Wichita State was tabbed to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, as compiled by league coaches, media and sports information directors.
THUMP DAY
The Redbirds have fared well on Wednesday league games this season. To date, Illinois State boasts a perfect 3-0 record when playing the Valley on "hump day."
IT AIN'T OVER, 'TIL IT'S OVER
After trailing by 10 points at halftime against Creighton last week, the Redbirds rallied for a 71-62 Valley win. The victory marked the fourth time this season when ISU won after trailing at half. The Redbirds are 4-5 this season when behind at the intermission. When leading at the half, ISU is 10-0.
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. The remaining scheduled dates are: 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.
HANDLING ADVERSITY
The Redbirds haven't had to face much adversity in the Tim Jankovich-era, but when coming off a rare loss Illinois State has responded well. The Redbirds are 18-7 (.720) in the 25 previous games when coming off a loss under the guidance of Jankovich.
FEELS GOOD TO TONY, TONY, TONY
Junior transfer Tony Lewis put together back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts against Creighton and Southern Illinois, respectively, and it feels good for the Redbirds. Lewis averaged 14 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last week, while shooting 76.9 percent (10-for-13) from the field.
DEFENSIVE FIRSTS
There were a pair of firsts against the Redbirds Saturday at Southern Illinois. First, that was the first time all season a team had shot more than 50 percent against the Redbirds this season. SIU finished the game shooting 53.1 percent. Also, that was the first time a team had scored 80 points against ISU this season. The Salukis won, 81-80, in overtime.
SECOND-CHANCE CHAMP
With three offensive rebounds at Southern Illinois Saturday, senior Dinma Odiakosa became the school's all-time leader in offensive caroms. Odiakosa now has 262 in his career, which topped Greg Dilligard, who had 260 offensive boards from 2003-07. Odiakosa also currently leads the Valley in both total rebounding (8.4 rpg.) and offensive rebounds (3.5 rpg.).
PARTNERS IN CRIME
Seniors Lloyd Phillips and Osiris Eldridge lead Illinois State, and the Missouri Valley Conference, in steals this season. Phillips leads the conference with 38 steals, while Eldridge is second with 36. As a team, the Redbirds have 154 steals, and Eldridge and Phillips have accounted for 48.1 percent of the team total.
DOUBLING DINMA
For the seventh time this season and for the 10th time in his career, senior Dinma Odiakosa with 13 points and 11 rebounds against Creighton, has collected a double-double in points and rebounds. However, Odiakosa isn't the only double-double threat for the Redbirds this season, as three others (Tony Lewis, Kellen Thornton and Jackie Carmichael) have posted double-doubles this year.
BOARDING SCHOOL
Illinois State has only had 17 players collect 600 or more rebounds in their career, but two of those players suit up for ISU this season. Both Dinma Odiakosa and Osiris Eldridge have grabbed 600 rebounds in their career. Odiakosa, who collected a career-best 14 against Northern Iowa, has 653 career caroms, while Eldridge has 620 career boards.
CARMICHAEL FOR THE BLOCK
After 20 games, Jackie Carmichael is eyeing the school record for the most blocked shots by a freshman. On the season, Carmichael has a team-leading 27 blocks and is on pace to beat the ISU mark. Mike VandeGarde collected 36 blocked shots during his freshman campaign in 1990-91.
ONE OF THREE
With his first basket against Northern Iowa, senior Osiris Eldridge eclipsed the 1,600-point career scoring plateau. As a result, he became only the third Redbird in school history to post 1,600 career points and 600 career rebounds. Eldridge currently owns 1,670 points and 620 boards and joins Billy Lewis (1,962 points, 869 rebounds) and Fred Marberry (1,881 points, 933 rebounds).
MOVING ON UP
Osiris Eldridge continues to pass the greatest scorers in ISU history. The Chicago native became only the seventh Redbird player in Illinois State history to score 1,600-points in his career. He currently ranks No. 7 with 1,670 career tallies and needs 67 points to surpass Tarise Bryson for sixth place.
ROAD WARRIORS
In the inaugural Mountain West-Missouri Valley Conference Challenge Series only one road team walked away with the win. ISU claimed a 73-63 win at Utah and became the only road team to win the newly-created challenge between the two conferences, as the Valley posted a 5-4 win in the series. Overall this season, Illinois State is 4-4 on the road.
THAT 70's SHOW
So far, Illinois State's success this season is pretty much based on 70 points. When the Redbirds score 70 or more points this season, Illinois State is 12-1. When ISU opponent's score less than 70 points, the Redbirds are 11-3.
HE GIVETH, AND HE TAKETH AWAY
Senior Lloyd Phillips leads ISU in assists and steals this season. He has dished out 86 assists, or 4.3 per game, which ranks third in the Valley. He is also tied for the team lead in steals with 38, or 1.9 per game.
LOOKING AT THE POSITIVES
In a critical society, sometimes it is hard to see the positives. That can be said for the point guard position at Illinois State. Lloyd Phillips has done an outstanding job running the point for the Redbirds this season, as evidenced by his assists to turnovers. In only two games this season, Phillips has had more turnovers than assists in a single contest. Last season, that occurred 10 times.
HIGH FREQUENCY
Dinma Odiakosa has been on a different wavelength this season. The senior is shooting 62.9 percent from the field (95-for-151), which leads the Valley. He doesn't rank nationally, because the rankings are based on averaging five made field goals per game and Odiakosa is currently posting 4.75 per contest.
OSIRIS, THE GOD OF THE THREES
In mythology, Osiris is an Egyptian god, typically called the god of the afterlife, underworld or dead. In Redbird lore, Osiris Eldridge is now the god of the three-point shot. With three treys against Central Michigan, Eldridge became the school-record holder and has 257 career three-point field goals, surpassing the old mark by Gregg Alexander of 224. Eldridge also stands in the No. 13 spot all-time in the Valley.
320-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A TREY
Illinois State enters the Wichita State game with at least one made three in 320-straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton Dec. 12, 1999.
THE TRADITION CONTINUES
With a 24-10 overall record last year, ISU secured itself another winning season in men's basketball. In the 39 completed years of being an NCAA Division I program, the Redbirds have had 32 winning seasons. The Redbirds need only two more wins to guarantee another winning season this 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).
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.
RARE COMPANY
After being named the Valley's Preseason Player of the Year, junior Osiris Eldridge has the opportunity 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. ISU 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 ISU, while Threloff will enter as a true freshman.
STATUE OF ASPIRATIONS
In September 2009, the Redbird Athletics Department unveiled a statue which honors the nation's first African-American NCAA Division I head basketball coach, Will Robinson, and his most famous player, Doug Collins, a three-time All-American at Illinois State. The piece, located at the north entrance of Redbird Arena, was sculpted by Lou Cella, a 1985 graduate of ISU. Robinson was named ISU's head coach Feb. 27, 1970, and posted a 78-51 seasons in five seasons. He passed away at the age of 96, April 28, 2008.
