NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State hosts 2015 NCAA qualifier UAB in the second year of a home-and-home series, Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. The Blazers return all five starters from the 2014-15 team which advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament after winning the Conference USA Tournament. Saturday's game is presented by Advocate BroMenn Medical Center.
UAB AT ILLINOIS STATE • SATURDAY, DEC. 5, 2015 • 7 p.m.
THE GAME:
Illinois State hosts 2015 NCAA qualifier UAB in the second year of a home-and-home series, Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. The Blazers return all five starters from the 2014-15 team which advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament after winning the Conference USA Tournament.
THE SERIES:
Saturday's game marks the fourth meeting between Illinois State and UAB. The Redbirds lead the all-time series, 2-1. After ISU dropped the first meeting in 1990, the Redbirds have won two-straight, including Illinois State's most recent 78-74 victory over the Blazers Dec. 7, 2014 in Birmingham, Alabama. Head coach Dan Muller is 2-0 versus UAB, and the Blazers and Redbirds have never before met in Normal, Illinois.
THE COACHES:
Illinois State: Dan Muller (Illinois State, 1998) is in his fourth season as the head coach at Illinois State (61-49). Muller is the first coach in ISU history to beat three Top-25 teams in his first three seasons.
UAB: Jerod Haase (Kansas, 1997) is in his fourth season as the head coach at UAB (58-49). Under Haase's guidance, UAB played in the 2015 NCAA Tournament and recorded the program's first tournament win since 2005.
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) ... played the top-two nationally-ranked teams in a one-week span (L, 77-66 vs. No. 2 Maryland Nov. 24; L, 75-63 at No. 1 Kentucky, Nov. 30).
ABOUT UAB:
Picked to win the Conference USA title ... return all five starters and 10 of 13 letterwinners from last year's team, which posted a 20-16 overall record en route to its first C-USA Tournament championship in school history, advancing to the NCAA Tournament and upsetting No. 3 seed and ninth-ranked Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament second round ... feature C-USA preseason all-conference selections Robert Brown and William Lee.
LAST TIME OUT (L, 75-63 - Nov. 30, 2015 at No. 1 Kentucky)
Illinois State led No. 1 Kentucky by six points in the first half, forcing the Wildcats to face their largest deficit of the season, but UK overcame a tied game at halftime to pull away for a 75-63 win over the visiting Redbirds in front of 21,894 fans at Rupp Arena. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell led ISU (3-5) with 22 points, marking the third time he has netted 20 or more points this season. He also matched a season high with six rebounds. MiKyle McIntosh and Roland Griffin joined Akoon-Purcell in double-figures with 14 points apiece, and Quintin Brewer collected a team-best and ISU career-high eight rebounds. Illinois State went 25-for-70 (35.7 percent) from the field, while Kentucky shot 22-for-51 (43.1 percent). The Wildcats were 29-for-46 (63.0 percent) at the free throw line, and the Redbirds were 8-for-10 (80.0 percent).
HONORING TORREY WARD
Former Illinois State associate head coach Torrey Ward, who was a standout player at UAB (1997-2000), will be honored with a special memorial video prior to Saturday's UAB at ISU game. Ward was one of seven men who perished in an airplane crash on April 7, 2015. Fans are encouraged to arrive and be in their seats by 6:40 p.m. to watch the video. The countdown clock timing follows:
15:00 – Captains meet with officials at mid-court
13:00 – UAB exits, ISU huddles up and greets the Ward family
11:00 – Memorial video (2:30 runtime)
VERSUS C-USA
Saturday night's game against UAB marks ISU's 25th contest against a current member of Conference USA (C-USA). ISU is 19-5 versus current C-USA programs and head coach Dan Muller holds a 3-1 mark against C-USA, with two wins over UAB (W, 77-65 Nov. 23, 2012 and W, 78-74 Dec. 7, 2014) and a 1-1 record against Old Dominion (W, 64-45 Nov. 23, 2014 and L, 50-49 March 23, 2015).
INSTANT OFFENSE
Senior guard DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell has emerged as Illinois State's top scorer in 2015-16, reaching double figures in all eight of ISU's games this year, and dating back to last season, 10-straight and 15 of the last 16. Akoon-Purcell has also scored 20 or more points three times this season and six 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).
TELLTALE SIGN
In all eight 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 five of eight games this year and are 0-5 when trailing. ISU is also 3-0 when leading with five minutes left and 0-5 when trailing with five minutes left.
STARTER SUCCESS
Illinois State is 3-0 when the Redbird starters outscore their opponent's starters. Conversely, ISU is 0-5 when the opposing team's starters outscore ISU's.
LEE-DINGÂ IN STEALING
After eight games, junior point guard Paris Lee leads the Missouri Valley Conference with 1.9 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).
TAKING ON THE TOP TWO
The Redbirds played the top two teams in the nation during a one-week span, playing No. 2 Maryland (and falling, 77-66, Nov. 24) before traveling to No. 1 Kentucky (and falling, 75-63, Nov. 30). Prior to the two games, ISU had only matched up against a top-two team four times in program history. ISU had also never faced the No. 2 team and the No. 1 team within a one-week time frame.
PLAYING No. 1
Illinois State's Nov. 30 game at No. 1 Kentucky marked just the second time in program history that the Redbirds 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.
ALL-TOURNAMENT
Junior point guard Paris Lee was named to the Cancun Challenge all-tournament team after scoring 15 points against No. 2 Maryland (Nov. 24) and finishing with a team-best 16 points versus TCU (Nov. 25).
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