Feb. 24, 2006
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About The Game:
Illinois State enters tonight's game fighting for any of the four seeds in Thursday night's play-in games, while for Wichita State it's simple -- win and claim its first regular season conference title since 1982-83.
Series History:
Tonight's game marks the 56th meeting in the series. The Redbirds carry a 31-24 advantage in the series, but Wichita State has won the last eight meetings.
Radio:
Dick Luedke, play-by-play; Mike Matthews, color; Bruce Evans, sideline (home only) and Jim Williams, studio host. Affiliates: WJBC (AM 1230/Bloomington), flagship; WBIG (AM 1280/Aurora), WJEZ (FM 98.9/Dwight), WZOE (AM 1490/Princeton) and WFMB (AM 1450/Springfield). All Redbird broadcasts, including Porter Moser's weekly call-in show, which generally airs each Thursday from 6:07-7 pm, depending on the schedule, can be heard via the Internet at GoRedbirds.com.
Television:
As part of the Valley television package, tonight's game will be seen live on FSN Midwest, Fox College Sports, Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Metro Sports. Mitch Holthus (play-by-play) and Hersey Hawkins (analyst) will serve as the broadcast talent.
The Coaches
Porter Moser (Creighton '90) owns a 90-83 (.520) career mark in his third season at Illinois State, including a 36-49 (.424) record with the Redbirds. Prior to guiding the `Birds, Moser served three seasons at Arkansas-Little Rock in his first head coaching position. Moser is assisted by Chris Jans, Daniyal Robinson and Brian Barone.
Mark Turgeon (Kansas `87) is in his sixth season at Wichita State. He owns a 107-74 (.591) record with the Shockers and carries a 132-103 (.562) record in his eight seasons as a head coach. He is assisted by Tad Boyle, former Illinois State assistant Alvin "Pooh" Williamson and Mike Rohn.
About the Wichita State Shockers
Wichita State, located in Wichita, Kan., was founded in 1895 and has an enrollment of 15,100.
The Shockers return eight letterwinners, including one starter, from a team that finished 22-10 overall and finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 12-6 mark.
With a 60-58 win over Drake on Wednesday, Wichita State secured at least a share of the conference title for the first time since 1983.
A win tonight would give the Shockers its third outright Valley regular-season championship.
WSU leads the conference in rebounding margin at +5.8. The Shockers are also tops in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (1.16) and defensive rebounds (25.21).
Senior Paul Miller ranks No. 9 in scoring (13.1 ppg.), No. 6 in rebounding (6.6) and No. 10 in field goal percentage (.523).
Watching Out for No. 1
ISU enters tonight's game in search of its first road victory of the season. To date, the `Birds are 0-11 on the road this season and have lost 13 straight away from home. ISU's last road victory occurred at UW-Green Bay on Feb. 19, 2005. A loss tonight would mark the first time without a single road victory in ISU's Division I era.
Establishing a Fortes
It has taken a little longer than expected, but junior Roberto Fortes is starting to showcase his forte -- being able to score. Despite tossing in 22 points in ISU's first 21 games of the season, Fortes put together back-to-back-to-back-to-back career nights and has scored 77 points over the last five games (15.4 ppg.).
The Role of Spoiler
Three times since joining the Valley, Illinois State has played the conference's leader in the final game of the regular season. In the three meetings, the Redbirds carry a 2-1 record which includes spoiling Creighton's share of the league title in 1989-90 and forcing Tulsa to settle for a share of the title (with ISU) in 1983-84. The `Birds had the opportunity to disrupt Southern Illinois'' reign during the 2002-03 season, but fell in the regular season finale.
Taking the Norm Out of Normal
With a 9-17 record, the Redbirds are in the midst of an aberration. ISU will likely have only its sixth losing season in the 35 years of being a Division I program. Unfortunately, four of those losing campaigns will have occurred in the last seven seasons.
Walking the Plank
It isn't the sole reason for defeat, but the `Birds appear to go how senior Neil Plank goes. In ISU's nine wins this season, Plank is leading the team with 11.8 points per game, while shooting 48.6 percent from the field, including 41.7 percent on treys. In the 17 losses, Plank is averaging 6.0 points per game and shooting 30.8 percent from the floor and 24.1 percent on threes.
The Road Has Been Foul
Obviously, one of the hardest things to do in sport is win on the road. That has been more than true for the Redbirds this season. In addition to battling the nuances of a road game, the Redbirds have been left to overcome a lopsided distribution of free throw attempts -- 153 to be exact. On the road, ISU opponents are averaging 14 more free throw attempts more than the `Birds, which are only getting to the line eight times per away contest.
Dilligard Joins the Century Club
When it is all said and done Greg Dilligard will go down in history as one of the best defensive players to suit up for ISU. In his third season, Dilligard now ranks No. 4 in career blocked shots with 117, becoming only the fifth player to post 100 or more career blocks as a Redbird. He also has 55 blocks for the year, which is second best.
Setting a Defensive Standard
In addition to having their sights set on the school record for points allowed per game, the Redbirds are also in pursuit of the school record for defensive field goal percentage. Currently, ISU foes are shooting 40.2 percent from the field, while the school record is also 40.2 percent, which was set during the 1996-97 season. ISU's defensive percentage this season also ranks as the leader in the Valley.
The Redbird Shuffle
Through 26 games, the `Birds have courted 11 different starting line-ups this season. The total more than doubles that of last season, in which the `Birds had four different starting combinations. Of the 14 players on the roster, 11 have earned starting assignments and no combination has been used for more than seven games.
Dilly's Holding On
Greg Dilligard's season scoring average rests at 10.1 points per game. The scoring average, ranks No. 1 on the team, and ISU has never had its leading scorer average less than double figures for a season since becoming a Division I program in 1970-71.
198 Games With a Trey on the Board
ISU enters the game at Wichita State with at least one made three in 198 straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton on Dec. 12, 1999.
Gone in 60 Points
It's not the sequel to Nicholas Cage's car thief film, but it has proven to be the recipe for success, or lack there of, for the Redbirds this season. The formula is easy to follow. Opponents score less than 60 points, the Redbirds are 9-5. ISU foes score 60 or more, the `Birds are 0-12. It's that simple.
Point-N-Shoot
It's not just points either, shooting percentage has been a deciding factor for ISU in terms of wins and losses. When ISU shoots better than its opponent, the `Birds are 9-3. But, when they are outshot, the Redbirds are 0-13.
D-Fence, D-Fence
This season ISU opponents are averaging 59.2 points per contest. If the Redbirds can maintain this effort, it would mark the first time that foes have been held below 66 points per game for three straight seasons since the 1985-86, 1984-85 and 1983-84 campaigns. Also, the 59.2 points allowed ranks as the lowest in school history.
Making the Grade
The Illinois State men's basketball team set a record GPA during the Fall 2005 semester by posting a collective 2.81 GPA, topping the old mark of 2.75. The athletic department as a whole also netted a new standard with a 2.93 GPA, while having a record 201 student-athletes named to the AFNI athletic honor roll.
Out of Africa ...
And into Redbird Arena for four Redbirds this season. Freshmen Dinma Odiakosa and Eric Vianney are from the continent, with Odiakosa coming from Nigeria and Vianney being from Cameroon. In addition, senior Nedu Onyeuku and junior Roberto Fortes were each born in Africa before their families moved to the United States. Onyeuku was born in Nigeria, while Fortes was born in Angola.
Prized Pupil Plank
Neil Plank added another academic honor on Feb. 9, when he was named to the 2006 ESPN the Magazine All-America® University District V Academic team. It marked the third time that Plank had been named to the district team, he claimed second team academic all-America honors in 2005 as well as being named the 2005 Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He carried a 3.93 grade point average as an undergraduate finance major and is currently pursuing his master's in business administration.
This Date in Redbird History
Feb. 25, 1992 - Illinois State traveled to Peoria, Ill., and swept the I-74 series with a 64-60 win over Bradley at Carver Arena. Mike VandeGarde led a balanced ISU scoring attack with 13 points, while Steve Fitch added 12 points as the only Redbirds in double figures. Illinois State owns a 4-2 record on this date during the Division I era.
