The show goes on: USI men's basketball defeats Little Rock in national TV debut
EVANSVILLE — Stan Gouard was ready to celebrate.
Following the University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles’ 74-67 win over Little Rock in the program's first nationally televised game in the Division I era, Gouard exited the handshake line, delighted by the show he just watched. He looked at the student section; it looked back at him. There was a leap of faith, one made for a TV star at a fanfest.
Gouard lept into the crowd, expecting the Eagles faithful to show their love. They did, but there was a problem.
“I wanted to acknowledge those guys,” Gouard said with a grin, like a star to their cast. “I did a dive into the student section. They didn’t catch me, straight to the bleachers. I have a sore leg right now. But if that’s what it takes to keep them coming, I’ll do it again.”
USI (9-9, 2-3 Ohio Valley Conference) needed a show-stopping performance in its ESPNU debut, which proved a difficult night against a stringent Trojan defense. But, as he’s done all season, Trevor Lakes was the star of the show, the main character, particularly in the second half.
Of his 22 points, 17 came after the break.
“My guys told me to keep shooting, that was something I pride myself on,” Lakes said. “If I stick with it, like I did tonight, they’ll eventually start falling. I got hot in the second half and guys kept finding me, kept encouraging me to shoot.”
But what’s the main character without their supporting cast? Isaiah Swope and Jacob Polakovich were nothing short of that — the Jesse and Saul to Lakes’ Walter, the Ron and Hermoine to his Harry.
The main-character trio thrived throughout the evening, putting on a show good enough for TV. In front of the 2,296 spectators at Screaming Eagles Arena and the national ESPNU audience, the Swope-Polakovich connection was ready for prime-time viewing, as was Lakes’ 3-point effort.
Swope’s no-look connection to Polakovich for a first-half dunk showed that, while Lakes’ three consecutive scores from deep gave the audience what they tuned in for.
“It’s very important that we continue to keep those guys involved offensively,” Gouard said. “Anytime we can put the ball in those three’s hands, usually pretty good things happen.”
But like any good entertainment, Thursday’s show was anything but straightforward for USI. Polakovich struggled from the free-throw line, going 2-for-10 from the charity stripe while the Eagles went 13-27 as a team. Little Rock (5-13, 1-4 OVC) went on runs and kept it close throughout, but couldn’t get it over the line.
There were plenty of twists in the story — six lead changes, five ties — but that’s just good TV. The drama of a three-game losing streak, which included the Eagles’ first home loss, was resolved when the program finished.
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“Coach Gouard’s been big in the locker room about not feeling sorry for ourselves and really focusing in on what we need to do to get wins,” Polakovich said. “What it came down to was toughness, effort and just being smart on the defensive end.
“I think when we put all of those together, we’re gonna have fun games like this. We’re gonna beat a lot of teams in this league.”
When Swope, for all the highlights and flashes the show had to offer, hit the dagger 3-pointer with 47 seconds to play, he was rewarded by the cheers of the audience. The “three-headed monster,” as Gouard called them, had given the people what they came for — entertainment, a win and good TV.
“I think we all had a few highlights here and there for a nationally televised game,” Swope said. “My teammates trust me in those big moments, my coaches trust me, so it gives me the confidence to go out there and do what I do best.”
The television, the leap, the story, the drama — all of it made for a memorable evening. USI hosts Tennessee-Martin (11-7, 3-2) on Saturday, the next episode in the inaugural Division I season. Each of Gouard and his “three-headed monster” spoke about the importance of building on Thursday’s win.
“This is just another example of when we guard and rebound, we win,” Lakes said. “That’s something we gotta carry over. We’ve done it the past two games — we did drop one to SIUE when we were playing good defense.
“The offense is slowly starting to come along and come back. If we just keep guarding, we’ll win a lot of these games.”
Now, the show goes on.
USI women fall to Little Rock
USI’s women’s basketball team lost 47-44 to Little Rock in the first leg of the doubleheader. The Eagles struggled to break down the Trojans' defense, shooting 26% from the field.
While USI held Little Rock to 33% shooting, the Eagles were unable to capitalize on their defensive showing. The Trojans ended the game on a 7-0 run to claim the win.
“We put ourselves in position to beat the No. 1 team in the league tonight and just didn’t finish it off,” coach Rick Stein said. “You gotta make plays at this level. We gotta finish out plays and we just didn’t.”
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: USI men's basketball defeats Little Rock in ESPNU debut
