Southern Illinois won six-straight Valley titles from 2002 to 2007, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament six times. SIU also earned National Invitation Tournament berths in 2000 and 2008.
THE CARMICHAEL 400
Sophomore Jackie Carmichael needs only six points to reach the 400 plateau in his Illinois State career. As the Redbirds' scoring active leader, Carmichael enters the Southern Illinois game with 394 career points. In Friday's game against Wichita State, Carmichael grabbed five rebounds which pushed him over the 200 career total. He now has 202 career boards.
STUMBLING START
For the first time since the 2006-07 season, Illinois State has started the Missouri Valley Conference season with an 0-4 mark. Twice, the Redbirds began league play with an 0-5 start (1999-2000 and 2003-04), while the worst start in school history occurred in 2002-03 when ISU lost its first eight conference games.
TWENTY SOMETHING
With Anthony Cousin's 23-point effort at Missouri State, the Redbirds now have 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.
THERE IS NO 'D' IN VALLEY
However, if the Redbirds are going to improve their conference standing they are going to have to put a 'D' in Valley. Through four league games, Illinois State opponents are shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from beyond the arch. Redbird league foes are also averaging 70.8 points per game.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO SHOOTING
In Illinois State's eight wins, the Redbirds are shooting 45.4 percent from the field (191-for-421) and 33.9 percent on threes (42-for-124). In the seven losses, ISU is shooting 40.1 percent from the floor (151-for-377) and 22.9 percent from beyond the arch (30-for-131).
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 game in 11 contests this season, including 10 of the last 11 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 2006-07 season (Jan. 9). The longest drought is January 29 during the 2002-03 season.
FREEDOM OF CHOICES
So far this season, Illinois State has had 10 different players post a double-digit scoring game. The Redbirds have had 37 double-figure performances to date on the campaign achieved by: Jackie Carmichael (9), Austin Hill (7), Blake Mishler (4), Anthony Cousin (4), John Wilkins (4), Tony Lewis (3), Trey Blue (2), Justin Clark (2), Jon Ekey (1) and Alex Rubin (1).
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 70-17 (.805) during that span.
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 28.2 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.
ARCH 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 13 games, shooting from beyond the arch has dried up for the Redbirds. Illinois State has shot 58-for-222 (.261) and doesn't have a single player shooting over 37.5 percent during that span.
UI OUI
Is French-born ISU sophomore John Wilkins starting to find his three-point shooting groove? Yes! In his first two games, Wilkins combined to score a total of six points, but in his last eight contests Wilkins is averaging 9.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, while shooting a combined 13-for-31 (.419) from three.
INDING 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 six different starting five combinations. Illinois State has started the same five players in the last three games with Anthony Cousin, Alex Rubin, John Wilkins, Jon Ekey and Jackie Carmichael.
SECOND-HALF SLUMP
In the last two games, Illinois State's shooting has sunken even lower in the second half. Over the final 20 minutes of the last two contests the Redbirds have shot 29.6 percent from the field (16-for-54) and 16.7 percent on threes (4-for-24).
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. Illinois State is doing just that, after losing against Wichita State. The Redbirds are 25-12 (.676) in the 37 previous games when coming off a loss under the guidance of Jankovich.
BLOCK PARTY
Illinois State's Jon Ekey (23) and Jackie Carmichael (18) are among the top-three shot blockers in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. With two of the top-three shot blockers in the conference, it is no surprise that the Redbirds rank among the league leaders in second-place with 4.0 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.
NOW BOARDING
Senior Tony Lewis has taken the lead rebounding role for the Redbirds this season. He is averaging 6.9 boards per game, which ranks fifth in the Valley. He is also the league-leader in offensive caroms with 2.7 per game. Lewis has had six games this season with eight or more rebounds.
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 64 career blocks, Carmichael ranks 10th for career blocked shots at ISU and he needs six more to surpass Dinma Odiakosa (69) for 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 23 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.
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).
348-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A TREY
Illinois State enters the game at Southern Illinois with at least one made three in 348-straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton, Dec. 12, 1999.
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.
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) 11 times (1977, 1978, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2008, 2009 and 2010).
