Trailblazers fall to No. 11 Indian Hills on final day of Mattoon Classic

MATTOON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers close out the first month of the season with a 3-7 record after falling to No. 11-ranked Indian Hills Wednesday afternoon 68-40.

Vincennes kept the game close into the second half until a 19-5 scoring run aided by some impressive three-point shooting by the Warriors.

VU kept the game even for most of the first half with the game tied at 19-all with 4:38 to play in the first half.

Indian Hills would respond to close out the first period strong on a 9-1 scoring run to take an eight point lead into the locker room.

Vincennes would keep the game within 10 points in the second half, until Indian Hills caught fire from long range and began to grow their lead.

The Blazers trailed by seven points until the Warriors launched a 19-5 scoring run aided by five three-point makes by Indian Hills to take a 55-34 lead.

VU was unable to rally back late in the second half as No. 11 Indian Hills capped off a 28-point victory, winning 68-40 over the Trailblazers.

"I thought in the first 15 minutes we were doing things defensively, attacking the glass, hustling and handled the ball fairly well," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "We did better at reading the things we talked about last night against the press. We saw a similar press today and didn't have any problems breaking it."

"We just didn't have anybody who could finish," Franklin added. "We had a pretty good idea of where the finishing areas were today, we just didn't have anybody that could make a shot and after a while Indian Hills is going to finish a play."

"Shilo is playing too many minutes, but we were even in the first half, then we took him out and went down eight. He was good when he was fresh. He's played some big minutes on back-to-back days and that's tough work. As he got tired in the second half he quit being aggressive and looking to score."

"We've just got to get in the gym and work. Guys have to get in the gym and work on their own, it's the same things we've been saying all preseason and it's fallen on deaf ears for the most part. Guys weren't in there working and we knew it and these are the shots that they should have been working on, now we have to make up for time. A lot of these guys are playing more than we anticipated coming into this year, but they are still guys that are here on scholarship, so they are not being asked to do things that they shouldn't be able to do by now."

Vincennes freshman Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) recorded his second double-double in less than 24 hours by leading the Trailblazers with 14 points and 10 rebounds on the game.

Freshman Thow James Biel (Calgary, Alberta) ended his game with eight points and five rebounds.

Fellow freshman Grant Brown (Fairmount, Ind.) also finished the game with eight points, including hitting a pair of second-half three's, while also adding three assists for the Blue and Gold.

Freshmen Darrius Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Trenton Johnson (South Bend, Ind.) attacked the glass for the Trailblazers well, with Davis finishing with nine rebounds and a team-high four assists and Johnson ending the game with seven rebounds of his own.

"Darrius, I thought played hard. He's playing hard, we just have to get him more skilled," Franklin said. "He's got to get in the gym and work to improve his skill level but he played hard today, battled, chased, fought. We just have to get him to where his skill level moves up."

"I thought Trenton tried. He's got to get to where he's dependable shooting the ball. That's something that he is supposed to bring to the table and he's going to have to start bringing it. There's an effort and there weren't as many turnovers today, but he's just got to put the ball in the basket. All the other things he has to do well, but for him to have a value and be a weapon he's got to be able to hit some shots."

"Shilo is down there work horsing, playing against a guy last night who is going to West Virginia and another big guy today. This is the top level of competition that he is going to see and I honestly thought he was the best big-man here. He's going to be the best big-man here in time, no question, if he puts his nose in, stays positive and keeps working. Shilo is good and he's just scratching the surface of where he could be. But we just have to give him more help."

"I thought Ketaan Wyatt (Toledo, Ohio) played better today, he just has to get in the gym until he can feel confident in making a shot," Franklin added. "A lot of his mistakes in the half court are him running away from his shot but I thought he gave a better, more competitive game today."

"We're running our offense better and executing better against a high-level opponent and we're doing it without our starting point guard. So, if Brevin Jefferson (Indianapolis, Ind.) gets back next week and we get better and find some guys that want to get in the gym, I think we have a chance to get to a level where we can start winning some games. There's nothing from this weekend where I don't leave here with that thought. We played really high level teams and for long stretches we were very competitive, without Brevin. I think there are things that we're not doing now that we can keep working at and get better at for sure. I thought we did the things this weekend that gave us the best chance to be successful and I thought we had chances to be successful."

The Trailblazers will open Region 24 play Wednesday, Dec. 1 when VU hosts Lincoln Trail College from Robinson, Ill. at the P.E. Complex. This game will be the second game of a men's and women's double-header, with tip-off of the men's game scheduled for 7 p.m. eastern.

"We'll be back in the gym Saturday. We'll give them tomorrow and Friday off but Saturday and Sunday we have to be back in the gym working our tail off," Franklin said. "Monday and Tuesday we just have to keep getting ready."

"We talked about this tough stretch at the beginning of the year with this new team that we wanted to try to win as many as we could but for us it's all going to come down to District play," Franklin added. "District play and then the District Tournament and we knew that once all those guys were gone and guys got injured in one big flurry, I knew at that moment, looking at our schedule that we weren't going to have the prettiest of records and once you get there it's all about District play and how much better we can get as the season goes along."

"We've got six games in December and these are six tough games, so we have to get ourselves right and we have to win our fair share of these games as this is where we really get our chance to start over. We are 0-0 in District play and that's what is really going to be important to our season. Between now and Wednesday hopefully we get Brevin back, hopefully we can then get ourselves ready to go."

"I think there are a lot of games there that are winnable if we're right and we keep ascending and we could see that this weekend. There has to be a determination that we don't put ourselves in a hole in District play during these first six games, so when we come back for the second half of the year we can really start to make hay and finish as high as we possibly can. I think we can be competitive there, if we get a little better and get tuned in, so it's a big stretch for us."

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (40): Thow James Biel 3-10 1-2 8, Trenton Johnson 1-6 0-0 3, Marcus Clarke-Moore 0-2 0-0 0, Darrius Davis 0-10 2-4 2, Shilo Jackson 5-10 4-5 14, Ketaan Wyatt 2-6 0-0 5, Devawn White 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Brown 3-9 0-0 8, Deatrick Pashell 0-1 0-0 0, Team 14-54 7-11 40.

Indian Hills – 28  40 – 68

VU (3-7) – 20  20 – 40

Three-point goals: VU 5 (Brown 2, James Biel, Johnson, Wyatt). Rebounds: VU 35 (Jackson 10). Assists: VU 13 (Davis 4, Wyatt 4). Steals: VU 3 (Jackson, Wyatt, Brown). Blocked shots: VU 4 (Jackson 2). Turnovers: VU 15. Personal Fouls: VU 10. Fouled out: None.