Jan. 13, 2010
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NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State faced off against Evansville for the second time in a week Wednesday night and this result was the same as the first for the Redbirds, who swept the season series against the Purple Aces with a 70-56 win on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
With the victory, the `Birds (13-4, 4-2 MVC) secured their eighth-straight win over the Aces (6-10, 0-6 MVC) and head coach Tim Jankovich improved to 7-0 against Evansville.
In the first meeting between the two teams just a week ago, ISU's Jackie Carmichael dominated the first half with 16 points to give the Redbirds a sizable halftime lead. Tonight, it was Evansville's Colt Ryan who stole the show in the first half with 17 points to keep his team within striking distance at halftime.
The Redbirds jumped out to an early 7-2 lead after a three-pointer by Alex Rubin from the top of the key, before Ryan scored the next six points in a row off a pair of three-pointers to give the Aces an 8-7 lead at the 16:10 mark. After a jumper by Austin Hill gave the Redbirds the lead back, Ryan converted on a layup in the lane to give his team the lead back at 10-9.
Evansville held on to that lead until a three-pointer by Lloyd Phillips at the 9:42 mark tied the game at 16-16. However, Ryan continued his hot shooting and quickly gave the Aces the lead back at 18-16 and Clint Hopf extended that margin to 20-16 with a layup soon after.
That lead would eventually grow to 24-18, before the Redbirds answered with a 9-3 run to knot the score at 27-27 with 4:13 remaining in the half. A jumper by Dinma Odiakosa at the 5:09 mark cut the lead to three points at 27-24 and Phillips' second trey of the half tied the game for the fourth time on the ensuing possession.
Soon after, a pair of free throws by Rubin gave the Redbirds a 29-27 for the first time since the 12:04 mark. ISU held on to that two point lead over the final two and a half minutes to lead at the break, 33-31. The teams were tied five times during the first half and the lead changed six times as both teams shot over 45 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of action.
Illinois State maintained a single-digit lead over the first 10 minutes of the second half and led by as many as seven points at 53-46 at the 8:59 mark, when Phillips made all three of his free-throw attempts after being fouled by Taylor outside the arch. After Evansville cut the lead to 53-50 with 8:06 left on a layup by Ryan, the Redbirds went on an 11-4 run capped off by a tip-in from Rubin to take their first double-digit lead of the game at 64-54 with 4:16 left in the game.
Evansville cut the lead back to single digits at 64-56 with just under four minutes left, but the Redbirds finished the game on a 6-0 run to secure the 70-56 win.
Phillips led a quartet of Redbirds in double figures with 18 points to go along with four assists. Hill set a new career high with 14 points in the win, while Rubin tied his career high 13 points, which he set last Saturday against UNI. Odiakosa rounded out the balanced scoring effort with 13 points in addition to 11 rebounds, marking his sixth double-double performance of the season. Ryan led all scorers with 22 points for Evansville.
The Redbirds return to action Sunday, Jan. 17, against Drake in Des Moines, Iowa. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU and will tipoff at 7 p.m. from the Knapp Center.
