Normal, Ill.. -- Tarise Bryson, the Missouri Valley Conferences scoring leader, pumped in 28 points and added six steals to lead Illinois State to a 79-71 win over Wichita State in the regular-season finale for both teams at Redbird Arena.
Illinois State, 20-7 overall, 12-6 to finish tied for second in the Missouri Valley, continued to be one of the top turnaround stories in college basketball this season. The Birds finished the regular-season with the same number of wins as it had losses in a 10-20 campaign a year ago. The Birds won 20 games for the fifth time in seven seasons and the 13th time in the last 26.
Bryson got scoring support from Shawn Jeppson with 15 and Shedrick Ford with 13, plus eight rebounds as ISU had a 32-31 edge on the boards. Randy Rice had seven points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals, matching his career high. Wichita State had eight of its 18 turnovers in the first nine minutes of the second half. Bryson had three of his six thefts during that spurt.
After watching the Shockers mount a 40-34 halftime lead by shooting 50 percent from the field and making 6 of 12 three-pointers, the Birds got going early in the second half.
Troy Mack gave WSU a 42-34 lead to start the second half, but ISU came up with some tougher defense and began converting at the other end. With the Shockers up 44-38, the Birds went on an 18-0 run to take a 56-44 lead. In the first nine minutes of the second half, the Redbirds limited the Shockers to 2-10 shooting, no three-pointers and eight turnovers--seven on ISU steals. Meanwhile, the Birds hit 9 of their first 13 field goals in mounting that 12-point lead.
Redbird coach Tom Richardson was happy his team came out stronger in the second half.
We had no energy, no enthusiasm in the first half, said Richardson. Our defense created offense. We got stops. We got rebounds. We got the crowd into it. We were a bad team in the first half, but we were the team I recognized in the second half. Wichita State never gave up, though. They forced turnovers and kept fighting right down to the end.
The Shockers, 9-18, 4-14 in the Valley, got no closer than five points after that second-half spurt, but stayed stubbornly close to the Redbirds to the finish. Terrell Benton led WSU with 18 points. CC McFall had 11 points and Mack added 10, with OJ Robinson leading all players with 11 rebounds, but it wasnt enough. ISU had 12 steals and converted them into 26 points off turnovers.
Rich Beyers had two blocked shots and a steal during the Redbirds second-half flurry.
Afterward, Beyers campaigned for Bryson to be the Missouri Valley Most Valuable Player.
Hes the ultimate team player, said Beyers. Hes always there for his teammates and he deserves to be the MVP of the conference.
Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon thought his teams turnovers and the energy of a noisy crowd of 6,264 were the difference.
We turned the ball over too much in the second half and the crowd got into it, said Turgeon. When you shoot 47 percent and score 71 points you should win. Were a lot better team, but they just turned it up in the second half and that was the difference. Bryson got his hands on so many balls.
Turgeon thinks the Birds have a lot going for them into the State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, which begins later this week in the Savvis Center in St. Louis.
Theyre well-coached and have people like Bryson and Jeppson and Ford who can do a lot of things, said Turgeon.
The Redbirds are the No. 3 seed in the 2001 State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. They will play the No. 6 seed Evansville in Fridays second game in the evening session.
