Tennessee State assistant coach Dana Ford lettered at Illinois State from 2002-06. In Redbird basketball lore, Ford will always be remembered for his three-quarter court, game-winning buzzer beater against Creighton on Dec. 31, 2005. His heroics were a part of the ESPN Plays of the Day that night.
HAVEN'T SEEN THIS SINCE THE 5¢ STAMP
It has been a while since Illinois State and Tenneseee State have met on the hardwood, which is surprising since only 430 miles separate the two schools. The last time the Redbirds and Tigers met was on Dec. 10, 1966 in Spokane, Wash., in the third-place game of the Lilac City Tournament. The Tigers won the game 87-86, and Lyndon Johnson was in office as the United States President. The Sound of Music won best picture at the Academy Awards, while the medicare program was just installed and the world was mourning the death of Walt Disney. Texas Western was also the reigning NCAA men's basketball champions after its 72-65 win over Kentucky.
DOWNING THE OVC
As of late, the Redbirds have been "naughty by nature" when facing members of the Ohio Valley Conference. Illinois State has won 24-straight games against members of the OVC, while head coach Tim Jankovich is 6-0 against the OVC while at ISU. Against the current members of the Ohio Valley Conference, the Redbirds own an 91-53 all-time record (.632).
NON-CON SUCCESS
Head coach Tim Jankovich owns a 32-9 record (.780) against non-conference opponents during his time with the Redbirds.
ON A MISH-ION
Senior Blake Mishler opened up his final season by tossing in a career-best 18 points against SIU Edwardsville on Nov. 14. Mishler topped his old mark of 12 points, which he scored at East Tennessee State during his freshman season. He was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line, while adding a 5-for-8 shooting effort.
OPENING STATEMENT
The 2010-11 Illinois State men's basketball team made a statement Sunday with a 92-64 win over SIU Edwardsville. The Redbirds' 92 points were the most points scored by Illinois State in a season opener since the 1997-98 season, when ISU beat Oakland, 101-66. That team went on to play in its first of two-straight NCAA Tournament teams.
TRUE BLUE
Transferring to Illinois State from Fordham, Trey Blue was labled as a scorer. In the season-opening win over SIU Edwardsville, Blue stayed true to his characteristics by tossing in 14 points in his Redbird debut. Blue was one of four double-digit scorers for Illinois State, as he shot 4-for-8 from the field, including a perfect 1-for-1 from three.
BOARDING CALL
The Redbirds have some strong rebounding guards this season, as shown by Justin Clark in the season opener. Clark gathered a career-best and game-high nine rebounds against SIU Edwardsville Sunday. All but one of his boards were off the defensive glass.
TOEING THE LINE
In his first three seasons at Illinois State, Tim Jankovich's Redbirds have shot a combined 67.6 percent from the free throw line and only once did his team shoot 70 percent from the line (2009-10). In the opener against SIU Edwardsville, it looks like the free throw could be more of a benefit than a detriment for the Redbirds this season. Illinois State was 33-for-36 (.917) from the line.
MAKING THE MOST OF IT
Sophomore Jackie Carmichael only played five minutes in the first half against SIU Edwardsville Sunday, due to a pair of personal fouls. He only logged eight more minutes in the second half, after a slight ankle sprain. However, in his 13 minutes on the court, Carmichael finished with 18 points and five rebounds. With a full 40 minutes, Carmichael would have finished with 55.4 points and 15.4 rebounds.
THESE 'BIRDS ARE YOUNG
As the most inexperienced team in the Valley entering the season, the Illinois State roster had combined to play a total of 3,257 minutes for the Redbirds. Opening the season, the Redbirds had combined to play 10 Division I seasons, which ranked ISU No. 23, as one of the most inexperienced teams in the nation.
PLENTY OF OPTIONS
The 2010-11 Illinois State team is a team with a variety of scoring options. That was shown again Sunday, as 10 Redbirds scored in the 92-64 win over SIU Edwardsville. Of the 10 scorers, nine ISU players scored four or more points, while eight scored six or more tallies.
BENCH PRESS
With so many options this season, the Redbird bench play will be a vital element to the team's success. SIU Edwardsville got a taste of ISU's depth Sunday, as the Redbird bench outscored the Cougars, 50-13. With the 50 tallies, the Illinois State bench actually outscored the Redbird starters too, 50-42.
THAT 70's SHOW
ISU's success during the Tim Jankovich-era has been pretty much based on 70 points. When the Redbirds score 70 or more points, Illinois State owns a 42-9 record (.824) in his four seasons. When ISU opponent's score less than 70 points, the Redbirds are 63-13 (.829) during that span.
HOME SWEET HOME
Illinois State is in its 23rd season of basketball action on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. Under head coach Tim Jankovich, the Redbirds are 45-6 (.882) when playing at home. ISU owns a 229-82 (.736) all-time record on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
EARLY BALANCE
In the early going, the Redbirds are showing the ability to play offensively inside or out. In the exhibition win over Quincy, ISU used 16 made three-pointers to down the Hawks, while in Sunday's season-opening victory over SIU Edwardsville the Redbirds pounded out 46 points in the paint.
FEAR THE BEARD
Sophomore Jackie Carmichael, a member of the 2010 Valley All-Freshman Team, will look to become only the second Redbird to earn first team all-league honors after being named to the all-freshman team. With Carmichael, the Redbirds have had seven players named to the Valley All-Freshman Team and only Osiris Eldridge went on to earn first-team all-league accolades (three times).
THREECOLA!
The Redbirds finished the 2008-09 season with 297 made three-pointers, which set the school standard for treys in a season. The made threes topped the old mark (255), which was set during the 2007-08 season, and Illinois State sank 193 treys during the 2009-10 campaign. Under head coach Tim Jankovich, the Redbirds have made 748 three-pointers in 103 games, or 7.3 per contest.
THREE-YEAR TURNAROUND
Entering his fourth year at the helm, Tim Jankovich has turned Illinois State from a probable Valley Tournament play-in team into a part of the championship conversation. Jankovich and his staff have returned ISU basketball to its glory with a record of 72-31 (.699), including a 35-19 (.648) mark in Valley regular-season games. In the three years prior to this staff's arrival, ISU was 41-48 (.461) overall and 18-36 (.333) in league play.
TWENTY, TWENTY, TWENTY, THEY'VE DONE IT AGAIN
With the BracketBusters win over Morehead State last season, ISU posted its third-straight 20-win campaign, which hadn't happened in Normal, Ill., since the 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons. It also became the 16th 20-win season for the Redbirds since the program became an NCAA Division I program prior to the 1970-71 season.
CARMICHAEL FOR THE BLOCK
Sophomore Jackie Carmichael ended his first season with the Redbirds, as the most-prolific freshman shot blocker in Illinois State history. Carmichael swatted away 46 shots during the 2009-10 season, crushing the old mark of 36 set by Mike VandeGarde during his freshman campaign in 1990-91. With his 46 career blocks, Carmichael's season total tied for sixth-best in ISU history. He also only needs 13 more to crack the top-10 for career blocked shots at Illinois State.
ERR, EKEY FOR THE BLOCK?
Jackie Carmichael's freshman shot block record might be short lived, after freshman Jon Ekey swatted away four field goal attempts in the season opener against SIU Edwardsville. With the four blocks, Ekey is on pace to finish with approximately 120 blocked shots on the season which would not only be the freshman record, but the overall record too.
BLOCK PARTY
Although the future of Jon Ekey owning the freshman season block record is still waiting to unfold, one record he already claimed was the most blocked shots in a debut by a Redbird. In the SIU Edwardsville game, Ekey collected four blocked shots in his first game in a Redbird uniform. It topped the old mark of three blocks by Raynard Malaine, Sean Riley and Greg Dilligard.
334-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A TREY
Illinois State enters tonight's game against Tennessee State with at least one made three in 334-straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton, Dec. 12, 1999.
A RETURN TO POSTSEASON
Illinois State, which became an NCAA Division I program prior to the 1970-71 season, enjoyed postseason play for the 17th 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, 2009 and 2010).
