ISU Faces Old Dominion in Paradise Jam Semifinals on CBS Sports Network

ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands – A spot in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam championship game is at stake when the Illinois State men's basketball team plays Old Dominion during Sunday's 8 p.m. CT semifinal matchup at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center, televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Illinois State (1-1) is coming off of a 73-64 victory over 2014 NCAA qualifier Weber State in Friday's Paradise Jam opener. Old Dominion (3-0) beat LSU, 70-61, Friday to advance in the eight-team bracket. The Redbirds and Monarchs are facing each other for the first time in program history.

ISU junior DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell has reached double-figures in each of his first two NCAA Division I games, netting a game-best 20 points in the Redbirds' win over Weber State. Old Dominion has been led by Trey Freeman, who is averaging 20.3 points through the Monarch's first three games.

TELEVISION BROADCAST
Sunday's game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network. Below are channel listings where the game can be found:

• AT&T U-Verse: 643, 1643(HD)
• Comcast (Bloomington-Normal): 531, 963(HD)    
• Comcast (Chicago-area): 418, 232(HD)    
• DirecTV: 221    
• DISH: 158
• Mediacom: 171, 662(HD)

THE SERIES:
Sunday's game marks the first-ever meeting between Illinois State and Old Dominion.

WHAT'S AT STAKE?:
-- An Illinois State win versus Old Dominion would advance the Redbirds into the title game of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, with a Monday, Nov. 24, 8 p.m. CT, championship matchup against the winner of Sunday's Gardner Webb versus Seton Hall game.
--An Illinois State loss versus Old Dominion would move the Redbirds into the third-place game of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, with a Monday, Nov. 24, 5:30 p.m. CT, matchup against the loser of Sunday's Gardner Webb versus Seton Hall game. 

ILLINOIS STATE AT A GLANCE:
Advanced in the championship bracket of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam with a 73-64 win over Weber State (Nov. 21) after falling in the season-opener to Utah State, 60-55 (Nov. 16) ... went 18-16 and 9-9 to finish tied for fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference last season despite featuring the most inexperienced team in the nation ... selected to finish fifth in the MVC this year ... returning six letterwinners, including four of last year's five starters.

OLD DOMINION AT A GLANCE:
Picked to finish fourth in Conference USA ... is 3-0 after beating LSU (Nov. 21) … returning four starters from last year's 18-18 team that finished sixth (out of 16 teams) in C-USA and advanced to the CBI semifinals ... 2013-14 leading-scorer (15.5 ppg) junior guard Aaron Bacote is an all-conference preseason selection.

PLAYING IN PARADISE
For the first time in program history, the Illinois State men's basketball team is playing on the U.S. Virgin Islands (nearly 2,000 miles away from Normal, Illinois, and forecasted to be about 50 degrees warmer), at the Paradise Jam, Nov. 21-24. ISU's remaining two games will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network. The Redbirds are playing outside of the continental U.S. for the first time since participating in the 2011-12 Cancun (Mexico) Challenge, and ISU is aiming for its first tournament championship outside of the continental U.S. since winning the Hawaii Pacific Shootout during the 1998-99 season. The Redbirds are 70-40 (.636) in regular-season tournament contests.

ON TO THE SEMIFINALS
During a game in which the Redbirds led for 36 minutes and 32 seconds, Illinois State earned its first win of 2014-15 by beating Weber State, 73-64, in the opening round of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam (Nov. 21). After ISU jumped out to an early lead, WSU pulled ahead by its largest margin of two points, 15-13, at the 14:48 mark. However, Illinois State responded with a 20-0 run capped by a Reggie Lynch steal, followed by a Paris Lee assist on a Lynch layup. Bobby Hunter and DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell also buried 3-pointers during the stretch as the Redbirds never again trailed and advanced to the semifinals. The Redbirds shot 46 percent from the field in the winning effort compared to 32.8 percent in their loss to Utah State (Nov. 16).

AKOON-PURCELL'S ISLAND CONNECTION
DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell seemed right at home in the UVI Sports and Fitness Center Nov. 21, scoring a game-high and career-best 20 points with seven rebounds to help Illinois State top Weber State, 73-64, at the U.S. Virgin Island Paradise Jam. ISU's trip to the Caribbean is a homecoming of sorts for Akoon-Purcell whose father, Paul, grew up in St. Thomas before eventually moving to the U.S. Akoon-Purcell is making his first-ever trip to his father's native country.

CLOSE TO HOME FOR JONES
Even though the Redbirds have traveled more than 2,000 miles away from Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena, senior forward John Jones is playing as close as he ever will to his native country of Barbados, which is also located in the Caribbean, about 500 miles southeast of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Although Jones had never visited the U.S. Virgin Islands before, he played in the nearby British Virgin Islands over the summer, representing Barbados in the 2014 Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships. A native of St. Michael, Barbados, Jones averaged 4.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 19.8 minutes while helping Barbados earn sixth place at the five-day event.

OUTREBOUNDING
In both of Illinois State's first two games this season, the Redbirds have outrebounded their opponent. ISU outrebounded Utah State, 44-40, and outrebounded Weber State, 34-27. Rebounding will continue to be a point of emphasis for the Redbirds after an undersized ISU team was outrebounded in 20 out of 34 contests last season. Last year, ISU was 9-3 when outrebounding the opposition.

ONE AWAY FROM 100
Sophomore center Reggie Lynch begins Sunday's game with 99 career blocks. He is one away from becoming just the eighth player in program history to block 100 or more shots. As a freshman last season, Lynch was the most efficient shot-blocker in the nation last year. He played 20.3 minutes per game but averaged 5.6 blocks per 40 minutes. Lynch's 96 total blocks last season not only led the league but also set the Missouri Valley Conference freshman single-season blocks record, previously established by Creighton's Benoit Benjamin in 1982-83. Lynch begins 2014-15 in search of the ISU career-blocks record of 200, held by Jackie Carmichael.

MR. CONSISTENT
Senior guard Daishon Knight consistently finds ways to score. Knight, who totalled a season-best 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting in the Redbirds' win over Weber State (Nov. 21), has now reached double-figures in seven-out-of-the-last-eight games dating back to last season. He is also a Missouri Valley Conference-best 8-for-8 at the free throw line this year and has made nine-straight dating back to last season. Last year, Knight made 30-consecutive free throws from Dec. 22, 2013 until Feb. 9, 2014.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE DeVAUGN
By scoring 10 points with 15 rebounds in Illinois State's season-opener versus Utah State (Nov. 16), junior transfer DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell became the first newcomer since 2009 to record a double-double in his Redbird debut. The last ISU newcomer to achieve the feat was transfer Tony Lewis who scored 10 points with 11 rebounds against SIU Edwardsville Nov. 15, 2009. Akoon-Purcell also earned ISU's first overall double-double since Nov. 12, 2013.

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