Jan. 8, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State leads Northern Iowa, 36-19, at halftime of the Missouri Valley Conference game at Redbird Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 8. Eight different players have scored for the Redbirds, led by sophomore guard Osiris Eldridge's seven points and senior forward Anthony Slack's eight. The Redbirds have limited the Panthers to just 30 percent shooting from the field, while making 53.3 percent of their shots.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the early going and the game was tied, 9-9, eight minutes into the action. The Redbirds quickly found their shooting touch and scored 15 unanswered points to take a double-digit lead over the Panthers, 24-9. Richardson led the charge with five points and junior guard Sead Odzic put back a missed shot for his first field goal as a Redbird. The Panthers went six minutes without a field and committed five turnovers during the Redbird run.
UNI managed to cut the lead down to nine points twice, but the Redbirds did not let them get any closer, finishing off the first half with an 8-0 run to take a 36-19 lead, their biggest of the period, into the locker room at intermission. Junior guard Emmanuel Holloway scored five points and Eldridge added a three-pointer in the final two minutes.
