Feb. 20, 2007
By Jerry Palm
Special to CSTV.com
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NORMAL, Ill. - It was senior day at Illinois State, but it was freshman Osiris Eldridge who sparked the Redbirds to a 65-55 come-from-behind win over Creighton Tuesday.
After a first half with nothing but two fouls and a turnover, Eldridge scored 18 points in the second half to lead ISU back from a 10-point halftime deficit. He scored eight of the Redbirds' first ten points of the second half by slicing to the basket and getting layups or free throws. He also hit two big 3-pointers, one that tied the game with 12:15 to go and another to put the cap on a 25-9 run with 7:12 left.
Creighton got off to a good start, leading 11-2 six minutes in, but Illinois St. came back to take a 17-15 lead.
The Bluejays then went on a 20-5 run to take a 35-22 lead right before the half, but Boo Richardson hit a long 3-pointer as time expired to get the Redbirds back to within ten. That was a key shot because it appeared to give ISU some momentum going into the half. They definitely had a little extra spring in their step after the break.
Nate Funk was in a funk tonight, even though he led the Bluejays in scoring. He shot just 7-for-17 and scored 16 points. The Redbirds did a good job chasing him around, denying him the ball in good scoring position and challenging many of his shots.
When Creighton lost to Drexel at home in the BracketBuster on Saturday, they blew a big lead after Anthony Tolliver picked up his fourth foul early in the second half.
On Tuesday night, ISU took him out of the game with smothering defense, double teaming from different parts of the defense and denying him the ball whenever possible.
That forced Creighton to play offense mostly from the perimeter, causing them to get impatient at times and settle for some bad shots. For a while, it looked like they didn't even try to go inside as Tolliver finished with 12 points.
While ISU is playing to get some momentum for the Missouri Valley Tournament next weekend, Creighton's NCAA at-large hopes suffered another big blow tonight. Creighton still has Wichita State at home before the conference tournament, and they need to get hot if they hope to stay in the picture for an at-large bid.
Key Quote: Illinois State coach Porter Moser was asked what he said to Eldridge at halftime. He replied, "Nothing that I can repeat. Basically, Osiris has another gear, and he wasn't playing in that gear in the first half. We just talked about--In a vocal way--about playing in that other gear. When he plays in that gear, he can be a special player."
Notes: Illinois State started all three of its seniors, although only one of them played more than the first few minutes...One of those seniors is Ronnie Carlwell, whose brother Brian was one of the Illinois players injured in a car accident last weekend. Brian has been released from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery...It's been a while since Illinois State was a contender in the Missouri Valley, but they own Creighton at home. The Redbirds now lead the series 14-5 in Normal...The defensive performance by ISU in the second half was the second best all time at home. The only opponent to put up fewer points here in the second half was Butler, who scored 16 in 1989...The loss tonight by Creighton clinches the top seed in the MVC tournament for Southern Illinois. Creighton and Missouri State will be the second and third seeds, respectively.
