know if he'll be 100 per cent, but he'll play. He's going through it. He's pushing himself getting rehab. He moved pretty good (Tuesday). ... My policy is if you can't prac tice, you can't play. I don't let guys rest. Either you're ready to go or you're not.”
Sticking to that policy, it's likely that senior guard Cornbread Walker won't play. Walker has been dealing with an ankle inju ry for over a month that caused him to miss a num ber of games.
Walker practiced Tues day, but was noticeably hobbled because of the injury.
He wasn't able to go full speed. Lee said if he allows players to not play hard in practice but still play in games, it's a “slip pery slope.”
“Either the trainer says you can practice, then you can play,” Lee said. “If you can play, you can practice. It's not a gray area deal. It's black and white. If you're going to practice, you're going to go hard. If you're not going to go hard, you don't practice. If you're not going to prac tice, you don't play.”
The game itself will bring somewhat of a revenge factor. KWC lost on a buzzer-beater to India napolis in the first meeting last season, then went on to win the next two meetings — a regular season win at Indianapolis and an NCAA Regional win.
Still, the feeling of last year's tough loss has somewhat of a bitter taste in the mouths of some of the returning players.
“There's a lot of new kids on this team com pared to last year,” Oxley said. “But all the players leftover from last year remember the last-second shot they hit on us. We're out to beat them.”
