Of UNI's nine-man rotation (averaging 10 or more minutes played per game), five players are averaging seven or more points per contest.
LET'S GO STREAKING
Illinois State opened up conference play by suffering through an eight-game losing skid. However, the Redbirds have rebounded with another streak. Thanks to the 77-75 overtime win over Drake Sunday afternoon, Illinois State has now won three-straight games matching its longest win streak of the season.
HELLO OFFENSE
In the last two games, ISU has done something that it hadn't done since the first two games of the season - score 70 or more points in back-to-back games. The Redbirds are averaging 78 points per contest over their last two games, while posting a 59.1 points per game average over the previous 18 games.
NEEDING EXTRA TIME
Illinois State has earned victories in each of its last two games, but in each case it took 45 minutes to get it done. It was the first time the Redbirds had played back-to-back overtime games, since falling, 60-57, to Northern Iowa in the 2009 State Farm MVC Tournament Championship Game and at Kansas State, 83-79, in the first round of the 2009 National Invitation Tournament. The Redbirds have not played three-straight overtime games since the 1984-85 season.
MR. OVERTIME
In the world of athletics, there has been a Mr. October, a Mr. Clutch and now at Illinois State Austin Hill is vying for the title of Mr. Overtime. In the Redbirds' last two overtime wins, Hill has scored 14 of Illinois State's 22 points during the two extra periods, including 10 at Bradley during overtime.
ANSWERING THE CALL
Sophomore Jackie Carmichael has been left out of the starting lineup in each of the last two games, ending his streak of 20-straight starts. Carmichael has responded with his back-to-back double-doubles, his firsts of the season. At Bradley, he poured in a career-best 24 points and added a career-high 17 rebounds, while finishing with 10 points and 11 rebounds against Drake.
AUSTIN POWER
Senior Austin Hill has really stepped up his game as of late. Hill has posted double-digit scoring efforts in each of the last four games. He is averaging 13.0 points per game over his last four contests and has shot a combined 19-for-39 (.487) from the field during that span.
IT AIN'T OVER, 'TIL IT'S OVER
Illinois State has posted three-straight Valley victories and in each game, the Redbirds trailed by at least nine points. Against Southern Illinois, ISU found itself down 11 points early in the first half before recording the win. At Bradley, the Redbirds trailed by 15 points in the first half, but ISU turned it into another victory. Against Drake, ISU was down by nine points before posting the win.
ROAD WARRIOR
Jackie Carmichael has been a force as of late on the road for Illinois State's opponents. The ISU sophomore is averaging 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game over the last four road contests, while shooting 56.1 percent from the field.
E-KEY BLOCK
For architects, the key block is the keystone, or center block, of a stone arch. For the Illinois State defense, Jon Ekey's shot-blocking ability has been front and center. Ekey already has 36 blocked shots this season and only needs two more swats to crack the top-10 for a single season in Redbird history. He is also only 11 rejections away from claiming the school's freshman record for blocked shots and dethroning teammate Jackie Carmichael, who set the standard last season with 46 blocks.
FREEDOM OF CHOICES
So far this season, Illinois State has had 10 different players post a double-digit scoring game. The Redbirds have had 54 double-figure performances to date on the campaign achieved by: Jackie Carmichael (13), Austin Hill (11), John Wilkins (7), Blake Mishler (6), Anthony Cousin (5), Tony Lewis (4), Trey Blue (4), Justin Clark (2), Jon Ekey (1) and Alex Rubin (1).
TRUE BLUE
Sophomore Trey Blue appears to be showing his offensive colors again. Blue has fired in double-digit scoring games in two of the last three games. Against Drake, Blue finished with 11 points, including nine in the first half, while he also tossed in 10 points in the home victory over Southern Illinois.
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 46-10 record (.821) in his four seasons. When ISU opponent's score less than 70 points, the Redbirds are 71-20 (.780) during that span.
355-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A TREY
Illinois State enters the game at Northern Iowa with at least one made three in 355-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 29.3 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.
TOEING THE LINE
Of sophomore Jackie Carmichael's career-high 24 points he scored at Bradley, 12 were scored at the free throw line. Carmichael attempted 20 free throws against the Braves, marking the second-most by a Redbird in school history. His 20 tosses from the charity stripe were only short to Ron deVries' 21 free throw attempts against Southern Illinois on March 4, 1972.
FINDING THE RIGHT COMBO
Illinois State has had more players earn a spot in the starting lineup than the team did all of last season. The Redbirds have had 10 different players start for nine different starting five combinations. ISU unveiled a new starting five in the last game against Drake with Anthony Cousin, John Wilkins, Jon Ekey, Austin Hill and Blake Mishler.
BLOCK PARTY
Illinois State's Jon Ekey (36) and Jackie Carmichael (27) 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 second in the conference with 3.8 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 four 20-point efforts in his career and three 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 73 career blocks, Carmichael is ninth in career blocked shots at ISU and needs two more to surpass Jarod Coleman (74) for eighth place.
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.
