Junior Eric Coleman ranks No. 10 nationally with 10.2 rebounds per game.
ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
Illinois State assistant coach Chris Jans grew up in Fairbank, Iowa, the same hometown of Northern Iowa's Brooks McKowen. In fact, Jans is close friends with McKowen's family and actually baby sat a couple of times for Brooks.
OZONE
His college career started slowly, Osiris Eldridge began shooting 1-for-22 from the field. However, since then Eldridge has been in the zone. Eldridge is shooting 46.7 percent, or 42-for-90, since his first 22 collegiate shots. He also started his career with a 1-for-13 effort on three-pointers, but since has been shooting 49 percent (24-for-49).
CHAIRMAN OF THE OFFENSIVE BOARDS
Offensive rebounds have only been an official stat for a little more than 15 years, but during that time no one at Illinois State has been better at hitting the offensive glass than Greg Dilligard. During his career, Dilligard has registered 222 offensive caroms and is only the fourth player at ISU to collect 200 or more offensive boards. Dilligard is joined by Rico Hill (211), Dan Muller (205) and LeRoy Watkins (205).
FRESHMAN PHENOM
Not only did freshman Osiris Eldridge tie the school record at Creighton for made three pointers with eight, but he also poured in a career-high 28 points in the process. His 28 tallies marked the third highest single-game point total by a Redbird freshman in school history. By doing so, he joined a pretty elite group of ISU scorers - Bubbles Hawkins (30 points at Jacksonville, 2-16-73), Roger Powell (30 points vs. Morehead State, 1-8-73), Billy Lewis (28 points at West Virginia, 3-1-75) and Tarise Bryson (28 points vs. Southern Mississippi, 11-28-98 and vs. Wisconsin, 12-5-98).
DYER FOR TWO?
Junior center Levi Dyer has been working hard on his post play and it shows. Entering this season, Dyer had made 14 two-point baskets in his Redbird career. Already this season, Dyer has made 23 baskets inside the arc. He has also continued to shoot from three and ranks fifth on the team with 13 made three-pointers.
GETTING OFF THE SCHNIED
The Redbirds are looking to avoid their first 0-5 Missouri Valley Conference start, which would be the first since the 2003-04 season, when ISU opened the league slate by also losing its first five conference games.
KEPT OFFLINE
The Redbirds have the fewest free throw attempts in the Valley this season. ISU has only attempted 245 free throws on the year and are averaging 16.3 charity tosses per game.
215 GAMES WITH A TREY
ISU enters tonight's game against Northern Iowa with at least one made three in 215 straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton on Dec. 12, 1999.
BOO'S CLUES
Chances are if you want to see how the Redbirds did, just look at Boo Richardson's stat line. In the eight wins, Richardson is averaging a team-high 15.6 points per game, while dishing out 56 assists or 7.0 per game. He is also shooting 56.5 percent from the field and 46.9 percent on threes. In the seven losses, Richardson is averaging 4.3 points per game, 4.9 assists per contest, shooting 12.7 percent and eight percent on threes.
20/20
In both the McNeese State and Lewis games this season, the Redbirds had two players score 20 or more points. Against McNeese State, Boo Richardson scored 23 points, while Greg Dilligard tossed in 20. In the Lewis game, Anthony Slack led all ISU scorers with 22 points and Richardson added 20 tallies. It marked the first time since the 2004-05 season where two Redbirds reached the 20-point plateau in two separate games. Trey Guidry and Lorenzo Gordon both accomplished the feat against Mississippi and Tennessee-Martin.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE-DOUBLE DOUBLED
Greg Dilligard and Anthony Slack have each notched double-doubles in the same game twice this season (Sacramento State and Miami (Ohio)). It's the first time a pair of Redbirds have posted double-doubles in the same game twice since the 1997-98 season when Dan Muller and Rico Hill each collected double-doubles in the two regular-season meetings against Missouri State.
RE-WRITING REDBIRD RECORDS
The Illinois State defense has taken the red ink to the "Redbird Arena Records" page in the 2006-07 media guide. So far this season, the Redbirds have held Cal State Northridge to a Redbird Arena low 25.9 percent shooting. The Matadors also tied the facility low with 14 made field goals. The Redbirds also limited Miami (Ohio) to a Redbird Arena record 13 second-half points, while the RedHawks 40 total points were the second lowest in the facility's history.
DILLY DOUBLES DOWN, AGAIN
Senior Greg Dilligard entered the season with three career double-doubles. Through 15 games, Dilligard already has three this season. Dilligard has posted double-digit points and rebounds against St. John's, Sacramento State and Miami (Ohio) this year.
THREE-BALLIN'
Through 15 games, 42.6 percent of ISU's field goal attempts have come from beyond the 3-point arc. The `Birds are averaging 23.9 three-point tries per game. Against Texas-Arlington on Dec. 2, the Redbirds set a Redbird Arena record with 14 made treys, which was also the second most in ISU history. The Redbirds are on pace to shoot 740 threes on the season, which would top the school record of 615 set in 1995-96. ISU is also on pace to finish the season with 255 made treys, which would claim the school standard and top the current mark of 220 set during the 1997-98 season.
SLACK ATTACK
Junior Anthony Slack is attacking the glass for the Redbirds. In his first 15 games, Slack is averaging 6.9 rebounds per game which is the most by a `Bird since Baboucarr Bojang pulled down 7.6 boards per game during the 2001-02 season.
DISHING THE ROCK
Junior point guard Boo Richardson enters tonight's game averaging 6.0 assists per game this season, which is the highest average by a Redbird since Jamar Smiley dropped 6.4 assists per game during the 1997-98 season. Richardson has 90 assists on the season and is on pace to finish the regular season with 186, which would tie for No. 7 all-time.
BOARDING CALL
For the first time since 1986-87 season, the Redbirds have two players averaging six rebounds or more per game on the season. Both Anthony Slack (6.9 rpg.) and Greg Dilligard (6.1 rpg.) are among the conference leaders in rebounding, becoming the first Redbird tandem since Derrick Sanders (8.1 rpg.) and Tony Holifield (6.0).
THIRTY SOMETHING
Junior guard Dom Johnson became the first Redbird to score 30 or more points in a game since Trey Guidry tossed in 30 at Creighton on Jan. 22, 2005. Johnson torched Florida State for 32 points on 12-for-23 shooting. It was the most points by a Redbird since Tarise Bryson scored 38 in the 2001 National Invitational Tournament game at Purdue.
TAKING THE `NORM' OUT OF NORMAL
After finishing the 2005-06 season with a 9-19 record, the `Birds were in the midst of an aberration. The campaign marked only the sixth losing season in ISU's 35 years of being a Division I program.
DILLIGARD JOINS 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 final season, Dilligard ranks tied for No. 2 in career blocked shots with 140 and is only the fifth player to post 100 or more career blocks as a Redbird. He has 16 blocked shots this season.
GONE IN 60 POINTS
The 60-point plateau continues to be a viable measuring stick for the Redbirds' success. Under head coach Porter Moser, the Redbirds own a 38-16 (.704) record when they score 60 points or more. When ISU scores less than 60, the Redbirds' record falls to 6-41 (.128).
MATCHBOX 20
If the Illinois State box scores from the 2005-06 season were compared to the box scores from this season - one thing in particular jumps out. In 28 games last season, the Redbirds had a 20-point scorer three times. Greg Dilligard did it once and Roberto Fortes reached 20 points twice. This season, the Redbirds have had players score 20 or more points in a game seven times. Boo Richardson and Anthony Slack have each done it twice, while Dilligard, Dom Johnson and Osiris Eldridge have accomplished it once.
THAT 70's SHOW
Under Porter Moser, ISU has limited its foes to 70 points or fewer in 71 of its 102 games (69.6 percent). There is also some significance when the `Birds reach 70 points. When ISU scores 70 or more, the `Birds are 25-5 (.833) under Moser.
POINT-N-SHOOT
It's not just the points either; shooting percentage is also a key factor for ISU in terms of wins and losses. When ISU shoots better than its opponent, the `Birds are 39-11 (.780) over the last four seasons. When the Redbirds shoot worse, ISU is 5-46 (.098).
INSTANT IMPACT
Through 15 games, the six Redbird newcomers have made immediate impacts. The newest Redbirds have accounted for 62.2 percent of ISU's scoring, 47.0 percent of the rebounding and 67.4 percent of the assists this season.
JUCO ALL-AMERICA U.
Dominitrix Johnson and Keith "Boo" Richardson became the second and third junior college all-Americans respectively, to sign with ISU since Porter Moser's arrival. Richardson claimed first-team honors, while Johnson was a third team selection. The duo joins Lorenzo Gordon, who went on to earn Valley Newcomer of the Year honors in 2005.
SEAD ADDED
Sead Odzic (SEE-add ODD-zik) transferred to Illinois State from Southern California following the fall semester. Odzic, a 6-foot-3, 192-pound guard, is a native of Skokie, Ill., and played prep basketball at Niles West. He will have to serve a year of residency and will not be eligible to compete in a game for the Redbirds until the completion of the Fall 2007 semester.
At USC last season, Odzic averaged 3.2 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. Prior to USC, Ozdic averaged 20 points, five rebounds and four assists during his senior season at Niles West.
RUBIN SIGNS
During the early signing period, head coach Porter Moser added his first to the 2007-08 recruiting class. Point guard Alex Rubin from Armstrong High School in Plymouth, Minn., signed his national letter of intent to continue his education and basketball career at ISU. At 6-foot-1, 185-pounds, Rubin led the Falcons to a 19-10 overall record, before falling in the sectional finals. A two-time all-Classic Lake Conference selection, Rubin averaged 14.5 points and 4.8 assists per game as a junior. In 2006, he was named to the all-metro defensive second team and was an honorable mention all-state selection. To date this season, Rubin is averaging 20.4 points per contest through the first six games, while Armstrong owns an 8-3 record.
