Illinois State senior guard
Tarise Brysons game-high 17 points led the way as Illinois State defeated Northern Iowa 64-52 in MVC action at Redbird Arena Saturday.
A Redbird Arena crowd of 9,128 watched as ISU freshman forward
Cedric Knight grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds, outrebounding Valley leader Joe Breakenridge who had seven.
"I think we did a nice job of controlling the game," Redbird head coach
Tom Richardson said. "We never really felt threatened and I was extremely pleased with the teams rebounding and intensity."
The contest got off to a slow start, with the first five minutes turning into a duel between Bryson and UNI junior guard Corey Hill. Using two treys, Bryson won the battle, giving ISU (15-4, 7-3 MVC) a 7-4 lead.
Sloppy ball handling by UNI (4-18, 1-10 MVC) allowed the Redbirds to go on a 6-0 run, pushing their lead to 17-7 with 9:20 left before halftime. Freshman forwards
Jason Hammock and Knight, and junior guard
Shawn Jeppson all contributed to the streak.
A pair of threes by UNI junior Martin Coon closed the gap slightly, helping cut ISUs lead to 27-17 with 4:45 left in the first. ISU went into halftime with a 32-24 advantage.
The Redbirds led 64-41 before ISU cleared its bench and the Panthers finished the night on an 11-0 run.
Jeppson followed Bryson in double figures, scoring10 points. Hill led Northern Iowa with 15 points.
The Redbirds return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 6 as Missouri Valley Conference rival Bradley comes to Redbird Arena for a 7:35 p.m. tip-off.
