ST. LOUIS -- Indiana State’s run through the Missouri Valley Conference tournament ended with a thud Sunday with an 84-80 loss to Drake.

Here are three reasons why the Sycamores fell short at the Enterprise Center and will now place their fate in the hands of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee at 28-6:

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Poor early plan on defense

Two elite shooting teams came into this battle of mid-major titans, and so it was a curious decision for Indiana State coach Josh Schertz to roll with zone defense for the start of the game. Drake just began picking on it, with MVC Player of the Year Tucker DeVries and MVC tournament star Atin Wright shredding the zone for five early 3-pointers and a number of midrange jumpers.

That decision also took Julian Larry out of the spot he's best in as a man-to-man defender, though Drake did a good job when the Sycamores did use man of pinning him on screens to free DeVries.

The Bulldogs started out 7-of-7 from 3, which was an unsustainable rate even against zone but enough to create a cushion that made the Sycamores press. The onslaught slowed slightly when DeVries found himself in a little bit of foul trouble, but his father, Drake coach Darian DeVries, made a sharp decision to save his son on the defensive end, which let him come back in and continue to drain shots.

Pressed offense

Indiana State had its best offensive showing of the season the day before in this building, when it nailed 15 3-pointers, assisted on 22 baskets and poured 94 points on Northern Iowa. In that game, the Sycamores drilled those shots early and fed on the momentum, forcing Northern Iowa into turnovers that led to open shots.

This game had the opposite script. After two quick 3s put Drake up 12-6, Indiana State started forcing too many actions to the basket that weren’t open. Robbie Avila couldn’t finish like he normally does around the rim, and he didn’t have the quick trigger on 3-pointers that put the game against Northern Iowa away so early. After a pair of dominant all-around games, Ryan Conwell saw so much defensive attention that he didn't get into a groove until near midway through the second half.

Avila and Conwell found their way into some scores but didn’t have the most efficient games, finishing a combined 2-of-11 from 3. They combined for 28 points, but DeVries alone had 27.

Jayson Kent was the one finding easy life slashing to the rim off the attention Conwell and Avila were receiving on the perimeter. He also turned in clutch plays, like the offensive rebound, layup and free throw in the final 20 seconds to give the Sycamores a shot. He finished with 22 points and nine rebounds on 9-of-10 shooting and was Indiana State's best player throughout the game.

The issue is, he needed to be its second- or third-best player to get this done.

Isaiah Swope comes alive... late

The Sycamores fell down 18 points midway through the second half, and Isaiah Swope didn’t have a single made basket. He can be a streaky shooter, and after a terrific game against Northern Iowa, he couldn’t get a few great looks to go through and sat 0-of-5 from 3-point territory.

Then he made one late in the shot clock, and everything turned. He started to bring the ball up the court, and he pump-faked a defender and nailed a corner 3. And then he started to find slashers to the basket, create space in the mid-range and nail more 3s. He made one through a foul to tie the score and then hit the free throw to give Indiana State its first lead at 73-72 since the opening minutes of the game.

He managed to go from zero points to 19 in a quarter of game play. It was a Herculean second half, but it became too much for him to engineer all on his own. Drake started to hit a couple more clutch shots late and then keyed in on Swope as a ball-handler, and the Sycamores lost some of the flow they had just found.

Contact Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.

Missouri Valley Conference box score

DRAKE (28-6): Brodie 6-9 5-6 17, Enright 3-4 0-0 9, Overton 1-4 2-2 5, Wright 7-13 0-0 17, DeVries 11-19 1-2 27, Garland 3-9 1-1 7, Ferguson 0-0 2-2 2, Gibson 0-2 0-0 0, Rosario 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-60 11-13 84.

INDIANA ST. (28-6): Avila 6-14 2-2 15, Conwell 6-11 0-0 13, Larry 4-10 1-2 10, Swope 6-13 4-4 19, Kent 9-10 3-5 22, Bledson 0-1 0-0 0, Wolfe 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 31-59 11-15 80.

Halftime—Drake 45-32. 3-Point Goals_Drake 11-18 (DeVries 4-5, Enright 3-4, Wright 3-6, Overton 1-2, Gibson 0-1), Indiana St. 7-24 (Swope 3-8, Kent 1-2, Larry 1-2, Conwell 1-4, Avila 1-7, Bledson 0-1). Rebounds_Drake 27 (Brodie 8), Indiana St. 32 (Kent 9). Assists_Drake 12 (DeVries 5), Indiana St. 13 (Larry 5). Total Fouls_Drake 15, Indiana St. 15.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana State basketball loses to Drake in Arch Madness final