St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson was named to the Preseason All-A10 Second Team and to the preseason All-A10 Defensive Team.
THE HOST WITH THE MOST
For the fourth time in school history since becoming an NCAA Division I program in 1970, Illinois State has hosted an in-season tournament. In 1978 and 1979, ISU hosted the Illinois State Holiday Festival and last season Redbird Arena was the site for the 2009 World Vision Invitational. In each of the previous three tournaments, the Redbirds walked away with the title. ISU also hosted the Valley Tournament twice, before the event moved permanently to St. Louis, and won both of those events. So, with the two wins in the Basketball Travelers Classic, the Redbirds are 15-0 in the NCAA Division I era in hosted tournaments.
IN-SEASON MEDIA CONFERENCES
ISU Athletics Media Relations will host eight in-season media conferences during the 2009-10 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 on the east side of the lower concourse. The remaining scheduled dates are: Dec. 3, Jan. 7, Jan. 21, Jan. 29, Feb. 8, Feb. 18 and March 2.
VALLEY TELECONFERENCES
Teleconferences with The Valley head coaches will be conducted each Tuesday throughout the season. The first teleconference is slated for Dec. 15, followed by every Tuesday from Jan. 5 to March 2. The conferences begin at 10 a.m. CT. To participate in the conference calls, call 913.981.4900. Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich will participate at 10:30 a.m.
HAVEN'T SEEN THIS SINCE THE 22¢ STAMP
The Redbirds and St. Bonaventure haven't met on the hardwood since Dec. 23, 1987. At the time of the previous meeting, a first-class postage stamp was 22 cents. Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States, while Platoon received the Academy Award for Best Picture. Paul Simon's "Graceland" was the album of the year and Keith Smart's jumper made Indiana the national champions in basketball with a 74-73 win over Syracuse.
POSTED UP
Dinma Odiakosa has been in double-digit scoring every game this season, but he and all the Redbird post players picked up their play Saturday night against Southeast Missouri State. Odiakosa finished with a career-best 19 points, while Tony Lewis (15) and Jackie Carmichael (10) each set personal bests as well.
TITLE TOWN
With a win today, Illinois State would claim its third-consecutive regular-season tournament title. The Redbirds won both the World Vision Invitational and SMU Tipoff Classic last season. The last time ISU won three-straight regular-season tournaments was from 1976-78, when the Redbirds won the 1976 Connecticut Classic, the 1977 Charlotte Invitational and the 1978 Illinois State Holiday Festival.
HIGH FREQUENCY
Dinma Odiakosa and Tony Lewis have been on the same wavelength to start this season. The two Redbird forwards have combined to shoot 43-for-57 from the field, or 75.4 percent.
BEEN TOUGH TO WIN AGAINST THE A10
The Redbirds have had below average success against the current members of the Atlantic 10 Conference over the years. ISU currently owns a 9-12 (.429) record against current league affiliates and are 0-1 against the conference under head coach Tim Jankovich with an National Invitation Tournament home loss to Dayton in 2008.
HOME SWEET HOME
Illinois State is in its 22nd season of basketball action on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. The Redbirds notched a 13-2 home record last season and a 16-2 home mark the year before. Under head coach Tim Jankovich, the Redbirds are 32-4 (.889) when playing at home. ISU owns a 216-80 (.730) all-time record on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
NAW, I'M DOING JUST FINE, CLARK
Illinois State's highly-touted freshman Justin Clark might be looking forward to his Christmas vacation, but there is no need to panic. After an 0-for-3 effort Saturday night, Clark is now shooting 1-for-20 from the field through four games and 1-for-16 on threes. Normally that would have a coach concerned, but Redbird fans don't have to look to far back to see a similar debut. Senior Osiris Eldridge began his ISU career shooting 1-for-22 in his first five games, including a 1-for-13 effort on threes.
A BLOCK PARTY
Through five games, it appears that the 2009-10 Redbirds could make a run at the school's blocked shot record. Currently, ISU is averaging 5.0 blocks per game, which is just ahead the school mark of 4.9 swats per contest by the 1976-77 team.
MOVING ON UP
Senior Osiris Eldridge continues to pass the greatest scorers in Illinois State history. The Chicago native became only the 11th player in Redbird history to surpass 1,400-career points. He currently has 1,426 career tallies, which ranks No. 10.
START ME UP
With head coach Tim Jankovich being a huge Rolling Stones fan, he has to love the starts to the Redbirds' last two seasons. Last year, ISU opened the campaign with a 14-0 mark and this season the Redbirds are off to a 5-0 beginning. The win over Southeast Missouri State Saturday night gave ISU its first back-to-back 5-0 starts in the NCAA Division I era, which began with the 1970-71 season.
BEING THANKFUL FOR THE WINS
In 112 years of Redbird basketball, Illinois State owns a 67-33 (.670) record in the month of November. The Redbirds have posted a 16-2 (.889) mark in the 11th month under head coach Tim Jankovich. Illinois State will play six games this season in the month of November and is 5-0 so far this season.
LORDY, LORDY, A WIN BY 40
Illinois State's 93-53 win over Southeast Missouri State Saturday night marked the Redbirds' first 40-point win in over a decade. The last time ISU topped its opponent by 40 points or more was Jan. 16, 1997, when the Redbirds defeated Indiana State, 101-58, at Redbird Arena.
THE LEADER OF THE PACK
As the leading scorer for ISU in the first three games, senior Osiris Eldridge is averaging 20.2 points per game this season which is the highest scoring average in the Valley. If Eldridge can maintain this kind of output, he would become the first Redbird to lead the conference in scoring since Tarise Bryson in 2001. Bryson averaged 22.8 points per game en route to being named the MVC Player of the Year.
A RETURN TO POSTSEASON
Illinois State, which became an NCAA Division I program prior to the 1970-71 season, enjoyed postseason play for the 16th time last season. The Redbirds have qualified for the NCAA Tournament six times (1983, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1997 and 1998) and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 10 times (1977, 1978, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2008 and 2009).
305-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A TREY
Illinois State enters the St. Bonaventure game with at least one made three in 305-straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton Dec. 12, 1999.
BACK-TO-BACK TRIPS
After making the NIT each of the last two years, Illinois State posted successive postseason berths for the first time in over a decade. The last time the Redbirds had back-to-back postseason bids was during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons, when ISU went to the NCAA Tournament each season.
WHAT'S A UTE?
Illinois State will find out first hand this season, when the Redbirds travel to Utah, Dec. 19, for the first-ever meeting between the two schools, as part of the inaugural Missouri Valley-Mountain West Challenge Series. The game between ISU and Utah will be one of nine matchups between the two leagues.
THE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR?
For the second-consecutive season, ISU has had a newcomer post a double-double in his respective Redbird debut. At SIU Edwardsville, Tony Lewis, a junior college transfer from Ellsworth JC, collected 10 points and 11 rebounds. Last season, Champ Oguchi posted 14 points and 13 boards in the Redbirds' road win at Wright State. Oguchi went on to be named the Valley's Newcomer of the Year, the first Redbird to win the award since Lorenzo Gordon, who also posted a double-double in his first game at ISU.
THE TRADITION CONTINUES
With a 24-10 overall record last year, ISU secured itself another winning season in men's basketball. In the 38 years of being an NCAA Division I program, the Redbirds have had 31 winning seasons.
EYEING 2,000
Senior Osiris Eldridge became the 39th addition to Illinois State's 1,000-point club, but with a full season to be played now the question is how high will he climb. He now has 1,407 career points, but in order to become the second Redbird to score 2,000 career points, Eldridge will need to 675 points this season, or approximately 19.3 points per game. Currently, he is averaging 20.2 tallies per contest.
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.
TWO SIGN FOR 2010 CLASS
Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich announced the signing of two incoming players during the early signing period. The Redbirds added Kenyon Smith (guard, 6-0, 190) from Lincoln College and Jordan Threloff (center, 6-10, 240) from DeKalb High School. Smith originally signed with ISU out of Simeon High School, but was declared academically ineligible by the NCAA. If he receives his associate's degree this school year, Smith will have three years of eligibility remaining at Illinois State, while Threloff will enter ISU as a true freshman.
