Tarise Bryson scored a game-high 20 points to lead five Redbirds in double figures as Illinois State emerged from a hard-fought second half with an 83-73 victory over Bowling Green at Redbird Arena on Wednesday.
Illinois State, 3-1, used 39 points from its bench, including 15 from
Shawn Jeppson and 13 from
Cedric Knight, to pull out its second-straight victory.
Jeppson and Knight emerged off the Redbird bench to provide offensive firepower and defensive toughness. Knight grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and notched a game-high four steals while Jeppson scored all 15 of his points in the second half as ISU pulled away from BGS.
Randy Rice, who had only two points in the Birds first three games, played nearly the entire second half en route to his best all-around game of the season with nine points, five assists and three rebounds.
Coming off a career-high 41 points at Central Michigan on Sunday, Bryson added another strong performance to his ledger with 20 points and six rebounds.
ISU also received strong contributions from its starting front court with
Traves Wilson and
Shedrick Ford dropping in 11 points apiece.
Bowling Green, 2-2, also featured a balanced offensive attack with four players in double digit scoring led by Cory Ryan with 18 points and seven rebounds and Josh Almanson with 14 points and five rebounds.
In a game with 55 fouls called, Bowling Green saw three of its players exit the contest early with five personal fouls. The Birds took advantage of their charity attempts, connecting on 27-of-38 free throws while Bowling Green only made good on 16-of-30 attempts from the line.
Illinois State returns to action against Tennessee-Martin at Redbird Arena on December 9.
