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.
DON'T CALL IT AN UPSET
Illinois State enters Thursday's game as the No. 9 seed, while Southern Illinois is the No. 8 team in the field. Since the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament moved to a neutral site in St. Louis, Mo., the No. 9 seed is surprisingly 10-5 against the No. 8 seed in play-in games. In addition, SIU has lost each of its last four games played at the State Farm MVC Tournament.
JUST PLAY-IN
For the first time in the Tim Jankovich-era, Illinois State will participate in a State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament play-in game. Unfortunately for the Redbirds, over the last decade they are no strangers to this game. Thursday's game against Southern Illinois will mark the seventh play-in contest for the Redbirds since the 1999 tournament. ISU is 3-4 all-time in its play-in games.
SALUKI FAY
In Illinois State's two games against Southern Illinois this season, the Salukis' Carlton Fay has accounted for nearly half of SIU's offensive production. SIU scored a total of 118 points this season against Illinois State and Fay was responsible for 48 of them, or 40.7 percent. He also made 15 of SIU's 40 field goals, seven of the squad's 12 three-point field goals and 11 of the team's 26 free throws.
THE GOOD NEWS AND THE BAD NEWS
For the Illinois State, the good news is that the Redbirds rank tied for fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference for all games in scoring defense. ISU is only allowing 64.0 points per game this season. However, the bad news is that the Redbirds are last in the Valley in scoring offense for the season with 61.3 points per contest.
THE SWAT TEAM
Illinois State's Jon Ekey and Jackie Carmichael became the first set of Missouri Valley Conference teammates to finish the regular-season ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in blocked shots since the 1986-87 season. Ekey finished the regular-season with 51 swats (1.7 bpg.), while Carmichael added 36 rejections (1.2 bpg.). Bradley's Donald Powell and Luke Jackson were the last pair of teammates to finish in the top-2 for blocked shots. Ekey also became the second Redbird to lead the Valley in blocked shots, joining Mike VandeGarde, who led the league with 1.52 blocks per game during the 1991-92 season.
TITLE TILT TIM
ISU's Tim Jankovich is the only head coach in Valley history to lead his team to the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship Game in each of his first two seasons. This season, Jankovich will attempt to make his third title game appearance in four seasons. ISU was eliminated in the semifinals last season and Jankovich boasts a 5-3 career mark in the league tournament.
DIFFICULTY SHARING
Illinois State enters the game with 335 assists and 657 made field goals, or a 51.0 percent assist-to-made field goal ratio. That ratio is the lowest by a Redbird team since the 1999-2000 campaign (48.3 percent), and it is the second-lowest in the Valley, ahead of Northern Iowa (49.1 percent).
FINDING THE MARK FROM THE ARC?
At Evansville, Illinois State shot 47.6 percent on threes with a 10-for-21 effort from beyond the arc. It marked only the second time this season where the Redbirds drained double-digit threes. ISU sank 11 threes in the second game of the season against Tennessee State.
THE ROAD WARRIOR
Sophomore Justin Clark has picked up his game over the last four road contests. Clark is averaging 10.3 points per contest in the last four ISU road games, while shooting 11-for-18 (.611) from the field and 7-for-12 (.583) on threes. On the season, Clark is averaging 3.4 points per game and shoots 35.9 percent from the floor and 26.7 percent on threes.
BOARDING CALL
Illinois State's Tony Lewis has been dominant on the glass all season and leads the team with 6.5 boards per contest. Lewis has led the Redbirds in rebounding in 18 games and has posted eight or more rebounds in 11 games this season.
LEAD ELEMENT
In 13 of ISU's 18 losses, there has been an element of a Redbird lead in each of the games. In eight of the defeats, Illinois State has been in the lead during the second half.
AUSTIN POWER
Senior Austin Hill has really stepped up his game as of late, including his back-to-back career-best efforts with 23 points against Missouri State followed by 27 tallies at Creighton. Hill has posted double-digit scoring efforts in eight of his last 12 games. He is averaging 12.4 points per game over his last 12 contests and has shot a combined 56-for-111 (.505) from the field during that span.
TWENTY SOMETHING
With Austin Hill's back-to-back 20-point efforts against Missouri State and at Creighton, ISU now has six players on their roster who have scored at least 20 points in an NCAA Division I game, including five this season. Jackie Carmichael has four 20-point efforts in his career and three this season, while Hill has two on the year. Anthony Cousin, Justin Clark and Jon Ekey have each posted one 20-point game this season. Trey Blue had a 20-point effort with Fordham.
E-KEY BLOCK
For architects, the key block is the keystone, or center block, of a stone arch. For the ISU defense, Jon Ekey's shot-blocking ability has been front and center. Ekey has 51 blocked shots this season, which ranks No. 3 in a single season in Redbird history, and is also the school's freshman record for blocked shots. Ekey dethroned teammate Jackie Carmichael, who claimed the mark last season with 46 blocks.
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 72-24 (.750) during that span.
IT AIN'T OVER, 'TIL IT'S OVER
In Illinois State's four Valley victories, the Redbirds trailed by at least nine points in each game. 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, and at home against Bradley, the Redbirds were down by 11 points before mounting their comeback.
THREE'S COMPANY, AND USUALLY A WIN
Good things have happened to Illinois State this season when three Redbirds score in double-figures. Unfortunately, it hasn't happed as much as Illinois State would like. When three or more players score double-digits, the Redbirds are 8-5 this season, as opposed to 11-13 when two or more Redbirds reach double-digits.
THE ABILITY TO SCORE IS THERE
During the campaign, Illinois State has had 13 different players see court time and 10 of them have led the team in scoring for at least one game this season. In fact, ISU had a streak this season of seven-straight games with seven different leading scorers.
A 60-POINT LIMIT
The Redbirds have had difficulty scoring more than 60 points in a game all season. Illinois State has scored less than 60 points 17 times this season, including in six of the last seven games. For the year, ISU is scoring 61.1 points per game, which would be the lowest scoring average by a Redbird team since the 2006-07 season (55.5 ppg.).
FREEDOM OF CHOICES
So far this season, Illinois State has had 10 different players post a double-digit scoring game. The Redbirds have had 68 double-figure performances to date on the campaign achieved by: Austin Hill (15), Jackie Carmichael (14), Anthony Cousin (8), John Wilkins (8), Tony Lewis (7), Blake Mishler (6), Trey Blue (6), Justin Clark (4), Jon Ekey (2) and Alex Rubin (1).
363-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A TREY
Illinois State enters the game against Southern Illinois with at least one made three in 363-straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton, Dec. 12, 1999.
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 12 different starting five combinations.
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.
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, but that mark was topped this season by teammate Jon Ekey. With 82 career blocks, Carmichael is seventh in career blocked shots at ISU and needs seven more to surpass Bill Braksick (88) for sixth 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.
