Redbirds Host Rival Braves in Saturday Matinee

NORMAL, Ill. -  Coming off a come-from-behind win over the Murray State Racers on Tuesday, the Illinois State men's basketball team hosts their I-74 rival Bradley on Saturday afternoon in a 1 p.m. tip-off inside CEFCU Arena.

QUICK HITTERS

• After leading the Redbirds his 12 points against Murray State in just 12 minutes, Redbird freshman Chase Walker led an ISU team in scoring using the second-fewest minutes played since 1988-89.
• ISU trailed by 15 points against Murray State on January 30 before coming back to win, which is tied for the 13th-largest single-game comeback in program history.
• Illinois State leads the MVC in offensive rebounding, pulling down an average of 10.82 offensive boards per contest.
• Through 22 games in the season, Illinois State has committed single-digit turnovers eight times. This season's total is the second-most in a season since 1998-99, behind only the 2008-09 squad who did it nine times in 34 games.
• Against Evansville, Redbird freshman forward Chase Walker made 8-of-8 free throws, which is tied for the third-best single-game free throw percentage by a freshman in program history.
• The Redbirds have an offensive rebounding allowed percentage of just 24.6, which is the 25th-lowest total in NCAA Division I basketball and is ISU's lowest of the KenPom (since 1998-99) era.
• Twice this season Myles Foster has led the Redbirds in points, rebounds, and assists (without sharing the team lead), the first time against Southern Illinois on January 6, and the second time on January 23 against Belmont. With two such games in a single season, he has the second-most games where he solely led the 'Birds in all three since 1988-89.
• ISU freshman guard Johnny Kinziger is one of five freshmen in all of NCAA Division I basketball to have at least 125 points while having a field goal percentage of .430 or better, a three-point percentage of .340 or higher, and a free throw percentage of .835 or better.
• Darius Burford has made 43.9 percent of his shots from the field this season, which has him as the 17th-most in the country among shooters that stand 6-0 or shorter (and meet the NCAA statistical minimums)
• Against #8 Kentucky, the Illinois State Redbirds pulled down 24 offensive rebounds. Since 2010-11 only 13 other schools in NCAA Division I basketball had pulled down more offensive rebounds in a game against a nationally ranked school. 
• With his 25 points in the second half against North Dakota State on December 17, Illinois State senior guard Darius Burford has the ninth-highest scoring half in program history, and the highest since Osiris Eldridge scored 26 points in the second half at Drake on January 17, 2010.

SCOUTING BRADLEY

The Braves come into the rivalry game having won 10 of its last 11 games, including an 85-69 win over the Northern Iowa Panthers on Wednesday night.

In the win over UNI, Bradley put four players into double-figure scoring, led by 22 points from Connor Hickman, as Malevy Leons scored 18, 12 from Darius Hannah and 10 by Christian Davis. Hannah pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, with Duke Deen dishing out a game-high seven assists.

For the season Bradley has four players averaging double-figure points, led by Hickman (14.9), with Deen (13.5), Leons (13.5), and Hannah (11.5) all sitting above 10 points per game. Leons (7.1) and Hannah (6.5) lead the squad in rebounds per game, while Deen's 91 assists pace the Braves with Hickman (55) just behind. Hannah (29 blocks, 37 steals) and Leons (24 blocks, 39 steals) are the team leaders in each of the defensive categories.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK

Or do call it a comeback, we're just taking the advice of LL Cool J from the 1990 song Mama Said Knock You Out. In Illinois State's January 30 win against Murray State the Redbirds found themselves trailing 48-33 with 13:39 to play in the game. The Redbirds turned it around, closing the game with a 28-11 run. The recovery from the 15-point deficit is the 13th-largest comeback in program history. The largest comeback was a 21-point deficit against Butler on November 27, 1989. 

FRESHMAN FREE THROWS

Against Evansville on January 27, Redbird freshman Chase Walker made 8-of-8 free throws against the Purple Aces. He became just the fifth freshman in program history to have a perfect free throw percentage with at least eight makes.

TEAM LEADER

Twice this season Myles Foster has led the Redbirds in points, rebounds, and assists (without sharing the team lead), the first time against Southern Illinois on January 6, and the second time on January 23 against Belmont. With two such games in a single season, he has the second-most games where he solely led the 'Birds in all three, behind only the four times Milik Yarbrough accomplished the feat during the 2018-19 season (since 1988-89). Among those with one occurrence in a season since 1988-89 include Milik Yarbrough (2017-18), Daishon Knight (2013-14), Jackie Carmichael (2012-13 and 2011-12), Osiris Eldridge (2007-08), Neil Plank (2003-04), Tarise Bryson (1999-00), Mike VandeGarde (1992-93), and Rickey Jackson (1989-90).

DOING A LOT WITH A LITTLE

In a sport where student-athletes look for efficiency, the performance that Chase Walker put together on January 30 at Murray State stands near the top in program history. Walker led the team in scoring against the Racers, while playing just 12 minutes. That minute total represents the second-fewest minutes needed to lead ISU in scoring since 1988-89, with only ISU Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame member Tarise Bryson needing fewer minutes (11) to lead his team in scoring in a contest. Below are the 11 times since 1988-89 that a Redbird has needed 16 minutes or fewer to lead ISU in scoring for a game.

LOW TURNOVERS

This season through 20 games the Redbirds have committed single-digit turnovers eight times. Since 1988-89, this season's total is the second-most in a season, behind only the 2008-09 season when the Redbirds had nine single-digit turnover games in a season.

YOUNG PERCENTAGES

This season there are just eight freshmen across NCAA Division I basketball who have a field goal percentage of at least .445, a three-point percentage of .350 or higher, a free throw percentage of .825 or higher while scoring at least 100 points. Illinois State freshman Johnny Kinziger is among those eight, with the fifth-most points among those eight players.

OFFENSIVELY REBOUNDING vs TOP-10

Against Kentucky on December 29, the Redbirds pulled down 24 offensive rebounds. Not only is that tied for the eighth-most in a game in program history, but it is also the 14th-most against an AP Top-10 ranked school since 2010-11, and one of just two non-power-conference schools on the list.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING

Like Will Ferrell's character Frank "The Tank" Ricard yelled during the movie "Old School", Illinois State went streaking on Sunday against North Dakota State. Late in the second half, Illinois State scored 15 consecutive points, which is tied for the longest scoring streak for the Redbirds since February of 2021. Three current Redbirds played in that last game with a longer scoring streak: Harouna Sissoko and Nik Stadelman suited up for the Redbirds, while Dalton Banks, playing for Southern Illinois, was on the receiving end of the 18-0 ISU run as a member of the Salukis.

FIRST SCORES

The Redbirds this season have four players who have scored the first point of the game for ISU, with Myles Foster leading the team by scoring the first points six times, with Malachi Poindexter and Kendall Lewis just behind with five and four times.

BIG HALF

After scoring three points in the opening 20 minutes against North Dakota State on December 17, Illinois State guard Darius Burford erupted over the second half, scoring 25 points, making 9-of-11 shots from the field and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. His quarter-century scoring half was last accomplished by a Redbird when Osiris Eldridge scored 26 points in the second at Drake on January 17, 2010. Burford's total stands tied as the ninth-highest scoring half in program history since 1971-72.

FAMILIAR START

When Illinois State basketball signed high school senior Ty Pence, he was the highest rated player to sign with ISU since Osiris Eldridge - a player who ended his career as the program's fifth leading scorer. Eldridge and Pence also share something else in common, and that is a slow start. Prior to him scoring his 1,838 points, Eldridge opened his Redbird career by going 1-for-23 from the field and 1-for-13 from distance. Pence's career arc is off to a similar trajectory, as the St. Joseph native started his career 2-for-23 from the field and 1-15 from long range.

STRONG MARGINS

Against Murray State, the Illinois State Redbirds had a +8 assist-to-turnover margin. That is the highest total since January 21, 2022 against Evansville. Below are the 10 most recent occurrences of an assist-to-turnover ratio of +8 or better against Division I opponents.
 

SHOOTING WELL AGAINST A GOOD DEFENSE

On Thursday, November 30, the Illinois State Redbirds made 58.1 percent of their shots against the UIC Flames. UIC came into the game with the fifth-best field goal percentage defense in the country. Since 2010-11  the Redbirds have only had eight games against a NCAA Division I opponent with a better field goal percentage than against the Flames. What makes the Thursday percentage so impressive is that UIC came into the game with the fifth-best defensive field goal percentage in the NCAA. Below are the ten highest single-game field goal percentages since 2010-11, and where the school sat in the NCAA rankings for defensive field goal percentage (with the exception of UC Santa Barbara, as the game was the season-opener and there were no NCAA rankings at that point of the season).

THIEF!

Against Long Beach State, Illinois State senior guard Dalton Banks grabbed six steals, which are tied for the seventh-most in a game in program history. Additionally, his steal total is tied for the 31st-most in the NCAA this season in a single game.

NON-STATE STATE SCHOOLS

There are 362 NCAA Division I schools (including the transitional schools) playing basketball this season. Of those schools, 67 have "State" in its name. Of that 67, 31 are direct state schools (ie, Illinois State), while five others have the state in their name, but with a descriptor (Central Connecticut, East Tennessee, Southeast Missouri). The remainder of the schools - 31 total - have no direct state reference in its name (Boise State, Wichita State, etc.) but use State in the name. Of that group, the Redbirds will play four games against those schools during the season, including Long Beach, Wright, and Murray.

NATIONAL TEAM MEMBERS

Late this past summer, Illinois State redshirt senior Harouna Sissoko played for the Mali National Team for his home country, helping his national team to a 1-2 finish at the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying tournament in Lagos, Nigeria. He scored 21 points over the three games, making 5-of-7 shots from long range (71.4%). His scoring average of 7.0 per game ranked 29th in the tournament, while his three-point percentage was best in the tournament. Also playing in that same tournament was Evansville forward Yacine Toumi, who suited up for Tunisia. Over his three games played he scored 24 points with 14 rebounds and 10 assists as his country went 1-2.

ONE OF A FEW SEVEN FOOTERS

When Brandon Lieb joined the squad for the 2023-24 season, the incoming transfer became the tallest player in program history. At 7-0 without shoes, and 7-1 with, he is one of just seven players in program history who have been 7-0 (or taller). Below is the list of players 84 inches or taller in the Redbird men's basketball history.

NATIONAL TEAM MEMBER

Late this past summer, Illinois State redshirt senior Harouna Sissoko played for the Mali National Team for his home country, helping his national team to a 1-2 finish at the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying tournament in Lagos, Nigeria. He scored 21 points over the three games, making 5-of-7 shots from long range (71.4%). His scoring average of 7.0 per game ranked 29th in the tournament, while his three-point percentage was best in the tournament.

LOW JERSEY NUMBERS 

In the team's season-opening win against Lourdes, the Redbirds put together a starting lineup of Luke Kasubke, Malachi Poindexter, Dalton Banks, Myles Foster, and Brandon Lieb. That starting lineup had a combined jersey total of 20 (0, 1, 3, 4, 12) which is the lowest starting lineup jersey combination since at least 1975-76.

TALL IN THE MVC

Brandon Lieb's 7-1 stature has him as one of the tallest in the MVC, as there are just seven current MVC student-athletes that are 6-11 or taller, and Illinois State - by including Ryan Schmitt - is the only school in the conference with two players on the list.

BIG SERIES TOTALS

Illinois State has a long and storied basketball history and has faced off against eight different opponents over 100 times each.

REPRESENTING THE CHEESE STATE

This season Illinois State has three players from the Cheese State (Wisconsin) which is the most players in any season from that state. It is also the 11th-most players on a Redbird team from the same state (other than Illinois) in school history. Two teams - 1984-85 and 1973-74 - had seven players from the same state, the former with seven from Indiana and the latter with seven from Michigan.

LOCAL FLAIR

This season is the second straight that Illinois State head coach Ryan Pedon has had a Bloomington/Normal student-athlete on his basketball team. This year Ty Blake, a 2023 University High School graduate is a member of the basketball squad, while Colton Sandage was a member of last season's team. Since 1962-63, there have been just 11 Redbird men's basketball players from the pair of towns.