Joining Mayo on the Horizon League's preseason team was senior center Scott VanderMeer, who received second-team accolades.
AND THEN, THERE WERE 13
Illinois State is one of just 13 NCAA Division I basketball programs that are still undefeated. The Redbirds are joined by Brigham Young, Clemson, Connecticut, LSU, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Wake Forest and Xavier.
SLUMPING SCORERS
Illinois State's Osiris Eldridge was held without a field goal for the first time in 51-straight games against Morehead State. Eldridge, who was the Redbirds' leading scorer at the time, was 0-for-7 from the field. In the following game, at Central Michigan, ISU's leading scorer, Champ Oguchi, was 0-for-5 from the field. It was Oguchi's first game without a field goal at ISU. Despite the two slumping shooters, the Redbirds were still able to win both games by defeating Morehead State, 76-70, and Central Michigan, 72-69.
IN-SEASON MEDIA CONFERENCES
ISU Athletics Media Relations will host seven in-season media conferences during the 2008-09 season. Each conference will feature head coach Tim Jankovich and a member of the ISU basketball team. The media conferences will start at 1 p.m., and be held in the Redbird Arena Media Room, which is just off the southwest loading dock. The scheduled dates are: Dec. 18, Jan. 5, Jan. 23, Jan. 29, Feb. 23 and March 3.
VALLEY TELECONFERENCES
Teleconferences with The Valley head coaches will be conducted each Tuesday throughout the season. The first teleconference is slated for Dec. 16, followed by every Tuesday from Jan. 6 to March 3. The conferences begin at 10 a.m. CT. To participate in the conference calls, call 913.981.5517. Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich will participate at 10:30 a.m.
JOINING THE CLUB
With his 18 points at Central Michigan, Illinois State junior Osiris Eldridge became the 39th member of the Redbirds' 1,000-point club. Eldridge, who is the first addition to the 1,000-point club since 2005, currently has 1,002 career points.
AN ALL-AROUND GAME
Not only did Osiris Eldridge score his 1,000th-career point at Central Michigan, but he also grabbed his 400th-career rebound. The Redbird junior also boasts 97 career steals heading into tonight's game. With three more steals, Eldridge would become the seventh Redbird all-time to own 1,000 career points, 400 career rebounds and 100 career steals. He would join Tony Holifield, Rickie Johnson, Rick Lamb, Dan Muller, Mike VandeGarde and LeRoy Watkins.
PHILLIN' IT UP IN THE SECOND HALF
Junior Lloyd Phillips has been coming up big in the game's final 20 minutes for the Redbirds this season. In fact, he leads the team in second-half points with 8.0 per game. Phillips is shooting 53.2 percent (25-for-47) in the second half, including 44.4 percent on threes (8-of-18).
ELEVEN WOULD BE HEAVEN
Even though Illinois State came back to win at Central Michigan, 72-69, to open the season 10-0, the Redbirds will need to win three-straight games to set the school record for the most victories to start a season. The last time ISU won its first 10 games of the season was in 1977-78, when the Redbirds won their first 12 games to open the campaign.
EYES ON THE HORIZON
Tim Jankovich is 3-0 against the Horizon League as the head coach at Illinois State. The Redbirds downed UIC (73-47) and Wright State (54-46) last season, and Wright State again this season (69-61). The Redbirds are 64-30 (.681) all-time against the current league members of the Horizon. Surprisingly, the only league member the Redbirds have never faced on the basketball court is Youngstown State, which is a conference member with Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
HOME SWEET HOME
Illinois State is in its 21st season of basketball action on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. The Redbirds notched a 16-2 home record last season, which was three more victories than the previous best for a season. ISU owns a 205-78 all-time record on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena, and boasts a 72.4-percent winning percentage.
HOME SWEET HOME, PART II
With a victory today, ISU would start the season with a 6-0 record on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. It would mark the second-straight season in which ISU has began the year with a 6-0 mark at home.
DUNKIN' DINMA
Junior Dinma Odiakosa dropped in a season-high 14 points Wednesday night at Central Michigan. He had a season-best seven made field goals, four of which, were the result of slam dunks. Heading into the game, Odiakosa had two dunks on the season.
BALL SECURITY
Senior Emmanuel Holloway understands that possession is nine-tenths of the basketball law. In his two seasons at ISU, Holloway has dished out 83 assists, while only turning the ball over 44 times. He owns a 1.89 career assist-to-turnover ratio and currently ranks second in the conference with a 3.09 assist-to-turnover ratio this season.
JUST IMAGINE ...
If the three-point line was not moved back a foot. Through 10 games, the Redbirds are averaging 9.7 made three-pointers per game, which is nearly three more threes per contest than last season. Also, ISU is shooting 41.5 percent from beyond the arc this season, after shooting 37.2 percent last year. In 10 games this season, the Redbirds have already made double-digit three-pointers in five games, equalling the output of the entire season last year.
NON-CON SUCCESS
Since his arrival at Illinois State, head coach Tim Jankovich and the Redbirds are 20-4 (.833) in non-conference games.
RARE COMPANY
After being named the Valley's Preseason Player of the Year, junior Osiris Eldridge appears to have an inside track to join a select group. Eldridge won the conference's freshman of the year award in 2007. If he ends his Illinois State career with the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year Award, which he finished runner-up for last season, Eldridge would become only the second player in league history to win both the freshman of the year and player of the year award, joining Southern Illinois' Ashraf Amaya.
ON GUARD
After 10 games, two of Illinois State's three leading rebounders aren't post players. Instead, they are members of the Redbird backcourt. Senior Champ Oguchi leads the team with 67 boards this season, while junior Osiris Eldridge is third on the team with 62 caroms, on behind Dinma Odiakosa's 63 rebounds. In ISU's NCAA Division I-era (1970-present), the Redbirds have never had two guards lead the team in rebounding.
CRASHING THE BOARDS
Despite starting a four-guard lineup in nine of the first 10 games, Illinois State has won the rebounding battle this season in nine of the 10 contests. On the season, the Redbirds own a +6.0 rebounding margin.
276 GAMES WITH A TREY
After sinking five three-pointers in the victory at Central Michigan, ISU enters tonight's game against UIC with at least one made three in 276-straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton Dec. 12, 1999.
START ME UP
Illinois State's starters are accounting for 81.2 percent of the offensive output so far this season. In the first nine games, the Redbird starters have had 37 double-digit scoring efforts out of a possible 50. ISU's starting five each posted double-digit points in the wins against Wright State, Houston Baptist and SMU.
BACK ON TRACK
With the 25-10 overall record in 2007-08, the Redbirds ended a string of two-straight losing seasons. Non-winning seasons are not common around Illinois State basketball. In the 37 years of being an NCAA Division I program, the Redbirds have had just seven losing seasons.
JANKOVICH'S ENCORE
Head coach Tim Jankovich's first season at Illinois State was a memorable one, not only for him, but for the program. With a 25-10 record, Jankovich guided the Redbirds to a school-record-tying 25 wins and he posted the most single-season wins for a first-year coach in program history. Currently he holds a 77.8 percent winning percentage (35-10) at Illinois State, which ranks third on the all-time coaching ledger in ISU's 111-year history.
O, SHALL HE STEAL
It has been an unofficial commandment of Illinois State basketball since his arrival, and Osiris Eldridge is back at it again this year. Eldridge tied his career-best with six steals against Houston Baptist and leads the Redbirds with 18 steals on the season. He now has 97 in his ISU career, which ranks No. 19 in the Redbird record books.
CREATING THE SECOND CHANCE
Junior Dinma Odiakosa is all about giving his teammates a second chance, and as a result, is leading the team with 30 offensive rebounds. Through 10 games, the Redbirds already have five players with double-digit offensive rebounds. Trailing Odiakosa are Osiris Eldridge (19), Champ Oguchi (15), Emmanuel Holloway (11) and Brandon Sampay (11).
SIXTH CENTURY
In the history of the world, the sixth century was deemed as the start of the dark ages. However in Redbird basketball, players who score their 100th point of the season through the first six games has been anything but dark. ISU's Champ Oguchi scored 104 points through the first six games for the Redbirds. The last player at ISU to surpass the 100-point plateau through six games was Lorenzo Gordon in the 2004-05 season. The 2005 Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year had 107 points after six games.
