Trey Guidry had a career-high 26 points and Baboucarr Bojang posted his first double-double of the season, but Illinois State could not get its first win, falling to Chattanooga 75-68 in non-conference college hoops action tonight at Redbird Arena.
Bojang finished with a season-high 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Andy Strandmark tied his season-best mark with 11 points. Guidry shot 11-for-15 (.733), including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. The Redbirds had only 10 turnovers and 28 rebounds in the game, their best marks of the young season.
Chattanooga (4-1) was led by Jason Rogan with 22 points, while Tim Parker contributed 17 points, including four three-pointers. Ray Trowell and Ashley Champion were the other two Mocs to score in double figures with 13 and 11 points respectively. Chattanooga was able to overcome 18 turnovers to get the win.
Illinois State (0-4) appeared destined for a slow start, managing only one field goal in the games first six and a half minutes and staring at an 11-4 deficit. However, a huge block by true freshman Dana Ford got the Birds rolling in transition and Bojang capitalized with a thunderous, one-handed dunk with 13:12 remaining in the first half.
The dunk sparked an 11-0 Redbird run that erased the Chattanooga lead and gave Illinois State its first of the game. The Mocs recovered with an 8-0 run of their own, capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Parker. The Redbirds were able to keep the game close with lay-ups by Arnold and Guidry, but the Mocs used a 9-0 run late in the period to take an 11-point lead at 34-23, its largest of the half.
A Kevin Troc three-pointer and a fast-break lay-up off his own steal by Ford in the final two minutes helped chip into the Chattanooga lead and made the score 36-28 at halftime.
The Mocs got five quick points in the opening minute of the second half to take a 13-point lead at 41-28, but the Redbirds went on a 23-10 surge over the next ten and a half minutes paced by 10 points from Guidry. With the Chattanooga offense struggling, Illinois State was able to finally take back the lead at 53-52 off a lay-up by Bojang with 8:43 remaining in the game.
Guidry scored the next six Redbird points and kept the game within three points heading into the games final three minutes. However, a three-pointer by Parker and a lay-up by Rogan put the Mocs up by six with just under two minutes remaining and although Illinois State was able to cut the lead to three in the final seconds on a three-pointer by Guidry, the Chattanooga lead proved too large for the Birds to overcome as the Mocs sunk their free throws to seal the 75-68 win.
Illinois State heads on the road for back-to-back non-conference match-ups against Kent State on Saturday, December 7, at 2 p.m. and Sunday, December 15, against Western Kentucky at 3 p.m.
