Mark Bennett: Schertz builds high-pace Sycamore attack on efficiency

Jan. 10—Once a humbling 67-57 homecourt loss Dec. 22 to the previously struggling Northern Illinois Huskies had ended, only one statistic truly lingered in Indiana State men's basketball coach Josh Schertz's thoughts.

It wasn't his Sycamores' shooting percentage, just 35% from the field.

It wasn't career-highs of 32 points and nine rebounds by Northern Illinois guard Keshawn Williams.

Instead, it was a seemingly obscure ratio, 0.789 — his Sycamores' uncharacteristically low points per possession that night. That figure summarized all of the other statistics that factored into the outcome, including ISU's 14 turnovers. Among those miscues, ISU allowed Northern Illinois to take the ball away far from the Sycamores' basket five times, giving the Huskies a relatively short distance to go for a score.

"We had five above-the-break turnovers that led to 10 points," Schertz recalled before an ISU practice weeks later. He hadn't forgotten that game.

Above-the-break turnovers drive down the Sycamores' points per possession, and likewise drive up their opponents' points per possession. So does allowing opponents to get second-chance baskets by rebounding their own missed shots and then scoring. So does fouling the opponents, and failing to stop rivals' close shots. So does failing to hustle downcourt to get set on defense.

Schertz calls those necessities "absolutes."

Now in his second year as ISU coach, the Sycamores' execution of Schertz's absolutes has resulted in Indiana State's 13-4 record, which includes a 6-0 mark in Missouri Valley Conference games — the program's best conference start since Bill Hodges coached Larry Bird, Carl Nicks and Co. to a 16-0 MVC record and the NCAA final. Schertz's team's next test comes at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Southern Illinois in Hulman Center.

Again, points per possession will weigh heavily on Schertz's coaching mind Wednesday.

"The goal's always going to be, to be as efficient as we can offensively, and as efficient as we can defensively," Schertz said. "I never worry about points per game or field goal percentage. You worry about points per possession. The only quantitative number that matters is how many points per possession you're scoring, and how many points per possession you're giving up."

And in the analytical world of 2023, there are people keeping track of such statistics, especially at the NCAA. According to that governing body of collegiate sports, the Sycamores rank 48th-best in the country out of 363 Division I teams in offensive points per possession at 1.071. Likewise, ISU ranks an impressive 73rd nationally in defensive points per possession, yielding just 0.937.

Those numbers aren't just the reflected light of a successful basketball team. They're the fuel of that success, at least in Schertz's mindset.

It's been fascinating to get a closeup view of this Sycamore team for this columnist, as I temporarily jumped back into the ISU basketball beat this winter after former Tribune-Star colleague Todd Golden moved into a new role as the Indiana University beat writer for CNHI Indiana, a group of sister newspapers that includes the Trib-Star.

It's a different style of play from the Royce Waltman-coached Sycamores I previously covered in the late 1990s and early 2000s, although the results this season are reminiscent of Waltman's patient, hard-nosed, title-winning teams at his pinnacle.

Schertz's teams play fast offensively, yet rarely out of control. Though it's not Schertz's go-to statistic, the Sycamores rank 29th in the country in team scoring at 80.8 points per game. Only one MVC team since 1994 (Wichita State in 2017) has averaged 80 or more points a night. And, the Sycamores are hitting 48.5% of their shots — another statistic that's not high on Schertz's priority list — good for 25th-best in the nation and first in the MVC.

The last ISU team to lead the MVC in shooting accuracy was the '78-79 squad, just for historical perspective.

The Sycamores score a lot, yet they've maintained that stingy defensive points-per-possession trait, far different from the mid-1980s Sycamores that were fun to watch but could end up losing 126-102 (it happened against Tulsa on March 1, 1984).

Schertz's teams at Lincoln Memorial University played the same style that his current Sycamores employ. He came to ISU after 13 seasons at LMU, where his Railsplitters amassed a cumulative record of 337-69, with 10 appearances in the NCAA Division II version of the Big Dance, including three regional titles. Before that, Schertz spent a decade as an assistant coach at High Point, Queens, Lynn and Florida Atlantic universities.

Those experiences led to the brisk, aggressive style of play Sycamore fans are seeing this season. Schertz has recruited players, both as high school signees and transfers, that "fit a team concept and want a team concept." It's working, even after a rugged first season in 2021-22, when his Sycamores finished 11-20 overall and 4-14 in the MVC.

"I spent 10 years as an assistant and obviously studied the game. And I came up with kind of some absolutes and things I thought were needed for us to be successful. And we hang them in our locker room. And it's been the same since my first day at LMU. And here I am in Year 15 as a coach," Schertz said last week, as his team prepared for what turned out to be an 80-60 win over Illinois-Chicago last Saturday.

"The game has changed dramatically — everything about the game," he added, "but those absolutes, to me, are the same."

—Joining the lineup — This columnist will be returning to the front page of the Tribune-Star and resuming my column writing on a gamut of topics — beyond but occasionally including sports — along with editorials and features, while also managing the sports team.

That team, which includes veteran staffers Andy Amey and David Hughes and correspondents Joey Bennett and Joe Buckles, has added sports reporter Hunter Tickel, who'll be covering the ISU beat, while also helping with prep and other local coverage.

Hunter is a Cincinnati area native and graduated from the University of Cincinnati. He's covered sports at the Dubois County Herald in Jasper, the Perry County News in Tell City, in Iowa and the Chicago area.

Look for Hunter's work in Wednesday's edition and beyond.

—Ticket discount — ISU is offering a limited number of $3 upper-level tickets for Wednesday's Southern Illinois game, courtesy of coach Schertz. Those can be ordered, using the promo code "Schertz," by going online to https://t.co/O36XxiKZNm.

Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.