LEXINGTON, Ky. – Six days after facing No. 2 Maryland, the Illinois State men's basketball team travels to Rupp Arena for a matchup with No. 1 Kentucky Monday, Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. CT.
The Redbirds are facing the top ranked team in the country for just the second time in program history, previously falling, 97-81, at No. 1 DePaul March 1, 1980. ISU is playing the top two teams in the nation within a one-week span for the first time ever.
ILLINOIS STATE AT No. 1 KENTUCKY • MONDAY, NOV. 30, 2015 • 6 p.m. CT
WHERE TO WATCH (In the Bloomington-Normal Area):
XFINITY/COMCAST CHANNEL 31, 509 & 924
DIRECTV CHANNEL 209
DISH NETWORK CHANNEL 143
MEDIACOM CHANNEL 17 & 662
THE SERIES:
Monday's game marks the first-ever meeting between Illinois State and Kentucky. The Redbirds are 8-1 versus current members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and head coach Dan Muller is 1-0 after leading ISU to a 62-55 win over Texas A&M (March 24, 2014) in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).
THE COACHES:
Illinois State: Dan Muller (Illinois State, 1998) is in his fourth season as the head coach at Illinois State (61-48). Muller is the first coach in ISU history to beat three Top-25 teams in his first three seasons.
Kentucky: John Calipari (Clarion State, 1982) is in his seventh season as the head coach at Kentucky (196-38). In 23 years as a head coach, Calipari has guided six teams to the Final Four and one to a national championship.
ABOUT ILLINOIS STATE:
Picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference ... return three of five starters and six of 13 letterwinners from last year's team, which went 22-13 overall, advancing to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) ... tied for third place in the 2014-15 MVC standings (11-7) ... in the midst of playing the top-two nationally-ranked teams (fell by 11 to No. 2 Maryland Nov. 24 and face No. 1 Kentucky, Nov. 30).
ABOUT KENTUCKY:
Picked to win the SEC ... return one of six starters and six of 10 letterwinners from last year's team, which became the first team in college basketball history to go 38-0 and the third program to win an NCAA-record 38 games in a single season ... the Wildcats did not suffer a loss until falling to Wisconsin in the Final Four ... throughout UK head coach John Calipari's six seasons, Kentucky has made four trips to the Final Four, winning the title in 2012
LAST TIME OUT (W, 73-63 - NOV. 27, 2015 VS. QUINCY)
Quincy led for more than four minutes midway through the second half; however, Illinois State ended the game by outscoring the Hawks, 15-2, en route to a 73-63 victory over QU Friday afternoon on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell led all scorers with 18 points, including a season-best seven free throws. He also dished out a career-high five assists. Joining Akoon-Purcell in double figures were Paris Lee (14), Deontae Hawkins (12) and Tony Wills (11).
PLAYING No. 1
Monday night's game marks just the second time in program history that the Redbirds have faced the No. 1 team in the nation. The only other time ISU played the nation's top-ranked team was March 1, 1980 at No. 1 DePaul. Illinois State lost to the Blue Demons, 97-81.
WHAT A WEEK
Illinois State is playing the top two teams in the nation during a one-week span, after playing No. 2 Maryland (and falling, 77-66, Nov. 24) before traveling to No. 1 Kentucky this Monday, Nov. 30. ISU has only matched up against a top-two team five times in program history, including the Maryland contest. The Redbirds have never beaten a team ranked higher than No. 4 (winning against No. 4 UNLV Feb. 3, 1977 and against No. 4 Indiana State Jan. 21, 1978). ISU has also never faced the No. 2 team and the No. 1 team within a one-week time frame.
TAKING ON THE TOP 25
With last season's 65-62 win over No. 8 Wichita State (March 7, 2015) in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals, ISU beat a Top-25 team for the fourth time in as many seasons – a feat that had never been accomplished by the Redbirds – after also topping No. 25 Dayton at home (Dec. 7, 2013), winning at No. 16 Creighton (Feb. 9, 2013), and edging No. 15 Wichita State at the MVC Tournament (Mar. 3, 2012). Versus Top-25 opponents, ISU is 11-59 overall, including Tuesday night's loss. No. 2 Maryland was ISU's first Top-25 opponent of the year, although the Terrapins were likely not the last. According to the Week 3 (Nov. 23) rankings, three of ISU's opponents are ranked: No. 2 Maryland, No. 1 Kentucky and No. 20 Wichita State. ISU's season-opening opponent, San Diego State, received votes in the first two polls, and future MVC foe Northern Iowa is currently receiving votes.
SUCCESS AGAINST THE SEC
Monday night's game at Kentucky marks ISU's 10th game against a current member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). ISU is 8-1 versus the SEC and Dan Muller is 1-0 as a coach against the SEC after leading ISU to a 62-55 win over Texas A&M (March 24, 2014) in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Muller is also 1-0 versus the SEC as a player, helping his team to an 82-81 victory over Tennessee March 12, 1998 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Muller's layup with two seconds remaining secured Illinois State's victory. ISU's overall record against current SEC members: 1-0 vs. Alabama; 1-0 vs. Arkansas; 3-0 vs. Mississippi; 1-0 vs. Tennessee; 2-0 vs. Texas A&M; 0-1 vs. Vanderbilt.
UPSET ALERT
National sports media outlets issued "upset alerts" during the Illinois State men's basketball team's game against No. 2 Maryland (Nov. 24) at the Cancun Challenge. A Justin McCloud 3-pointer from the left corner with 7:26 remaining gave Illinois State a five-point lead over No. 2 Maryland, and the game was tied with 5:29 remaining; however, the Terrapins answered with a 13-3 run and pulled away for a 77-66 victory. The Redbirds led for 10:17 in a game with 10 lead changes and nine ties.
ALL-TOURNAMENT
Junior point guard Paris Lee was named to the Cancun Challenge all-tournament team after scoring 15 points with five rebounds against No. 2 Maryland (Nov. 24) and finishing with a team-best 16 points and two rebounds versus TCU (Nov. 25).
AN EARLY GRIND
ISU is in the midst of four games in nine days (with 4,000 miles of roundtrip travel), and eight games in 18 days (with 7,300 miles of roundtrip travel), to start the season. The Redbirds began their season nearly 2,000 miles away from Normal, Illinois, in San Diego, California, at San Diego State. Illinois State played three-straight home games before flying 1,300 miles to Cancun, Mexico for two games. ISU returned to Normal, Illinois, for a game against Quincy before driving more than 350 miles to face Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. The Redbirds' other non-conference destinations include Illinois-Chicago (130 miles) and Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (800 miles). ISU will finish the road portion of its non-conference schedule more than 2,700 miles away from where it began (San Diego to Philadelphia).
INSTANT OFFENSE
Senior guard DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell has emerged as Illinois State's top scorer in 2015-16, reaching double figures in all seven of ISU's games this year, and dating back to last season, nine-straight and 14 of the last 15. Akoon-Purcell has also scored 20 or more points twice this season and five times throughout his career since transferring to Illinois State for his junior year. Akoon-Purcell has also helped his teammates score, dishing out a career-high five assists in the win over Quincy (Nov. 27).
HALFTIME SIGN
In all seven of ISU's games this season, whoever is leading at halftime is also leading when the final horn sounds. The Redbirds have trailed at the half in four of seven games this year and are 0-4 when trailing.
ON THE DEFENSE
Through the first seven games, Illinois State ranks second in the Missouri Valley Conference with 4.1 blocks and third with 6.4 steals per contest.
LEE-DING IN STEALING
After seven games, junior point guard Paris Lee leads the Missouri Valley Conference with 2.1 steals averaged per contest. With one steal versus Quincy (Nov. 27), Lee increased his career-total to 144 steals and is in sole possession of fifth place on the career steals list, ahead of Jamar Smiley (ISU's point guard when head coach Dan Muller played). In 2014-15, Lee led the MVC and ranked No. 9 nationally in steals (2.4 per game), establishing ISU's single-season steals record (82).
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