Junior Touré Murry was named to the Valley's All-Preseason Team, while senior J.T. Durley earned honorable mention accolades.
THE JANKOVICH 300
Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich will coach his 300th career game as a head coach during the contest at Wichita State Saturday. But the milestone games haven't been the luckiest. Jankovich suffered a 68-64 home loss to Idaho in his 100th career game while at North Texas (Jan. 25, 1997). He also lost his 200th career game, a 76-72 loss at Indiana State on Feb. 16, 2008.
GROWING PAINS
Much has been made of Illinois State's 0-8 league start, but even with victories in three of the last four Redbird games there were signs of growth before the first league win. The Redbirds opened up league play with four-straight double-digit losses. However since then, Illinois State's largest margin of defeat in a Valley game has been eight points. In the last four league losses, the Redbirds' average margin of defeat is only 5.3 points per game.
OUR ALASKAN COUSIN
Sophomore Anthony Cousin, who is in his first season at Illinois State, has really elevated his game in Valley play. Cousin is averaging 10 points per game during league contests, which is second on the team. He also leads the Redbirds with 28 assists during conference play and has only committed 21 turnovers. Cousin is also leading Illinois State in playing time during league games with a total of 306 minutes.
NIP AND TUCK
Illinois State has played in nine games this season decided by four points or less, including Wednesday's two-point defeat at Northern Iowa. The Redbirds are 5-4 this season in games decided by four points or less, which is surprising considering the inexperience of the team.
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 three games, ending his streak of 20-straight starts. Carmichael has responded with his three-straight double-digit rebounding efforts, including 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. He notched 10 rebounds and four points at Northern Iowa.
AUSTIN POWER
Senior Austin Hill has really stepped up his game as of late. Hill has posted double-digit scoring efforts in four of his last five games. He is averaging 11.2 points per game over his last five contests and has shot a combined 21-for-44 (.477) from the field during that span.
IT AIN'T OVER, 'TIL IT'S OVER
Illinois State had 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 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game over the last five road contests.
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 37 blocked shots this season and only needs one more swat to crack the top-10 for a single season in Redbird history. He is also only 10 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 56 double-figure performances to date on the campaign achieved by: Jackie Carmichael (13), Austin Hill (11), John Wilkins (7), Blake Mishler (6), Anthony Cousin (6), Trey Blue (5), Tony Lewis (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 efforts in three of the last four games. In the last game at Northern Iowa, Blue posted 13 points thanks to a 3-for-5 effort on threes. 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 71-21 (.772) during that span.
356-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A TREY
Illinois State enters the game at Wichita State with at least one made three in 356-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 play this season can be found with the team's shooting percentage. On the season, ISU is shooting 29.7 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 has played the same lineup in the last two games, with Anthony Cousin, John Wilkins, Jon Ekey, Austin Hill and Blake Mishler.
BLOCK PARTY
Illinois State's Jon Ekey (37) and Jackie Carmichael (30) 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 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.
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 76 career blocks, Carmichael is eighth in career blocked shots at ISU and needs four more to surpass Anthony Slack (79) 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.
