Feb. 5, 2008
Final Stats |
Notes
NORMAL, Ill. -
Senior Anthony Slack recorded his fifth-career double-double and senior Dom Johnson scored a team-high 17 points, but the Illinois State men's basketball team's late rally fell short, 73-70, over the No. 15 Drake Bulldogs in a Missouri Valley Conference tilt Tuesday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. Slack finished with 10 points on a 5-for-8 shooting night, and also grabbed 10 rebounds, but the Redbirds were unable to hit from three-point land down the stretch, as the Drake Bulldogs won their 20th-straight game overall.
Johnson led three Redbirds (16-7, 8-4 MVC) in double-figures, as sophomore Osiris Eldridge scored 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Johnson also tied his career-high with eight assists. The Redbirds fell to 1-4 when playing opponents ranked in the top-25 at Redbird Arena, with their only win coming Nov. 24, 1997, in an 87-65 decision over then-No. 24 Pittsburgh.
Drake (21-1, 12-0 MVC) was led by senior Leonard Houston, who scored a game-high 22 points. Drake's Josh Young, the Valley's leading scorer, finished with 18 points, with all but one tally coming in the second half.
Illinois State got it going offensively to begin the game, as Johnson provided the spark for the Redbirds. After Johnson hit a three on the Redbirds' first possession, ISU recorded a stop and Johnson found Dinma Odiakosa wide-open for an easy layup, giving ISU a 5-0 lead and forcing Drake into its first timeout at the 18:57 mark in the first half. The Redbirds continued to keep the home crowd on its feet the next time down the court, as Boo Richardson found Slack on an alley-oop. Slack threw down a thunderous, two-handed slam, as the Redbirds went on an 18-8 scoring run to begin the game.
The Redbirds kept providing the pressure on the Bulldogs, as ISU kept making plays above the rim. After junior Brandon Sampay missed a jumper, Eldridge followed the shot with a two-handed tip-dunk, which gave ISU a 20-10 lead and forced Drake to use its second timeout with 12:40 remaining in the half.
Drake used its three-point shooting to get back into the ballgame, as the Bulldogs hit three shots from beyond the arc to cut the Redbirds' lead to three, at 24-21, with 8:11 left in the half. But the Redbirds used a 7-0 spurt to widen their margin back to 10 points, as Johnson hit his second three of the half to give ISU a 31-21 advantage at the 6:18 mark of the first. Illinois State kept the momentum for the rest of the half, and ended with a 38-29 lead at the break.
The `Birds continued to play inspired in the first five minutes of the second half, as Eldridge and Brandon Holtz each hit from beyond the arc, and the Redbirds increased their lead to 11 points at the first media timeout (15:25) of the second half. The Redbirds also got Drake's point guard Adam Emmenecker in foul trouble, as he picked up three quick fouls and hit the bench for over four minutes. But Young hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to five, at 46-41, and forced ISU to use a timeout.
Young continued to fire from long-range, and hit two more back-to-back threes from deep, as Drake used an 18-6 run to take its first lead of the game, 53-52, with 10:16 left in intermission. The Redbirds began to lose rhythm on the offensively during Drake's run, as ISU committed two turnovers during that span.
But the Redbirds battled back, putting together their own run, as Odiakosa's conventional three-point play put the finishing touches on a 10-3 spurt that put the Redbirds within one point, 67-66, with 2:15 remaining in regulation. After Emmencker made his own conventional three-point play with 1:44 left, Johnson hit a running jumper to answer. But the Drake defense hung tough after missing on offense, stopping the Redbirds in consecutive trips down the floor.
After Cox hit only 1-of-2 shots from the charity stripe, Johnson buried another running jumper to cut the lead back to two, at 72-70, with 17.8 seconds left. The Redbirds were forced to foul, and Drake's Jacob Baryenbruch hit the front end of a two shots from the free throw. When Baryenbruch's second attempt hit front iron, the Redbirds were able to corral the rebound, but senior Levi Dyer's game-tying attempt from three-point land was long, ending the game.
The Redbirds will play their second of a three-game homestand Saturday, Feb. 9, when ISU takes on in-state rival Bradley. Tip-off from Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena is slated for 7:07 p.m. The rivalry game can also be seen live on WMBD-TV (CBS 31 in Bloomington-Normal and Peoria), as well as on the radio on WJBC AM 1230.
