Tarise Bryson fired-in 27 points and
Shawn Jeppson added 18 while
Shedrick Ford had 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to lead Illinois State past Bradley 81-62 in a battle for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference Tuesday.
Before a raucus crowd of 9,417 at Redbird Arena, Illinois State (16-4, 8-3 in the Valley) grabbed a share of the Valley lead with Indiana State and knocked Bradley (13-8, 8-4) out of a first-place tie. The Redbirds won just 10 games last season and finished eighth in the Valley. The Redbirds go head-to-head with Indiana State, also 8-3, at 2 p.m. Saturday in Terre Haute.
Fords 15 boards were the second-highest game total by an ISU player in 12 years of play at Redbird Arena. His 11 second-half rebounds--just two fewer than Bradleys total helped the Redbirds sweep the Braves on the boards by a 34-29 count as ISU out-scored Bradley 43-24 after intermission. Bradley made just 5 of 19 field goals in the second half while ISU hit 14 of 29. Jerome Robinson led the Braves with 21 points--11 in the final three minutes of the first half. Phillip Gilbert had 14 for BU. The duo had 16 of Bradleys 24 second half points.
Redbird coach
Tom Richardson thought the game lived up to its billing.
It was two heavyweights slugging it out right from the beginning, said Richardson. Bradley had a great run late in the first half to tie the game. Randy Rice did a great job on Jerome Robinson in the second half and that energized our defense.
Give Illinois State credit. We just got whipped, said BU coach Jim Molinari. Their newcomers adjusted to the game better than our newcomers did.
Randy Rice and Shedrick Ford made that adjustment and stayed focused.
Bryson moved into eighth place on the all-time ISU scoring list with 1,464 points. He passed former teammate
Dan Muller, who had 1,445 from 1994-98. He and Jeppson each made 3 of 6 three-pointers as the Redbirds drained 7 of 14 from three-point range.
Our crowd stuck with us and got us going in the second half, said Bryson. They got us pumped up.
Illinois State broke loose from a close game for the first 22 minutes by limiting Bradleys second-half offensive opportunities. The Braves scored just 13 points in the first 14 minutes after intermission and the Birds used a 15-4 run starting at 9:27 left to put the game out of reach.
ISU led 58-51 when the final run began with two
Jason Hammock free throws, continued with baskets by Bryson and Shedrick Ford, followed by two free throws by Ford. Two more Bryson jumpers and a Jeppson three-pointer put ISU up by 18 with 3:28 left and the Redbirds were on their way to the largest victory margin since 1966 in the rivalry known as the War on 74--the 39 miles of interstate highway connecting Peoria and Normal.
A hot-shooting first half featured Bradley at 54 percent and ISU at 50 percent. Bryson had 11 points and three assists to help the Redbirds lead by as many eight---32-24 at the four-minute mark of the first half. But Robinson got rolling, scoring the final 11 Bradley points of the half including an acrobatic three-pointer just ahead of the buzzer to tie the score 38-38.
Gilberts basket to start the second half gave Bradley its first lead since 12-10. BUs last led 42-40 two minutes into the second half, but Bryson drained a three, followed with a layup and then
Rich Beyers hit a short banker all within a minute to put ISU ahead 47-42.
Although Bradley closed to 47-45, the Birds went on a 7-0 run punctuated by a Bryson trey to lead 54-45 with 11:58 left. The Braves made just 2 of their first 10 field goals.
QUOTES FROM ILLINOIS STATE:
TARISE BRYSON, Sr., Guard
"We just came out in the second half and played defense like we can. Everyone did a good job." ON THE TEAM'S REBOUNDING: "Tonight, we got 'em all. We'd been struggling with our rebounding. ON THE CROWD Our crowd stuck with us and got us going in the second half.They got us pumped up.
TOM RICHARDSON, head coach
"I really liked the first part of the game. I've never been in a game where there wasn't a stopping point until the 12-minute mark. I think our defense created offense in the second half and it really helped energize us. We made them struggle for every shot."
