SIU senior Justin Bocot, a product of Bloomington High School, returns to Bloomington-Normal. He ranks fifth on the team in scoring with 5.8 points per game.
THE BUCK STOPS HERE
Illinois State enters the game against Southern Illinois with five days off between contests, thus putting an end to its NBA-type schedule. The Redbirds played eight Valley games in 21 days, the same number of NBA games played during the same time frame by both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers.
HITTING THE SKIDS
Illinois State's current eight-game losing streak is the longest for the Redbirds since a nine-game losing skid under then-head coach Tom Richardson, during the 2002-03 season. With 11 losses, the Redbirds have equalled the loss total from last year, the most in the Tim Jankovich-era.
ROAD TO ABERRATION
This season is anything but normal in regards to the Tim Jankovich-era at ISU. In fact, at 8-11, it is the first time Jankovich has ever been below .500 in his three-plus seasons with the Redbirds. He had not personally been under .500 as a head coach since Jan. 16, 1997, when he was coaching at North Texas.
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 51-12 (.810) when playing at home. ISU owns a 235-88 (.718) all-time record on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. However, the Redbirds are 7-6 at home this season, including a current four-game home losing streak. In Tim Jankovich's first three seasons at Illinois State, the Redbirds totaled six home losses and Illinois State has never lost more than four-straight games in Redbird Arena. The last time ISU lost five-straight home games was at the end of the 1964-65 season in Horton Field House.
JUST A LITTLE PATIENCE
Sitting at 0-8 in the Valley and with a roster dominated by inconsistent underclassmen, things might be feeling bleak for the Redbird faithful. However, just two short seasons ago, fellow league member Missouri State opened league play with five-straight losses and finished with a 3-15 mark while playing a number of sophomores and freshmen. Turn the clock forward, and the Bears are currently sitting on top of the MVC standings with a 7-1 mark. In addition, Wichita State, which owns a 6-2 mark, started league play 1-8 two seasons ago with a core of underclassmen.
LEAD ELEMENT
In nine of ISU's 11 losses there has been an element of a Redbird lead in each of the games. The only times ISU has not held a lead this season was during the Nov. 21 contest at Arkansas-Little Rock and the Jan. 18 game at Drake. During the eight-game losing skid, the Redbirds have had at least a five-point lead in six of the eight games.
NOW BOARDING
Senior Tony Lewis has taken the lead rebounding role for the Redbirds this season. He is averaging 6.8 boards per game, which ranks fifth in the Valley. He is also tied for league lead in offensive caroms with 2.6 per game, which is amazing since he is only averaging 17.8 minutes played per game. If he logged 40 minutes per game, Lewis would average 15.3 boards per contest, including 5.8 offensive rebounds.
NOT GETTING ANY KICKS
The Illinois State campus has historic Route 66 running through it, but this season the Redbird offense has had a tough time reaching 66. In fact, ISU hasn't reached 66 points in a game for a total of 14 contests this season, including 13 of the last 15 games.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
The Redbirds are still winless in 2011, which is surprising considering Illinois State won 20 games during the 2010 calendar year. This is the latest ISU has gone into a new year without a win since the 2002-03 season (Jan. 29), which is also the longest drought in school history.
FREEDOM OF CHOICES
So far this season, Illinois State has had 10 different players post a double-digit scoring game. The Redbirds have had 43 double-figure performances to date on the campaign achieved by: Jackie Carmichael (11), Austin Hill (8), Blake Mishler (6), John Wilkins (5), Anthony Cousin (4), Tony Lewis (3), Trey Blue (2), Justin Clark (2), Jon Ekey (1) and Alex Rubin (1).
HOICES, BUT NO CONSISTENCY
Of the 10 Illinois State players to post double-digits this season, only Jackie Carmichael (three times), Anthony Cousin (twice), Austin Hill (three times) and John Wilkins (once) have posted double-digit scoring efforts in consecutive games.
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 44-10 record (.815) in his four seasons. When ISU opponent's score less than 70 points, the Redbirds are 70-20 (.777) during that span.
352-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A TREY
Illinois State enters the game against Southern Illinois with at least one made three in 352-straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton, Dec. 12, 1999.
THE POWER OF THREES
The most obvious explanation for Illinois State's inconsistent start this season can be found with the team's shooting percentage. On the season, ISU is shooting 28.9 percent from three-point range, which would rank as the lowest single-season effort in school history, undercutting the 30.4 percentage during the 1990-91 campaign.
ARC MADNESS
After the first two games of the season, Illinois State appeared to have a strong perimeter team with a combined 14-for-33 (.424) effort on threes. However, in the last 17 games, shooting from beyond the arch has dried up for the Redbirds. Illinois State has shot 77-for-282 (.273) and does not have a single player shooting over 40 percent during that span.
FINDING THE RIGHT COMBO
Already this season, the Redbirds have had more players earn a spot in the starting lineup than the team did all of last season. The Redbirds have had nine different players start for seven different starting five combinations. Illinois State has started the same five in each of the last four games: Anthony Cousin, Austin Hill, John Wilkins, Jon Ekey and Jackie Carmichael.
BLOCK PARTY
Illinois State's Jon Ekey (29) and Jackie Carmichael (23) are the top two shot blockers in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. With the two top shot blockers in the conference, it is no surprise that the Redbirds rank among the league leaders in second-place with 3.7 blocks per game. At this pace, the Redbirds would have the third-best blocks per game average in school history.
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.
TWENTY SOMETHING
With Anthony Cousin's 23-point effort at Missouri State, ISU now has five players on their roster who have scored at least 20 points in an NCAA Division I game, including four this season. Jackie Carmichael has three 20-point efforts in his career and two this season, while Cousin, Justin Clark and Jon Ekey have each posted one 20-point game this season. Trey Blue had a 20-point effort with Fordham.
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 69 career blocks, Carmichael is tied for ninth in career blocked shots at ISU and needs one more to surpass Dinma Odiakosa (69) for sole possession of ninth place.
ERR, EKEY FOR THE BLOCK?
Jackie Carmichael's ISU freshman shot block record might be short lived, as freshman Jon Ekey has collected 29 blocked shots this season. The Valley leader in blocks per game (1.5) is on pace to finish with approximately 47 blocked shots on the season, which would not only be the freshman record, but would mark the fifth-best, single-season blocked shot total in Illinois State history.
A GO-GO GOPHER
Both the Illinois State men's basketball and football programs were benefactors by the transfer of Bryant Allen from Minnesota. Allen, who is an ISU football scholarship student-athlete, will be eligible immediately for the Redbirds on the gridiron, but won't be able to play until the completion of the 2011 fall semester due to NCAA residency rules. With the Gophers, Allen, a six-foot, 170-pound guard, played in nine games during the 2009-10 season, all as a reserve. He scored seven points over 22 minutes played.
THREE GUARDS INK WITH ISU FOR 2011-12
Illinois State head basketball coach Tim Jankovich solidified the Redbird backcourt for years to come as guards Johnny Hill (Glenbard East), Nic Moore (Warsaw, Ind.) and Nick Zeisloft (Lyons Township) each signed National Letters of Intent (NLIs) to continue their education and basketball careers at Illinois State, during the early signing period on Nov. 10.
