Tarise Bryson scored 16 points and
Shedrick Ford earned his first major college double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead Illinois State past Tennessee-Martin 77-60 for the 1300th win in the history of the Illinois State mens baskteball program. Illinois State, 1300-902, is just the 34th NCAA Division I team to win 1300.
The Redbirds, 4-1, won their third straight since losing to No. 2 Kansas by hitting 23 of 34 free throws. The Skyhawks, 3-2, made just 6 of 18 from the free throw line. ISU also dominated the backboards with a 49-32 edge.
Cedric Knight had 9 rebounds to back Fords total.
UT-Martin was led by Jermi Hampton with 17 points and Hayden Prescott with 12 as the Skyhawks out-shot the Redbird from the field .417 to .344. In a game which featured many empty trips on both sides and 40 turnovers --21 by the Birds. But Illinois State coach
Tom Richardson kept it in perspective.
It looked like a line drive in the box score, said Richardson. It was good to get Shedrick Ford to go get some offensive rebounds and he mixed it up inside. In the middle of the second half, we knocked them out in the middle of the second half.
Bryson scored eight of his 11 first-half poins during a 14-6 Redbird run which gave ISU a 28-17 lead with 2:25 left. ISU finished the half up 33-23 thanks to a 25-18 rebounding edge and decided free throw edge. The Redbirds were 11-15 and the Skyhawks just 2-8 in first-half free throws.
The Redbirds steadily built the lead to as many as 19 in the first 10 minutes of the second half, hitting 9 of their first 14 field goals attempts. in the first 11 minutes.
Ford's three-pointer with 5:53 left put the Birds ahead by 20 and broke an 0-12 ISU string from beyond the arc. Bryson followed 30 seconds later with ISUs second three and the Birds led 67-41.
The Skyhawks trimmed what had been a 26-point lead to the final margin with a run in the final three minutes as Richardson emptied his bench.
The Redbird bench continued to contribute major chunks of points. With 47 percent of the ISU scoring total for the year, the bench scored 38 of the 77 points, one short of half the game total.
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