ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands – Illinois State plays BIG EAST foe Seton Hall Monday at 8 p.m. CT in the championship game of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, televised live nationally on CBS Sports Network.
Winners of two-straight games in the eight-team field, the Redbirds will try to earn their first regular-season tournament title outside of the continental U.S. since capturing the Hawaii Pacific Shootout championship during the 1998-99 season. ISU (2-1) is facing Seton Hall (3-0) for the first time in program history, and the Redbirds enter the game having won four-out-of-their-last-five games against BIG EAST opponents (at the time).
So far in the tournament, Illinois State topped 2014 NCAA qualifier Weber State in the first round and Old Dominion in Sunday's semifinal matchup. Seton Hall beat Nevada and Gardner-Webb on its way to the Paradise Jam title game.
TELEVISION BROADCAST
Monday'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:
Monday's game marks the first-ever meeting between Illinois State and Seton Hall.
WHAT'S AT STAKE?:
-- An Illinois State win versus Seton Hall would earn ISU the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam championship title for the first time in program history while extending ISU's winning streak to three-straight games.
-- An Illinois State loss versus Seton Hall would force ISU to finish second out of eight teams in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. It would also snap ISU's two-game winning streak.
ILLINOIS STATE AT A GLANCE:
Advanced to the title game of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam with a 64-45 win over Old Dominion (Nov. 23) and 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.
SETON HALL AT A GLANCE:
Picked to finish sixth in the BIG EAST … enters Monday's game with a 3-0 record after beating Mercer in the season opener before topping Nevada and Gardner-Webb at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam … returning two starters from last year's team which went 17-17 overall and 6-12 (eighth) in the BIG EAST … freshman Isaiah Whitehead was named BIG EAST Preseason Rookie of the Year.
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. 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 71-40 (.639) in regular-season tournament contests, and ISU holds a 13-16 (.448) record in regular-season tournament championship games.
CONTROLLING THE SEMIFINALS
Four Redbirds recorded double-figures as Illinois State established an early lead which it never relinquished en route to a 64-45 semifinal win over Old Dominion at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Sunday night. ISU advanced to face Seton Hall Monday at 8 p.m. CT in the Paradise Jam championship game. The Redbirds shot a season-best 49 percent from the field compared to Old Dominion's 34 percent effort. ISU also outrebounded the Monarch's 35-to-26. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell and Bobby Hunter each scored 12 points, while Deontae Hawkins and Reggie Lynch contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Illinois State's success against Old Dominion Sunday night can be largely attributed to the Redbirds' defensive effort. ISU held a Monarch squad which had been averaging 69.7 points per game to just 45 points, marking the first time since Jan. 5, 2014, that the Redbirds held their opponent below 50. ISU forced seven steals, plus two blocks and 13 turnovers, as Illinois State limited Old Dominion to 34 percent shooting from the field, 10-percentage points below average.
OUTREBOUNDING
In all three of Illinois State's games this season, the Redbirds have outrebounded their opponent. ISU outrebounded Utah State, 44-40, Weber State, 34-27 and Old Dominion, 35-26. 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.
BREAKOUT FOR HAWKINS AND HUNTER
Freshman forward Deontae Hawkins and senior guard Bobby Hunter both had their best games so far this season in ISU's win over Old Dominion Sunday night. Hawkins netted a career-high 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting, while Hunter matched a game-high with 12 points on 3-for-5 shooting, plus four rebounds.
DUNK CITY
Through ISU's first three games, the Redbirds are averaging 2.7 dunks per game. Contrast that with last season's average of 0.8 dunks. Reggie Lynch has already tallied six dunks (2.0 dunks per game) compared to 13 last season (0.4). DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell has two dunks so far this year.
100 FOR LYNCH
Sophomore center Reggie Lynch's block of Richard Ross' shot at the 11:44 mark of Sunday's ISU versus Old Dominion game was Lynch's 100th career-block. He became just the eighth Redbird to ever record 100 or more blocks. 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.
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.
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