Feb. 17, 2007
Final Stats
NORMAL, Ill. -
Junior Levi Dyer scored 19 points in the first half, highlighted by a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc as the Illinois State men's basketball team defeated Ball State, 70-57, in a 2007 O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters game Saturday afternoon at Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. Dyer finished with a game and career-high 29 points on 11-for-13 shooting, as the Redbirds improved to 4-1 in the BracketBuster game series and 10-4 at home this season.
The Redbirds (14-14, 5-11 MVC) had four players reach double figures in points, as senior Greg Dilligard, junior Anthony Slack and freshman Osiris Eldridge each tallied 10 points. Dilligard added seven rebounds, while Slack was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. Boo Richardson added nine assists.
The Cardinals (9-17, 5-7 MAC) were led by junior Peyton Stovall, who had a team-high 18 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Freshman Ahmaad Cook added 16 points, while sophomore Anthony Newell had 13 in the defeat.
Dyer began the first half continuing his recent streak of hot shooting, hitting three of his first four shots to score the Redbirds' first eight points. The Redbirds were able to take an early 13-8 advantage after a Dyer hit a jumper with 10:35 left in the half. However, both teams struggled to put points on the board, as ISU and BSU were both held scoreless for nearly four minutes, until a jumper in the lane by Ball State's Anthony Newell ended the drought with the score 7:19 remaining.
Dyer then hit two consecutive shots to spark a 15-5 run, highlighted by a dunk in traffic from Dilligard, who was fouled on the play. Dilligard was able to complete the three point play, putting the Redbirds ahead 28-17 with 1:58 left. The Cardinals closed out the half on a 6-3 run, cutting the Redbirds' lead to 31-23 at intermission.
After Ball State opened the second half hitting two consecutive shots, the `Birds went on a 10-3 run, putting the Redbirds ahead 44-32 with 13:32 left after junior Slack threw down a rim-rattling dunk on an alley-oop from teammate Richardson. The Cardinals regrouped by going on 17-6 scoring run, cutting the Redbird lead to one at 50-49 after Cook nailed a three pointer with 7:05 remaining in the game. However, the Redbirds built their lead back up to 10 when junior Dom Johnson hit a leaning jumper from the baseline at the 3:17 mark to cap off a 9-0 run.
The `Birds never looked back, as Eldridge nailed five free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
The Redbirds will play in their final home game of the 2006-07 season when they host Creighton in a Missouri Valley Conference match-up on Tuesday, Feb. 20. Tip off is slated for 7:05 p.m.
