NORMAL, Ill. – A career-best five three-pointers led to 20 points for Illinois State senior Daishon Knight, as he led the way for Illinois State (11-7, 3-3 MVC) in a wire-to-wire 82-72 win for the Redbirds over Bradley (6-13, 1-5 MVC) Saturday afternoon on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena in front of a raucous crowd of 9,627 fans.
The Redbirds shot 51 percent (26-of-51) from the field, including a season-best 13-for-25 effort from three-point range and featured four players in double figures. Knight was joined in double figures by Bobby Hunter with 14 points and Tony Wills and Paris Lee each added 12 points in the win.
The Redbirds jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead, after Wills nailed back-to-back three pointers that forced Bradley head coach Geno Ford to call a quick timeout. Bradley battled back to cut the lead to two points at 14-12, after a Josh Cunningham three-pointer from the top of the key five minutes into the contest.
The two teams went back-and-forth, with Illinois State eventually widening the lead back out to six points at 22-16 on an ally-oop dunk by Reggie Lynch with a great assist from Lee. A three-pointer from Tramique Sutherland from the top of the key cut the ISU lead back to three points at 22-19, and Knight connected on his third three-point basket of the half to extend the lead back out to 25-19 with just over 10 minutes left in the first half.
ISU kept its foot on the pedal and went on a quick 9-2 run, capped off on an ally-oop dunk by Will Ransom, to increase the lead to 34-21 with 5:40 left in the first half. Hunter's third three-pointer of the half later gave the Redbirds a 38-24 advantage at the under four minute time out. A fourth three-pointer from Knight gave ISU its largest lead of the half at 44-29 with under two minutes left.
Bradley connected on a pair of free throws with 34 seconds remaining in the half, and the Redbirds held for the last shot of the half. A three-point attempt by Justin McCloud missed, but Hunter was able to corral the rebound and put back the layup as time expired to give the Redbirds a 46-31 lead at the break. The Redbirds shot 59 percent from the field (16-of-27) and 56 percent from three-point range (9-of-16) in the first 20 minutes of action.
The Braves came out of the locker room and quickly put together a 7-2 run to cut the ISU lead to 10 points at 48-38. The Redbirds answered and scored five-consecutive points, as Wills capped off the run with his third three-point bucket of the game to give the 'Birds a 15-point lead at 53-38.
Once again, Bradley chipped away at the Illinois State lead as back-to-back three-pointers from Warren Jones and Cunningham cut the margin to single digits at 59-52 with 11:05 left in the game. After the media timeout, a Lee three-pointer from the top of the key extended the Redbird lead back to double digits at 62-52.
As the shot clock expired, another three-pointer from Lee at the 4:47 mark put the Redbirds up 74-60, before Bradley answered with a three-pointer of its own from Jones to trim the score back to 74-63. On the next Redbird possession, Knight connected on his fifth three-point basket of the game to take the lead back to 77-63 and force a timeout from Bradley with just over four minutes left in the game.
A three-pointer from Auston Barnes from the top of the key with 48 seconds left in the game cut the Redbird lead back to single digits at 77-68. A free throw by Knight gave him 20 points for the game and widened the ISU lead to 78-68, before a tip-in by Ka'Darryl Bell cut the ISU margin to 78-70. Two free throws from Hunter put the Redbirds back up 80-70, before a jumper by Sutherland trimmed the score back to 80-72 with 21 seconds left. Two free throws from Lee capped off the Redbird win and moved ISU back to .500 in league play.
The Redbirds return to action Tuesday, Jan. 20, when they hit the road to face Drake in Des Moines, Iowa. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
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