Sophomore point guard Vince Greene scored a game-high 26 points, including six three-pointers, as Illinois State won its first exhibition of the season, 89-70, over SIU-Edwardsville at Redbird Arena.
Baboucarr Bojang finished with 14 points and six rebounds for the Birds, while true freshman Chris Burras came off the bench to score 12.
SIU-Edwardsville was led by Ron Jones with 19 points, 17 of which came in the second half. Rob Baumgardner and Ben Garwitz each contributed 13 points and Baumgardner also led the Cougars in rebounding with six boards. The Cougars never led in the entire game and after the initial 12-point deficit never got closer than seven points.
Illinois State opened up the game with a 12-0 run, highlighted by two three-pointers and a cross-over lay-up by Greene. The Birds defense forced eight Cougar turnovers in the first 12 minutes of the game, including the teams first two possesssions.
Greene led all scorers in the first half with 10 points, while Gregg Alexander chipped in eight first half points on 3-for-4 shooting. ISU shot 61 percent from the field in the first half, including 5-for-8 from beyond the arc.
True freshmen Dana Ford, Marcus Arnold and Burras showed Redbird fans early in the game why they made up one of the best recruiting classes in Illinois State history. Ford started the game and dished out two assists on the Redbirds first two possessions. Burras and Arnold came off the bench in the first half and scored six and four points respectively.
Down 45-24 at halftime, the Cougars came out firing in the second half and outscored the Birds 26-15 over the first 8:30 minutes led by nine points apiece by junior Ron Jones and freshman Logan Glosser narrowing the Redbird lead to 10. Following a timeout with 11:05 remaining in the game, the Birds went on a 13-0 run to extend their lead back to 23, which tied their largest lead of the night.
Illinois State plays its second and final exhibition game on Thursday, November 14, when it hosts EA Sports at Redbird Arena at 7:05 p.m.
GAME NOTES
Illinois State came out shooting with a 12-0 run over the first
3:30 of the game, including two three- pointers by Vince Greene.
He finished with a game-high 26 points, including six from
beyond the arc.
The Redbird defense forced eight Cougar turnovers in the first
12 minutes of tonights game. SIU- Edwardsville turned the ball
over on its first two possessions of the game and finished the
first half with 11.
Nine of the 11 active Redbirds on tonights roster scored at
least two points in the first half of the game.
Baboucarr Bojang finished the first half with more rebounds (5)
than he had points (4). He finished the game with 14 points
and six rebounds.
In the first half, the Birds shot better from beyond the arc than
they did inside it. Illinois State shot 63 percent from three-point
range on 5-for-8 shooting and went 15-for-25 for 60 percent on
its remaining field goals.
After a Redbird timeout with 11:05 left in the game, Illinois
State
went on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes to extend their
lead back to 23 after letting the Cougars creep back to within 10
to open the second half.
Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (0-0)
Guard Rob Baumgardner provided most of the early offense for
SIU-Edwardsville by scoring eight of the Cougars first 13
points, including two three-pointers.
The Cougars shot only 37.5 percent from the field in the first
half of tonights game.
SIU-Edwardsville never led in the entire game after getting
down 12 points in the games opening minutes. After the initial
12-point deficit, the closest the Cougars got was when the score
was 12-5 with 15 minutes left in the first half.
The Cougars outscored the Birds 26-15, including a 15-4 run
at one point, to open the first 8:30 of the second half.
Junior guard Ron Jones and guard/forward Logan Glosser
turned in 27 of the Cougars 46 second- half points.
