NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State alum and Tennessee State head coach Dana Ford returns to Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena when his Tigers face the Redbirds in ISU's non-conference finale, Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 6 p.m. After winning two of their last three games, the Redbirds (5-7) are aiming to wrap up non-conference play with a victory, while the Tigers (9-2) are striving to extend a seven-game winning streak in their second-to-last non-conference matchup.
TENNESSEE STATE AT ILLINOIS STATE • TUESDAY, DEC. 22, 2015 • 6 p.m.
THE SERIES:
Tuesday's game marks the sixth meeting between, Illinois State and Tennessee State. The Tigers lead the all-time series, 3-2, with the Redbirds winning two-straight games. Head coach Dan Muller is 1-0 versus TSU. Muller, along with then-associate head coach Dana Ford, last beat Tennessee State, Dec. 19, 2013.
THE COACHES:
Illinois State: Dan Muller (Illinois State, 1998) is in his fourth season as the head coach at Illinois State (63-51). Muller is the first coach in ISU history to beat three Top-25 teams in his first three seasons.
Tennessee State: Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is in his second season as the head coach at Tennessee State (14-28). Ford was a four-year letterwinner at ISU (2002-06) and an associate head coach (2012-14).
ABOUT ILLINOIS STATE:
Picked to finish fourth (out of 10 teams) 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) ... feature MVC preseason team selection DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell ... played the top-two nationally-ranked teams in a one-week span.
ABOUT TENNESSEE STATE:
Picked to finish sixth (out of six teams) in the Ohio Valley Conference East Division ... return three of five starters and five of 10 letterwinners from last year's team, which went 5-26 overall and 2-14 in the league to finish sixth in the OVC East ... on a seven-game winning streak ... the nine non-conference regular season victories are the most for TSU at the NCAA Division I level since joining the Ohio Valley Conference prior to the 1987-88 season.
LAST TIME OUT (L, 79-65 - Dec. 19, 2015 AT SAINT JOSEPH'S)
Illinois State outscored Saint Joseph's 15-3 to take a brief 22-21 lead at the 8:13 mark in the first half; however, the Hawks (8-2) responded with a 24-4 run to build a double-digit halftime advantage en route to a 79-65 victory over the visiting Redbirds (5-7) at Hagan Arena. MiKyle McIntosh led four Redbirds in double figures with 16 points and seven rebounds. The Redbirds shot 40.6 percent (26-for-64) from the field and 23.1 percent (6-for-26) from beyond the arc. Five Hawks scored in double digits. Saint Joesph's shot 46.6 percent (27-for-58) from the field and 45.5 percent (15-for-33) from 3-point range, the most 3-pointers allowed by ISU since Evansville also made 15 trifectas Jan. 15, 2014.
SUCCESS AGAINST THE OVC
Illinois State holds a 102-54 record against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference, and head coach Dan Muller is 6-1 versus the OVC after earning a 67-66 home-opening victory over Morehead State Nov. 16, followed by a 63-61 win over Murray State Dec. 13. Muller's other games against OVC foes include: an 83-57 victory against Austin Peay (Dec. 22, 2012), a 64-58 win over Tennessee State (Jan. 19, 2013), a 77-67 victory versus Morehead State (March 19, 2014) in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), a 64-54 win over UT Martin (Dec. 17, 2014), and an 89-77 loss at Murray State (Dec. 20, 2014). ISU had won 32-straight games against members of the OVC prior to last season's loss to MSU.
HOMECOMING
For the second time this season, Illinois State head coach Dan Muller (`98) is coaching against a fellow ISU basketball alum when Muller and the Redbirds face Dana Ford (`06) and his Tennessee State Tigers. Muller also coached against San Diego State's Steve Fisher (a 1967 ISU alum) earlier this year, falling at SDSU, 71-60 (Nov. 13). A 2006 graduate of Illinois State, Ford earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science. While at ISU, he was a four-year letterwinner from 2002-06 and was voted the squad's defensive player of the year after being ranked in the MVC top-10 in both steals and blocks. Before being hired by Tennessee State, Ford served as Illinois State's associate head coach on Muller's first staff, from 2012-14. Ford assisted the Redbirds to a 36-31 mark that included an appearance in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) semifinals. Ford served as ISU's recruiting coordinator.
BACK TO NORMAL
The Redbirds are back in Normal, Illinois, for two-straight games following an 800-mile trip to Philadelphia for ISU's final non-conference road game of the season at Saint Joseph's (Dec. 19). ISU finished its pre-conference road schedule more than 2,700 miles away from where the season began at San Diego State in San Diego, California (Nov. 13). In total, the Redbirds traveled more than 9,100 miles (roundtrip) within a five-week span stretching across two countries and four states (San Diego, California; Cancun, Mexico; Lexington, Kentucky; Chicago, Illinois; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). ISU returns to the road Jan. 3 at Drake.
FLIPPING THE SWITCH
A newly-installed $950 thousand dollar state-of-the-art video board system at Redbird Arena is set to go live during Tuesday night's game. Funded by corporate sponsorships and approved by the ISU Board of Trustees, the high definition, LED Daktronics video board system includes a four-sided, center-hung video display and two ribbon boards. The center-hung structure features four 15-by-8-foot video panels positioned above a 49-by-3-foot video ring. Fastened to the concrete façade above the north and south baselines, the two ribbon boards each measure 141-by-3-feet. Redbird Productions will continue to operate the entire Redbird Arena video board system. Similar to the Hancock Stadium video board, the new Redbird Arena displays can be divided into segments and allow for live game-statistic integration.
DOUBLE THE FUN
With 14 points and 11 rebounds in Illinois State's win at Illinois-Chicago (Dec. 16), sophomore forward MiKyle McIntosh recorded his first-career double-double, which was also ISU's first double-double since DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell recorded 20 points and 12 rebounds versus Missouri State (Jan. 28, 2015). Not only was McIntosh's double-double ISU's first of the season, but his 11 rebounds marked the Redbirds' first double-digit rebounding effort of the year and the most since Deontae Hawkins collected 11 boards at Northern Iowa (Feb. 11, 2015). With 16 points at Saint Joseph's (Dec. 19) McIntosh has now recorded double-figures in two-straight games. He has also collected five or more rebounds in four-straight contests.
COMEBACK KIDS
In three of Illinois State's five victories, the Redbirds have overcome second-half deficits of eight points or more: Nov. 16 vs. Morehead State (down by nine with 14:54 remaining); Dec. 13 vs. Murray State (down by eight with 19:18 remaining; Dec. 16 at Illinois-Chicago (down by eight with 14:20 remaining). In all three contests, ISU has come back to take the lead with more than five minutes remaining. The Redbirds are 5-0 when leading with five minutes to play and 0-7 when trailing at the five-minute mark.
LEE-DING IN STEALING
After 12 games, junior point guard Paris Lee ranks first in the Missouri Valley Conference with 1.8 steals averaged per contest. With two steals at Saint Joseph's (Dec. 19), Lee increased his career-total to 150 steals and is in sole possession of fifth place on the career steals list, ahead of Jamar Smiley (ISU's point guard when 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). After 12 games, Lee has 21 steals.
TRENDING
Now 11 games into the season, some trends are emerging: ISU is 5-0 when allowing less than 70 points; ISU is 3-0 when scoring 70 or more points; ISU is 4-0 when its starters outscore the opponent's starters and 1-7 when ISU's starters do not outscore the opponent's; ISU is 3-1 when it outrebounds its opponent.
GO-TO GUY
Senior guard DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell is Illinois State's top offensive threat in 2015-16, reaching double figures in all 12 of ISU's games this year, and dating back to last season, 14-straight and 19 of the last 20. Akoon-Purcell has also scored 20 or more points three times this season and six times throughout his career since transferring to Illinois State as a junior. The Orlando, Florida, native is averaging a team-best 16.0 points per game, which ranks sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference. Akoon-Purcell has led ISU in scoring seven times this season.
PROTECTING THE ROCK
During Illinois State's two-game winning streak against Murray State (Dec. 13) and at Illinois-Chicago (Dec. 16), the Redbirds committed fewer than 10 turnovers in two-straight games, resulting in victories both times. ISU recorded a season-low eight turnovers in the win at Illinois-Chicago (Dec. 16).
HAWKINS BAROMETER
When sophomore forward Deontae Hawkins plays well, so too do the Redbirds this season. Hawkins recorded season highs in points (16) and rebounds (nine) in ISU's victory over Murray State (Dec. 13). The Redbirds – now 5-7 overall – are 4-2 when Hawkins scores in double-digits. ISU is 5-3 when Hawkins nets eight or more points.
SETTING THE STARTERS
Through Illinois State's first 12 games, the Redbirds have featured five different starting lineups. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, Deontae Hawkins and Paris Lee have started every game, while MiKyle McIntosh has started all but one. He missed the Nov. 27 contest against Quincy with a concussion. Meanwhile, Nick Banyard (two games), Quintin Brewer (the most-recent four games), Roland Griffin (one game), Justin McCloud (one game) and Tony Wills (five games) have also started.
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